PREPARING THE DEFENCE OF ULSTER LOYALISM .
Ten years ago this month the ' ULSTER WORKERS COUNCIL' strike brought down the power-sharing executive of BRIAN FAULKNER and GERRY FITT .
ANDY POLLAK talks to UDA leader ANDY TYRIE , one of the men behind the 1974 work stoppage , and GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , one of the new breed of hard-line Loyalist spokesmen , about the outlook for Northern Ireland's (sic) Protestants in the 1980's .
From ' FORTNIGHT ' magazine , May 1984 .
UDA Commander Andy Tyrie makes it clear that he does not want to sabre-rattle , that he wants to hope , often against hope , that a peaceful solution can be found to Northern Ireland's (sic) problems .
Ten years after the 'Ulster' Workers Council strike (UWC) he believes the Protestants are still not getting adequate leadership from their Unionist politicians , and that the British government now ignores the Loyalist community and is trying to move Northern Ireland (sic) slowly in the direction of a united Ireland without actually provoking an all-out crisis like that of May 1974 .
He says that "...though maybe it's mad , or wishful thinking , I'm still an optimist . The chances of peaceful accommodation through parliamentary politics are getting less , but I always hope that when you do arrive at a crisis situation people will say this has gone too far , it's going to cost an awful lot of lives , and maybe we should go up into the Assembly and try to work together .. "
But he is absolutely firm that the one thing the UDA will not countenance is interference by the Irish government (sic) in the North's affairs . Andy Tyrie claims that the UDA had nothing against the 1974 power-sharing executive - "...but we felt that the Council of Ireland was the thin edge of the wedge and that Ministers from Dublin would be coming up here and formimg a sort of joint government which would advance and advance until we were totally run by the Dublin government ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA HAS TO DO WHAT THE IRA HAS TO DO .
The Sinn Fein electoral wagon is slowing down . As a result , the IRA is likely to begin stepping up its war against the Northern State . GENE KERRIGAN reports from Belfast and also interviews Sinn Fein's DANNY MORRISON on the party's recent successes and failures .
From ' MAGILL ' magazine , September 1984.
The belief that Sinn Fein is approaching its ceilings of votes is likely , according to republican sources , to lead to a change in IRA military tactics . This may result in a return to a more intensive bombing of 'economic targets ' ; within the Sinn Fein leadership it is now believed that the party (sic) is unlikely to out-poll the SDLP in the short term and secure a position as the main representatives of the nationalist community in the North .
Sinn Fein will this month - after the new ward boundary arrangements are announced - work out its strategy for the 1985 local elections in the Six Counties . It may be hampered in its aim of maximising its vote by the rule changes brought in by Margaret Thatcher after the electoral victory of Bobby Sands in Fermanagh-South Tyrone in 1981 . To some extent the impression that Sinn Fein was breathing down the SDLP's electoral neck was deliberately fostered by the Sinn Fein leadership - against the advice of , for instance , Gerry Adams - in order to enthuse the Sinn Fein rank and file .
There has been a re-appraisal since the Euro elections in June 1984 , in which Sinn Fein - while retaining its percentage share of the nationalist vote - saw its overall voting figures fall from 102,000 to 91,000 . The 'armalite and ballot paper' strategy remains the same , with the involvement in electoral politics and community activities being seen as a way of involving wider circles of sympathisers but with the central belief retained that only a continuous and indefinitely prolonged military campaign will convince the British government that the State is ungovernable while the British remain ....... (' 1169 .... ' Comment - ....and now the Provos are part and parcel of that same State ; paid employees of Westminster who ask you to believe that they are following in the footsteps of Tone , Emmet and Pearse .... !)
(MORE LATER).
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .......
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
As most of the allegations about garda 'short-cuts' involved members of republican groups there was a tendency to shrug them off as 'propaganda' ; or , if the gardai delivered the odd thump , so what ? Under cover of the suppposed need to protect the very existence of the State , the gardai were virtually given a free hand - the trend was as plain as daylight in the figures on the use of Section 30 , the extraordinary power of arrest , of virtual short-term internment , give to the gardai in the 'Offences Against The State Act' .
In the period 1972-1976 , the most violent period of the Northern conflict , 2,724 people were lifted by the gardai , under Section 30 : in the period 1980-1984 , with a relatively low level of violence , 11,035 people were arrested under Section 30 .
With the power of detention comes the power of interrogation . The crudities of the mid-1970's when suspects "...fell down the stairs .. " or "... walked into a door .. " with amazing regularity , eased off as the gardai became more sophisticated : interrogation techniques had by now become so refined that on one occasion there was a row between a local garda , who 'knew' a suspect was guilty , and the interrogators , who knew that the suspect was innocent even though he was ready to sign a confession after several hours of interrogation . There is something seriously wrong .
No one had planned for it to go wrong ; there was no 'grand design ' for the creation of a police State - just cops doing a job the best they knew how , and politicians ignoring the warning signs .......
(MORE LATER).
Over the last few days I have posted comments on the 'Indymedia' site in reply to a post on same regarding Provo Sinn Fein and the funds they receive from Westminster .
My comments added further information to the original piece , information which I backed-up with the source of where I obtained said information . Without any contact from 'Indymedia' , the posts I made were removed , while other posters ' coments were not touched .
I have had contact with 'Indymedia' over this issue - but all my posts concerning their censorship have now been removed as well . Political censorship on a public Forum (despite the fact that I did not contravene their 'Rules For Posting') : just thought you might be interested ...... Sharon . UPDATE - There have been developments in the early hours of this morning ; my 'banned' post has been re-published (and my posts complaining about same have been removed !) but , at the time of writing , I am non-the-wiser as to why my post was removed in the first place . I intend to pursue this matter further with 'Indymedia' . Sharon.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The 'Ulster' Clubs are already providing 'flying pickets' for ' Northern Ireland (sic) Office' Ministers , and look forward to harassing British - imposed Commissioners , urging a boycott of goods made in the twenty-six county State , picketing shops which do not comply , and local government bodies which continue to meet .
Generally , in the words of one of their most prominent members , they will continue to "... persuade people to hold firm .. " and in the words of another - "...remind the police (sic - RUC) which community they live in .. " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - ...and you can judge for yourself just how the loyalists in the 'Clubs' would carry-through on those two quotes !)
The betting is on a couple of weeks of political bickering after the leaders' meeting with Margaret Thatcher - during which the Clubs' eyes will be on the politicians - and then "...things will move quite quickly into a different phase .. " ( ' 1169.... ' Comment - ...again - you can use your own judgement on that quote .. )
If a moderate Unionist leadership ( ' 1169 ..... ' Comment - is there such a beast .. ? ) is to emerge it probably has to do so over the next few weeks , openly , unequivocally , and with dynamism , or take to the streets with the rest .
[END of ' POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES ' .]
(TOMORROW - ' Preparing The Defence Of Ulster (sic) Loyalism ' : From 1984.)
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Sammy Wilson (DUP) is prepared for what he terms "...extra-parliamentary actions .. " (ie killing Catholics) if the (1985) Hillsborough Treaty is not withdrawn : " I would'nt be a very good General , so I would hardly imagine that they (ie the Loyalist paramilitaries) would sign me up for that , but I'm sure there would be something I could do in a situation like that . I would'nt relish it , but I would imagine there are other people and that's their forte .
I can imagine that there are people from the border areas , political representatives who have been going to a funeral a week at times , who might not be as restrained as I would be .. " ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - goad others into violence ....then , later , condemn their actions . )
One man from the border area is Ivan Foster ; as a (religious) [!] 'Minister' , his theology does not prevent him from wielding a gun : " Modernism has equated Christianity with pacifism , which is a load of rubbish . It is useful to throw in here that title which is given to the Lord in the bible where it says of him that he is a man of war . These Anglo-Irish talks are entering a phase where it is very possible that the State will become a tyrant and say to me as a British citizen that I am going to lose a part of my citizenship because a foreign State is going to be given a role in the running of a part of the United Kingdom (sic) .
It is a Presbyterian doctrine , ground out in the hard mill of the days of persecution in Scotland , that when the (British) government , or the King as it then was , forsakes his lawful role and begins to enforce his will on the people , contrary to the contract that exists between him and the people , then the King is no longer the lawful Head of State - he has become a tyrant . And it is a Christian's duty to resist a tyrant . I would have no hesitation . I would not be joining the army of Ulster (sic) as a chaplain ; I would be joining it as 'Joe Blogs' , an ordinary foot soldier . I would not be infringing my conscience or the word of God , but acting in complete obedience to both .
I would have no compunction , not in the least . I know how to use a gun . There's no good carrying a gun if you don't know how to use it . There's no good carrying a gun if you don't intend to use it . And if I am ambushed , I have one prayer : ' Lord , let him miss the first time ...' "
[END of ' FIRE AND BRIMSTONE ' .]
(TOMORROW - ' The IRA Has To Do What The IRA Has To Do ' : from 1984 .)
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .......
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
It was at the climax of these proceedings that the garda , Christy Power of the 'Task Force' , began shooting - there were at least five gardai , uniformed and detective , within a few feet of him as he continued to wave his gun around . It was at this stage that a leading member of the Provisionals did the gardai's work for them ( ' 1169....' Comment - how history repeats itself ; the Provisionals are , once more , preparing to do the gardai's work for them ... ! ) and prevailed on Detective Christy Power to put his gun away .
3 . The Road To Prince's Street .
The gardai involved in the Glenholmes affair are not habitual criminals , nor are they evil or lunatic ; they are conscientious gardai going about the business assigned to them by the State (' 1169 ... ' Comment - ... as was proved years later by their conduct in Donegal .. !) . Perhaps the best explanation of their conduct came in an article by John Dickinson in 'The Irish Independent' newspaper in which the gardai were lauded for their activities - '... for what is seen as their intention to uphold the Hillsborough Agreement in the spirit as well as the letter .. ' (' 1169 ... ' Comment - the so-called 'Independent -group of newspaper is anything but ; it is a loyal servant of the State . ) .
The gardai had no personal motivation for committing offences (' 1169 .... ' Comment - again , as can be judged from their behaviour in Donegal !) - they had no professional motivation in that Evelyn Glenholmes was not wanted for any offence within their jurisdiction and had just been ordered free by a judge . But the British wanted Glenholmes and the Irish (sic) government had been loud and clear in its stated intention that British wishes on extradition would be granted . The gardai knew that if Glenholmes could be unlawfully detained , by whatever means necessary , there was a good chance that the (FS) government wishes would be fulfilled . They were apparently unaware that their activities would involve serious crimes , that they too are subject to the law . (' 1169 .... ' Comment - which should mean that it is not permittable for a garda member to plant explosives , 'find' them later , and hope for promotion for doing so ... !)
From the mid-1970's there has been clear evidence that increasingly wider sections of the garda force have been indulging in unprofessional activity ; This began with the Cosgrave Coalition's pressure on the garda force to "...get results.." . There was ample evidence of physical beatings delivered to suspects ; an increasing number of serious crimes was being 'solved' by the extraction of confessions . At no stage did the political or garda authorities accept that there was a problem ....... (' 1169 .... ' Comment - once again , any similarities with Donegal..... are intended !)
(MORE LATER).
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The 'Ulster' Clubs are already providing 'flying pickets' for ' Northern Ireland (sic) Office' Ministers , and look forward to harassing British - imposed Commissioners , urging a boycott of goods made in the twenty-six county State , picketing shops which do not comply , and local government bodies which continue to meet .
Generally , in the words of one of their most prominent members , they will continue to "... persuade people to hold firm .. " and in the words of another - "...remind the police (sic - RUC) which community they live in .. " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - ...and you can judge for yourself just how the loyalists in the 'Clubs' would carry-through on those two quotes !)
The betting is on a couple of weeks of political bickering after the leaders' meeting with Margaret Thatcher - during which the Clubs' eyes will be on the politicians - and then "...things will move quite quickly into a different phase .. " ( ' 1169.... ' Comment - ...again - you can use your own judgement on that quote .. )
If a moderate Unionist leadership ( ' 1169 ..... ' Comment - is there such a beast .. ? ) is to emerge it probably has to do so over the next few weeks , openly , unequivocally , and with dynamism , or take to the streets with the rest .
[END of ' POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES ' .]
(TOMORROW - ' Preparing The Defence Of Ulster (sic) Loyalism ' : From 1984.)
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Sammy Wilson (DUP) is prepared for what he terms "...extra-parliamentary actions .. " (ie killing Catholics) if the (1985) Hillsborough Treaty is not withdrawn : " I would'nt be a very good General , so I would hardly imagine that they (ie the Loyalist paramilitaries) would sign me up for that , but I'm sure there would be something I could do in a situation like that . I would'nt relish it , but I would imagine there are other people and that's their forte .
I can imagine that there are people from the border areas , political representatives who have been going to a funeral a week at times , who might not be as restrained as I would be .. " ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - goad others into violence ....then , later , condemn their actions . )
One man from the border area is Ivan Foster ; as a (religious) [!] 'Minister' , his theology does not prevent him from wielding a gun : " Modernism has equated Christianity with pacifism , which is a load of rubbish . It is useful to throw in here that title which is given to the Lord in the bible where it says of him that he is a man of war . These Anglo-Irish talks are entering a phase where it is very possible that the State will become a tyrant and say to me as a British citizen that I am going to lose a part of my citizenship because a foreign State is going to be given a role in the running of a part of the United Kingdom (sic) .
It is a Presbyterian doctrine , ground out in the hard mill of the days of persecution in Scotland , that when the (British) government , or the King as it then was , forsakes his lawful role and begins to enforce his will on the people , contrary to the contract that exists between him and the people , then the King is no longer the lawful Head of State - he has become a tyrant . And it is a Christian's duty to resist a tyrant . I would have no hesitation . I would not be joining the army of Ulster (sic) as a chaplain ; I would be joining it as 'Joe Blogs' , an ordinary foot soldier . I would not be infringing my conscience or the word of God , but acting in complete obedience to both .
I would have no compunction , not in the least . I know how to use a gun . There's no good carrying a gun if you don't know how to use it . There's no good carrying a gun if you don't intend to use it . And if I am ambushed , I have one prayer : ' Lord , let him miss the first time ...' "
[END of ' FIRE AND BRIMSTONE ' .]
(TOMORROW - ' The IRA Has To Do What The IRA Has To Do ' : from 1984 .)
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .......
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
It was at the climax of these proceedings that the garda , Christy Power of the 'Task Force' , began shooting - there were at least five gardai , uniformed and detective , within a few feet of him as he continued to wave his gun around . It was at this stage that a leading member of the Provisionals did the gardai's work for them ( ' 1169....' Comment - how history repeats itself ; the Provisionals are , once more , preparing to do the gardai's work for them ... ! ) and prevailed on Detective Christy Power to put his gun away .
3 . The Road To Prince's Street .
The gardai involved in the Glenholmes affair are not habitual criminals , nor are they evil or lunatic ; they are conscientious gardai going about the business assigned to them by the State (' 1169 ... ' Comment - ... as was proved years later by their conduct in Donegal .. !) . Perhaps the best explanation of their conduct came in an article by John Dickinson in 'The Irish Independent' newspaper in which the gardai were lauded for their activities - '... for what is seen as their intention to uphold the Hillsborough Agreement in the spirit as well as the letter .. ' (' 1169 ... ' Comment - the so-called 'Independent -group of newspaper is anything but ; it is a loyal servant of the State . ) .
The gardai had no personal motivation for committing offences (' 1169 .... ' Comment - again , as can be judged from their behaviour in Donegal !) - they had no professional motivation in that Evelyn Glenholmes was not wanted for any offence within their jurisdiction and had just been ordered free by a judge . But the British wanted Glenholmes and the Irish (sic) government had been loud and clear in its stated intention that British wishes on extradition would be granted . The gardai knew that if Glenholmes could be unlawfully detained , by whatever means necessary , there was a good chance that the (FS) government wishes would be fulfilled . They were apparently unaware that their activities would involve serious crimes , that they too are subject to the law . (' 1169 .... ' Comment - which should mean that it is not permittable for a garda member to plant explosives , 'find' them later , and hope for promotion for doing so ... !)
From the mid-1970's there has been clear evidence that increasingly wider sections of the garda force have been indulging in unprofessional activity ; This began with the Cosgrave Coalition's pressure on the garda force to "...get results.." . There was ample evidence of physical beatings delivered to suspects ; an increasing number of serious crimes was being 'solved' by the extraction of confessions . At no stage did the political or garda authorities accept that there was a problem ....... (' 1169 .... ' Comment - once again , any similarities with Donegal..... are intended !)
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Effectively , four people run the 'Ulster' Clubs : Alan Wright , who belongs to no political party ; John McMichael , who belongs to the UDA ; and Lisburn Councillor Billy Bleakes and Armagh Councillor Philip Black , who are both members of the 'Official Unionist Party' (OUP) .
Over the whole of the North of Ireland , the DUP outnumber the OUP's in Clubs' membership but , in Billy Bleakes' home area of Lisburn , there are now six 'Ulster' Clubs - one chaired by the DUP , two by unaffiliated people , three by members of the OUP . The Clubs claim about 8,500 members , none of them merely nominal ; their meetings , held in Orange Halls or Town Halls , are never held in a venue where alcohol is available and are always started by a Bible reading . They are 'closed' meetings , and are described as consisting of "...an awful lot of discussion .. "
As to what they will be doing in the near future , no one seems to believe in the likelihood of Unionists withholding car tax and rates , no matter what the OUP Spokesperson on Law and Order (well sic ..!) Ken Maginnis MP rashly committed himself to last week - an outburst attributed by the unkind (!) to his belatedly realising that Clubs' support in his constituency now includes a significant section of his party support .
What the Clubs are doing is placing pickets on British politicians who visit the Six Counties .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Sammy Wilson (DUP) wants the (1985) Hillsborough Treaty done away with -
" I don't like blood-curdling speeches , to be quite truthfull . I don't like issuing blood-curdling warnings , because we have to live amongst this , so I'll be quite careful in what I say . But all that I can say is that once we as a Unionist population feel that our future is under threat and that no one else is listening to us , and we've done all the political things we can do , there will be a turning to other methods . And my fear would be , and we have already seen this in small measures to some extent , that once that process starts , it's not the kind of thing you can turn on and off like a tap . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - a typical Unionist ploy : goad others into doing the killing ...then condemn them for doing it . And it still works for them to this day . )
Once you start along that road , people start to look to all of those they imagine to be enemies , for example among the nationalist community in Northern Ireland (sic) . People will say 'Well , they're the ones who've been harbouring the terrorists . ' Large sections of the nationalist population would then be open to the kind of retaliatory action which years of frustration would bring out . I imagine the republic would be seen as that threat , the ones who are pushing the constitutional claim , and you're not too far away either , so people would say ' If we're suffering , you'll suffer . ' How it all ends I would'nt even want to start dreaming about . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - .... not only 'goading' , but pointing in a certain direction , too .. )
I would no longer be a politician in that kind of situation ; people would have to opt as to whether they just wanted to drop out of everything or whether they wanted to maintain some degree of input and control . I myself would look for a role in whatever extra-parliamentary actions were available ....... " ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - "...extra-parliamentary actions ... " : TRANSLATION - " ...killing Catholics... " . Then condemning the deaths of said Catholics and , whilst washing his hands of the matter , murmer something about those who carried out the killings being left to feel that they had no other choice ... ) .......
(MORE LATER).
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .......
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
Evelyn Glenholmes' supporters managed to get her into a car after the Free State Court released her ; but the gardai were'nt having that - once she was in the car and being driven off , there were attempts to physically stop the car from moving ; gardai jammed a car against the back bumper of Glenholmes's car and ordered the driver of the car in front not to move , thus immobilising the car . This involved threatening behaviour , unlawful detention , and innumerable criminal common law , civil and motoring offences .
The next stage of the offences involved harassment , intimidation and possibly unlawful detention , as gardai hemmed in Glenholmes and her friends and prevented them going about their business . Sometime around then , the gardai obtained their provisional warrant ; there were a number of common and actual assaults in O' Connell Street , Dublin , outside the GPO . Although the gardai had by now the right to arrest Glenholmes and to take whatever action necessary , including the use of force , to effect that arrest , they had by now blown the case .
Evelyn Glenholmes and her friends had been subjected to a number of offences over a period of about half an hour ; any Court would accept that citizens subjected to continual assault and threatening behaviour would have the right to defend themselves , using reasonable force . Those citizens could not be expected to accept , in the middle of a chain of assaults , that they should now acquiesce because a warrant had been obtained to legitimise the garda activity . The illegal acts performed by the gardai over a period of half an hour were witnessed by other gardai and had to be known to quite senion members of the force . No garda intervened to stop those offences being committed and no garda laid charges , then or later , as a consequence of those offences .
A blind eye was turned . This is a dereliction of duty .......
(MORE LATER).
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Effectively , four people run the 'Ulster' Clubs : Alan Wright , who belongs to no political party ; John McMichael , who belongs to the UDA ; and Lisburn Councillor Billy Bleakes and Armagh Councillor Philip Black , who are both members of the 'Official Unionist Party' (OUP) .
Over the whole of the North of Ireland , the DUP outnumber the OUP's in Clubs' membership but , in Billy Bleakes' home area of Lisburn , there are now six 'Ulster' Clubs - one chaired by the DUP , two by unaffiliated people , three by members of the OUP . The Clubs claim about 8,500 members , none of them merely nominal ; their meetings , held in Orange Halls or Town Halls , are never held in a venue where alcohol is available and are always started by a Bible reading . They are 'closed' meetings , and are described as consisting of "...an awful lot of discussion .. "
As to what they will be doing in the near future , no one seems to believe in the likelihood of Unionists withholding car tax and rates , no matter what the OUP Spokesperson on Law and Order (well sic ..!) Ken Maginnis MP rashly committed himself to last week - an outburst attributed by the unkind (!) to his belatedly realising that Clubs' support in his constituency now includes a significant section of his party support .
What the Clubs are doing is placing pickets on British politicians who visit the Six Counties .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Sammy Wilson (DUP) wants the (1985) Hillsborough Treaty done away with -
" I don't like blood-curdling speeches , to be quite truthfull . I don't like issuing blood-curdling warnings , because we have to live amongst this , so I'll be quite careful in what I say . But all that I can say is that once we as a Unionist population feel that our future is under threat and that no one else is listening to us , and we've done all the political things we can do , there will be a turning to other methods . And my fear would be , and we have already seen this in small measures to some extent , that once that process starts , it's not the kind of thing you can turn on and off like a tap . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - a typical Unionist ploy : goad others into doing the killing ...then condemn them for doing it . And it still works for them to this day . )
Once you start along that road , people start to look to all of those they imagine to be enemies , for example among the nationalist community in Northern Ireland (sic) . People will say 'Well , they're the ones who've been harbouring the terrorists . ' Large sections of the nationalist population would then be open to the kind of retaliatory action which years of frustration would bring out . I imagine the republic would be seen as that threat , the ones who are pushing the constitutional claim , and you're not too far away either , so people would say ' If we're suffering , you'll suffer . ' How it all ends I would'nt even want to start dreaming about . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - .... not only 'goading' , but pointing in a certain direction , too .. )
I would no longer be a politician in that kind of situation ; people would have to opt as to whether they just wanted to drop out of everything or whether they wanted to maintain some degree of input and control . I myself would look for a role in whatever extra-parliamentary actions were available ....... " ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - "...extra-parliamentary actions ... " : TRANSLATION - " ...killing Catholics... " . Then condemning the deaths of said Catholics and , whilst washing his hands of the matter , murmer something about those who carried out the killings being left to feel that they had no other choice ... ) .......
(MORE LATER).
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .......
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
Evelyn Glenholmes' supporters managed to get her into a car after the Free State Court released her ; but the gardai were'nt having that - once she was in the car and being driven off , there were attempts to physically stop the car from moving ; gardai jammed a car against the back bumper of Glenholmes's car and ordered the driver of the car in front not to move , thus immobilising the car . This involved threatening behaviour , unlawful detention , and innumerable criminal common law , civil and motoring offences .
The next stage of the offences involved harassment , intimidation and possibly unlawful detention , as gardai hemmed in Glenholmes and her friends and prevented them going about their business . Sometime around then , the gardai obtained their provisional warrant ; there were a number of common and actual assaults in O' Connell Street , Dublin , outside the GPO . Although the gardai had by now the right to arrest Glenholmes and to take whatever action necessary , including the use of force , to effect that arrest , they had by now blown the case .
Evelyn Glenholmes and her friends had been subjected to a number of offences over a period of about half an hour ; any Court would accept that citizens subjected to continual assault and threatening behaviour would have the right to defend themselves , using reasonable force . Those citizens could not be expected to accept , in the middle of a chain of assaults , that they should now acquiesce because a warrant had been obtained to legitimise the garda activity . The illegal acts performed by the gardai over a period of half an hour were witnessed by other gardai and had to be known to quite senion members of the force . No garda intervened to stop those offences being committed and no garda laid charges , then or later , as a consequence of those offences .
A blind eye was turned . This is a dereliction of duty .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, August 01, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Alan Wright joined the Orange Order ; in the summer of 1985 , in Portadown , he watched Orangemen clashing with the RUC and organised an 'Action Committee' in the local Orange Lodge to protest at what he clearly saw to be the first 'fruit' of the unsigned Anglo-Irish Agreement ( the Hillsborough Treaty ) - that Committee grew . The ageing Orange leadership locally was displaced ; a meeting was called by two local Councillors , OUP and DUP . That meeting formed the 'United Ulster (sic) Loyalist Front' and elected Alan Wright as its Chairperson , as an 'honest non-party broker' . McMichael (UDA) was there from the start .
The two party leaders stayed away - Peter Robinson (DUP) came to speak ; the two parties swiftly formed their 'think-tank' working party . Ever since the politicians have been talking with ever greater urgency about the lack of time ..... no time for the Agreement to collapse of its own internal contradictions , no time to work out policies so that individuals will not spew them out at random . The political vacuum which fills with violence has become a staple of Unionist 'political-speak' , as it has been for the SDLP for years , and with only dim awareness of the irony .
So-called 'Fronts' started springing-up at local levels , though out of historical piety they were re-christened 'Ulster' Clubs ; a 'parent' Club for each Council area , 25 plus three for Belfast . The 'Front' still meets about a week before the Club's Acting Council , to 'direct' .
Effectively four people run the whole show .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Gregory Campbell , DUP , claims that the Hillsborough Treaty could bring civil war to the North of Ireland - " That's the logical conclusion of what I'm saying . I realise that . I see that as going very near to the edge of the Protestant faith , of what I have held dear for twenty-five years . Obviously I'm not going to do that lightly , and it's not something that I would relish . But knowing Margaret Thatcher as we all do , as Arthur Scargill does , it's not likely that she's going to back down and we have to prepare ourselves for the inevitable . Dublin and London are slowly coming round to the position of blackmailing the Protestants , of saying ' you either have your country (sic) and you have your peace , and you have your guarantees ... or else the alternative is that you have civil war ' .
Now , given that option we will not have Dublin rule ; we cannot have Dublin rule . And I know how terrible , how horrible , how awful the consequences of me going to the logical end of my argument are . But I will have to act in my community as a safeguard , as a safety valve , as somebody whom the community can use for letting off steam , and try and channel the paramilitary activities in the best way possible . And I will have to try and minimise the effect it will have on the country (sic) in the event of that type of Armageddon situation coming about . But I have to say that if these are the options , to have a greater degree of peace and stability than we have had and to have guarantees within the United Kingdom (sic) , if we let Dublin have a small role in a consultative way in Northern Ireland (sic) , or to have an opposition which will result in widespread violence , then I am going to be pushed into a position where I have to adopt the second role ."
Sammy Wilson said - " Unionists are not spoiling for a fight and we are not itching for a civil war . We've got to live in this country (sic) and I hope I have a long time to live here . Personally I would like to be as comfortable as possible and to live as long as possible . I don't want to be warring and fighting and living in a Lebanese type-situation for the rest of my life . If I was sixty-five maybe I could tolerate it for a few years , but not when you're fairly young . So no one is going to embark on any course of action unless we are sure that there is a real threat . But regardless of how innocuous it looks in the immediate term we'll be asking what lies behind it . If it does give a toehold to the Irish government (sic) then we'll be seeking by all political processes that are available to us to oppose it . Once that is exhausted , I think people will quite rightly say - ' We've done our best , and no one has listened to us ' .
At that stage the role of the politician is going to change ....... "
(MORE LATER).
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .......
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
2. Crime In The Streets.
Before Noon (on Saturday March 22 , 1986 ) [Free State] District Justice Connellan ordered that Evelyn Glenholmes be released from State custody ; it cannot be known for certain if there was a prior conspiracy among a number of gardai to frustrate the judge's order - it may have been that , coincidentally , the gardai decided to break as many laws as necessary to extradite Evelyn Glenholmes .
The decision to frustrate the order of the judge and to effectively keep Evelyn Glenholmes in custody was contempt of Court - however , there were a number of other crimes committed by the gardai in the course of effecting this contempt of Court . The criminal activity of the gardai was conducted in a number of stages - first , there was an attempt to prevent Glenholmes from leaving the Courtroom ; then there was an attempt to prevent her leaving the vicinity of the Court ; then there was a period of 'walking custody' , in which the gardai effectively detained her and prevented her going about her business . This was followed by a number of assaults .
At some stage along there the gardai obtained a provisional warrant , which , on the face of it , legitimised their subsequent behaviour . Then the shots were fired . The political motivation for the offences is clear ; if Glenholmes could be kept within reach for a nuber of minutes a warrant might be obtained which would allow the gardai to send her to Britain . The first stage of the criminal activity involved blocking the door of the Court and preventing members of the public , lawyers and journalists from leaving ! This involved crimes of common assault , threatening behaviour and unlawful detention - not just of Glenholmes but of a number of people . The gardai then chased Evelyn Glenholmes , her lawyers and friends , through the Court : this involved common assault , threatening behaviour and behaviour likely to lead to a breach of the peace .
The second stage of the criminal activity began outside the Court , when gardai attempted to prevent Glenholmes from entering a car , when they used violence to attempt to reach her . This involved common assault , actual assault , threatening behaviour and behaviour likely to lead to a breach of the peace . She managed to get into the car . But that was'nt the end of the gardai criminal behaviour .......
(MORE LATER).
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Alan Wright joined the Orange Order ; in the summer of 1985 , in Portadown , he watched Orangemen clashing with the RUC and organised an 'Action Committee' in the local Orange Lodge to protest at what he clearly saw to be the first 'fruit' of the unsigned Anglo-Irish Agreement ( the Hillsborough Treaty ) - that Committee grew . The ageing Orange leadership locally was displaced ; a meeting was called by two local Councillors , OUP and DUP . That meeting formed the 'United Ulster (sic) Loyalist Front' and elected Alan Wright as its Chairperson , as an 'honest non-party broker' . McMichael (UDA) was there from the start .
The two party leaders stayed away - Peter Robinson (DUP) came to speak ; the two parties swiftly formed their 'think-tank' working party . Ever since the politicians have been talking with ever greater urgency about the lack of time ..... no time for the Agreement to collapse of its own internal contradictions , no time to work out policies so that individuals will not spew them out at random . The political vacuum which fills with violence has become a staple of Unionist 'political-speak' , as it has been for the SDLP for years , and with only dim awareness of the irony .
So-called 'Fronts' started springing-up at local levels , though out of historical piety they were re-christened 'Ulster' Clubs ; a 'parent' Club for each Council area , 25 plus three for Belfast . The 'Front' still meets about a week before the Club's Acting Council , to 'direct' .
Effectively four people run the whole show .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Gregory Campbell , DUP , claims that the Hillsborough Treaty could bring civil war to the North of Ireland - " That's the logical conclusion of what I'm saying . I realise that . I see that as going very near to the edge of the Protestant faith , of what I have held dear for twenty-five years . Obviously I'm not going to do that lightly , and it's not something that I would relish . But knowing Margaret Thatcher as we all do , as Arthur Scargill does , it's not likely that she's going to back down and we have to prepare ourselves for the inevitable . Dublin and London are slowly coming round to the position of blackmailing the Protestants , of saying ' you either have your country (sic) and you have your peace , and you have your guarantees ... or else the alternative is that you have civil war ' .
Now , given that option we will not have Dublin rule ; we cannot have Dublin rule . And I know how terrible , how horrible , how awful the consequences of me going to the logical end of my argument are . But I will have to act in my community as a safeguard , as a safety valve , as somebody whom the community can use for letting off steam , and try and channel the paramilitary activities in the best way possible . And I will have to try and minimise the effect it will have on the country (sic) in the event of that type of Armageddon situation coming about . But I have to say that if these are the options , to have a greater degree of peace and stability than we have had and to have guarantees within the United Kingdom (sic) , if we let Dublin have a small role in a consultative way in Northern Ireland (sic) , or to have an opposition which will result in widespread violence , then I am going to be pushed into a position where I have to adopt the second role ."
Sammy Wilson said - " Unionists are not spoiling for a fight and we are not itching for a civil war . We've got to live in this country (sic) and I hope I have a long time to live here . Personally I would like to be as comfortable as possible and to live as long as possible . I don't want to be warring and fighting and living in a Lebanese type-situation for the rest of my life . If I was sixty-five maybe I could tolerate it for a few years , but not when you're fairly young . So no one is going to embark on any course of action unless we are sure that there is a real threat . But regardless of how innocuous it looks in the immediate term we'll be asking what lies behind it . If it does give a toehold to the Irish government (sic) then we'll be seeking by all political processes that are available to us to oppose it . Once that is exhausted , I think people will quite rightly say - ' We've done our best , and no one has listened to us ' .
At that stage the role of the politician is going to change ....... "
(MORE LATER).
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .......
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
2. Crime In The Streets.
Before Noon (on Saturday March 22 , 1986 ) [Free State] District Justice Connellan ordered that Evelyn Glenholmes be released from State custody ; it cannot be known for certain if there was a prior conspiracy among a number of gardai to frustrate the judge's order - it may have been that , coincidentally , the gardai decided to break as many laws as necessary to extradite Evelyn Glenholmes .
The decision to frustrate the order of the judge and to effectively keep Evelyn Glenholmes in custody was contempt of Court - however , there were a number of other crimes committed by the gardai in the course of effecting this contempt of Court . The criminal activity of the gardai was conducted in a number of stages - first , there was an attempt to prevent Glenholmes from leaving the Courtroom ; then there was an attempt to prevent her leaving the vicinity of the Court ; then there was a period of 'walking custody' , in which the gardai effectively detained her and prevented her going about her business . This was followed by a number of assaults .
At some stage along there the gardai obtained a provisional warrant , which , on the face of it , legitimised their subsequent behaviour . Then the shots were fired . The political motivation for the offences is clear ; if Glenholmes could be kept within reach for a nuber of minutes a warrant might be obtained which would allow the gardai to send her to Britain . The first stage of the criminal activity involved blocking the door of the Court and preventing members of the public , lawyers and journalists from leaving ! This involved crimes of common assault , threatening behaviour and unlawful detention - not just of Glenholmes but of a number of people . The gardai then chased Evelyn Glenholmes , her lawyers and friends , through the Court : this involved common assault , threatening behaviour and behaviour likely to lead to a breach of the peace .
The second stage of the criminal activity began outside the Court , when gardai attempted to prevent Glenholmes from entering a car , when they used violence to attempt to reach her . This involved common assault , actual assault , threatening behaviour and behaviour likely to lead to a breach of the peace . She managed to get into the car . But that was'nt the end of the gardai criminal behaviour .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, July 29, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Alan Wright , from the 'Ulster' Clubs , stated - " We recognise there has to be a role for the minority (sic - the Nationalists are not a "minority" in Ireland) , there is a dire need for co-operation . But I firmly believe that the environment for proper politics is not here because of the real source of the poison - militant nationalism . It's a cancer in our society ignored for fifteen years (sic - on so many levels !) . Our aims are to smash the (Hillsborough) Agreement and get the Loyalist people into a position of strength to face the authorities to create that environment .
It could probably be done eventually by sitting round a table . But that could take twenty years and another 2,000 dead . We have'nt the time . " When Alan Wright speaks of "...positions of strength .. " and a new environment , there are echoes of McMichael and the theories of the UDA's political wing . At other times he seems to quote unconsciously from Peter Robinson's pamphlets . He describes McMichael as "...a remarkable political thinker .. " and Robinson as "...the soul of integrity .. " . ( '1169..... ' Comment - "political thinkers (with) integrity" in the UDA/DUP ? Not likely .)
But when Wright speaks of the death-toll , he touches a personal tragedy : in 1979 , his father , Jim , six years out of the RUC Reserve , and his twenty-one year-old sister , got into the family car and began to move off from the house . An INLA booby-trap bomb killed his father and seriously injured his sister . Alan Wright was twenty-five at the time - " I did'nt join anything , I did'nt take up a gun . I did go out once to go down to the Tunnel area and spit in a republican's face and I came near it , but the spittle dried in my mouth . I could not do it . I started clinging on in the hope that the (British) government would do something for the Protestant community .
I joined no organisation , I clung to that . But no - on the 15th November (1985) they sold me out again . " The only organisation Alan Wright joined was the Orange Order .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Jim Allister , the DUP Chief Whip , stated (re the 1985 Hillsborough Treaty) - " We may not have much confidence that we will achieve that end (doing away with that Treaty) by these methods (ie constitutional and democratic methods) but we have the avenue of trying to thwart and destroy the Treaty through parliament , and that can go out into the avenue of seeking to disrupt the parliamentary process , even to the nitty gritty of seeking to disrupt the (British) government's timetable . Then there is our task of seeking to demonstrate that the community has rejected the Agreement , through petitions , by-elections , a referendum or whatever means we think appropriate . After that we begin the process of making the province (sic) ungovernable , both through learning the lessons of the 1974 Ulster Workers' strike and through pulling out of even lowly local government .
The day Dublin civil servants arrive in any shape or form to administer this province (sic) is the day that we say 'Right , do it on your own , we're pulling out of every tier of government' . If we have done all that and we are still rejected , then they would have rendered me redundant as a politician , but they would not have rendered me redundant as an individual Loyalist , and then I would act in concert with hundreds of thousands of other individual Loyalists in arming ourselves . No self-respecting individual is going to do anything but resist . In those circumstances there are no lengths to which Ulster (sic) men would not go to stop it . None . "
According to Gregory Campbell , the Loyalists , having obtained what they regard as a mandate in a referendum or in by-elections , and having failed to stop Dublin involvement in the North of Ireland , would say "...we must form ourselves into a provisional government ; that provisional government must have a defence ; and that defence must be armed . The Protestant people must be armed . That is my own personal view of how the situation lies ahead . " Gregory Campbell continued - " In the setting up of a provisional government there would be so much community tension that ... well ... I hesitate to use the words civil war ... but there would be so much community tension that we would certainly have the kind of violence that we have'nt seen since the early 1970's .
Even then it was contained to North Belfast , the Bogside , West Belfast , Armagh , Fermanagh . But , in this instance , the whole province (sic) would be embroiled . And there would be much more numerous deaths ....... "
(MORE LATER).
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
1. Shooting In The Streets .
Shortly after noon on Saturday March 22 , 1986 , Danny Morrison , a leading member of the Provos , was standing in Prince's Street , Dublin , with a gun pointed at his chest . The gun was held by a garda who had just fired at least three shots across the crowded street .
The garda had been waving the gun around and although there were many garda in the vicinity , none intervened . A few yards away another garda had drawn his automatic gun and was involved in a bit of 'pushing and pulling' with a colleague before crouching down and running back to hide behind a car ; this garda , with the automatic , seemed to be frightened of the garda who had fired the shots .
Meanwhile , Danny Morrison was walking forward towards the garda who had fired the shots - a uniformed garda and a detective to his left tried to hold him back but he brushed them off . Morrison , wearing a brown sweater , his sleeves rolled up , obviously unarmed , walked forward and stood in front of the garda who had fired the shots , remonstrating with him for firing a gun in a crowded street . The garda put his gun away .
A few feet away , inside the BHS department store , Evelyn Glenholmes was being arrested ; a young man who was trying to enter the store was having his shins kicked by a uniformed garda . Against all the received truths about law and order , against all that most people would want to believe , what had happened was that a leading member of the Provos , at mortal risk to himself , had brought to an end a shooting episode in a crowded street .
In the period leading up to this incident , an extraordinary number of criminal and civil offences had been committed ; these were patently not offences committed for personal gain . They were politically motivated offences . They were committed by gardai .......
(MORE LATER).
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Alan Wright , from the 'Ulster' Clubs , stated - " We recognise there has to be a role for the minority (sic - the Nationalists are not a "minority" in Ireland) , there is a dire need for co-operation . But I firmly believe that the environment for proper politics is not here because of the real source of the poison - militant nationalism . It's a cancer in our society ignored for fifteen years (sic - on so many levels !) . Our aims are to smash the (Hillsborough) Agreement and get the Loyalist people into a position of strength to face the authorities to create that environment .
It could probably be done eventually by sitting round a table . But that could take twenty years and another 2,000 dead . We have'nt the time . " When Alan Wright speaks of "...positions of strength .. " and a new environment , there are echoes of McMichael and the theories of the UDA's political wing . At other times he seems to quote unconsciously from Peter Robinson's pamphlets . He describes McMichael as "...a remarkable political thinker .. " and Robinson as "...the soul of integrity .. " . ( '1169..... ' Comment - "political thinkers (with) integrity" in the UDA/DUP ? Not likely .)
But when Wright speaks of the death-toll , he touches a personal tragedy : in 1979 , his father , Jim , six years out of the RUC Reserve , and his twenty-one year-old sister , got into the family car and began to move off from the house . An INLA booby-trap bomb killed his father and seriously injured his sister . Alan Wright was twenty-five at the time - " I did'nt join anything , I did'nt take up a gun . I did go out once to go down to the Tunnel area and spit in a republican's face and I came near it , but the spittle dried in my mouth . I could not do it . I started clinging on in the hope that the (British) government would do something for the Protestant community .
I joined no organisation , I clung to that . But no - on the 15th November (1985) they sold me out again . " The only organisation Alan Wright joined was the Orange Order .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Jim Allister , the DUP Chief Whip , stated (re the 1985 Hillsborough Treaty) - " We may not have much confidence that we will achieve that end (doing away with that Treaty) by these methods (ie constitutional and democratic methods) but we have the avenue of trying to thwart and destroy the Treaty through parliament , and that can go out into the avenue of seeking to disrupt the parliamentary process , even to the nitty gritty of seeking to disrupt the (British) government's timetable . Then there is our task of seeking to demonstrate that the community has rejected the Agreement , through petitions , by-elections , a referendum or whatever means we think appropriate . After that we begin the process of making the province (sic) ungovernable , both through learning the lessons of the 1974 Ulster Workers' strike and through pulling out of even lowly local government .
The day Dublin civil servants arrive in any shape or form to administer this province (sic) is the day that we say 'Right , do it on your own , we're pulling out of every tier of government' . If we have done all that and we are still rejected , then they would have rendered me redundant as a politician , but they would not have rendered me redundant as an individual Loyalist , and then I would act in concert with hundreds of thousands of other individual Loyalists in arming ourselves . No self-respecting individual is going to do anything but resist . In those circumstances there are no lengths to which Ulster (sic) men would not go to stop it . None . "
According to Gregory Campbell , the Loyalists , having obtained what they regard as a mandate in a referendum or in by-elections , and having failed to stop Dublin involvement in the North of Ireland , would say "...we must form ourselves into a provisional government ; that provisional government must have a defence ; and that defence must be armed . The Protestant people must be armed . That is my own personal view of how the situation lies ahead . " Gregory Campbell continued - " In the setting up of a provisional government there would be so much community tension that ... well ... I hesitate to use the words civil war ... but there would be so much community tension that we would certainly have the kind of violence that we have'nt seen since the early 1970's .
Even then it was contained to North Belfast , the Bogside , West Belfast , Armagh , Fermanagh . But , in this instance , the whole province (sic) would be embroiled . And there would be much more numerous deaths ....... "
(MORE LATER).
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
1. Shooting In The Streets .
Shortly after noon on Saturday March 22 , 1986 , Danny Morrison , a leading member of the Provos , was standing in Prince's Street , Dublin , with a gun pointed at his chest . The gun was held by a garda who had just fired at least three shots across the crowded street .
The garda had been waving the gun around and although there were many garda in the vicinity , none intervened . A few yards away another garda had drawn his automatic gun and was involved in a bit of 'pushing and pulling' with a colleague before crouching down and running back to hide behind a car ; this garda , with the automatic , seemed to be frightened of the garda who had fired the shots .
Meanwhile , Danny Morrison was walking forward towards the garda who had fired the shots - a uniformed garda and a detective to his left tried to hold him back but he brushed them off . Morrison , wearing a brown sweater , his sleeves rolled up , obviously unarmed , walked forward and stood in front of the garda who had fired the shots , remonstrating with him for firing a gun in a crowded street . The garda put his gun away .
A few feet away , inside the BHS department store , Evelyn Glenholmes was being arrested ; a young man who was trying to enter the store was having his shins kicked by a uniformed garda . Against all the received truths about law and order , against all that most people would want to believe , what had happened was that a leading member of the Provos , at mortal risk to himself , had brought to an end a shooting episode in a crowded street .
In the period leading up to this incident , an extraordinary number of criminal and civil offences had been committed ; these were patently not offences committed for personal gain . They were politically motivated offences . They were committed by gardai .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Great to be back .... !! Bhi an saoire caite inne ('the holiday was over yesterday') and we hope that this post will signify a return to 'normal service' on '1169 And Counting..... ' . But we are not quite sure that we have shaken-off the holiday 'cobwebs.....' : so check back tomorrow , as well , and see how we are doing ....... ;-) . Sharon .
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Ask Unionists , either political or paramilitary , or anywhere on the spectrum in between , to explain the 'Ulster' Clubs and they talk first of Carson's legacy , the 'Ulster' Clubs of 1912 , and next of how remarkably naive but sincere Alan Wright is . He resents the pointed queries about the UDA's position in his organisation , and is tired fending off suggestions that he might be easy to manipulate : " No one's behind Alan Wright except the Lord . "
It's an odd habit , referring to yourself in the third person . On the same theme , his independence , he told ' Fortnight' magazine ... " ...Alan Wright's a thirty-one year old man from Portadown ... " , with no political axe to grind . But he does have a religious axe and he keeps it sharp . He's a Salvationist , a Salvation Army man - " At the end of the day my politics are not divisible from my faith . It's Protestantism versus Rome . "
Like all convinced evangelists he speaks of matters spiritual and in his case matters politico-spiritual with complete unselfconsciousness . Basically , it's a harsh message all the more startling for being delivered in an 'unpolished' way . You feel as if you've stumbled on someome completely untried , rehearsing their lines . Smashing the Hillsborough 'Agreement' is his first and prime aim but the Clubs will not go out of existence once that 'Agreement' is scrapped . There can only be peace when a new environment is created : " Militant Nationalism must be addressed . You can't kill the dream but you can remove the dreamer . The Ulster (sic) Clubs are not anti-Roman Catholic for the sake of being anti- Roman Catholic and anyone who smashes a Roman Catholic's windows , say , will have us to deal with , let me tell you . But we are anti-Nationalist...".......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Gregory Campbell , DUP , stated (re Fianna Fail) - " What they are beginning is a process . John Hume calls it a healing process ; well , as far as we are concerned it is to open a wound , to fester the wound and to rub salt in the wound . We will find ourselves at the very end of the constitutional road and we will find ourselves in the very same position as Carson found himself in at Balmoral in 1912 , where we will have to get every able-bodied man in Ulster (sic) armed as best we can , whether it is with guns or sticks . Once the ink is dry and the unionists acquiesce in any way to Dublin involvement , then we are finished . "
Sammy Wilson , DUP , stated - " You don't give a consultative role if it does'nt mean anything . Once that role is conceded , nationalists on both sides of the border would want to work on it and develop it , and what might seem innocuous initially could be the embryo for a huge monster which would eventually gobble us up . Our case is this : that when it comes to the internal arrangements in this province (sic) , to the devolving of powers , the (British) government requires that there be widespread acceptance of any changes . Yet when it comes to a much more major constitutional change , that is giving an outside government (by which he meant Dublin) a role in Northern Ireland (sic) , the (British) government is not prepared to concede that it requires the measurable widespread acceptance of this community . "
According to Jim Allister , the DUP Chief Whip at the Assembly , Unionists have a carefully planned strategy of opposition to the Anglo-Irish package : " If it gives a role to the Dublin government it is unacceptable , no matter how innocuous it may seem . Assuming that that is the case , then we set ourselves on a course of seeking to undo that process . Our first bounded duty is to exhaust each and every constitutional and democratic facility we have ....... "
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
In prison in Amsterdam , Brendan 'Bic' McFarlane has no association with any of the other prisoners ; he cannot attend Mass with the other men and he is only allowed one hour's fresh air a day , taken separately . In relation to the appeal , he says that he's " ...prepared for the worst , so that when it happens , you're better prepared to deal with it . "
He has a colour TV in his cell , which costs nine guilders - seventy cents a week . But he gets 'paid' three guilders ( eighty cents) a day - just to be in prison . He is very critical of the " ...misinformation .." that is being "..put about.. " regarding the North of Ireland - " People here are educated and they think that there's two religions fighting it out and the poor Brits are stuck in the middle . The BBC version of events always comes across . When an eleven-year-old schoolgirl gets blown away by a plastic bullet , the British Army version comes across . "
When asked if he ever thought of stopping his activity through pressure , he says - " ...you have to soldier on . If you sit down you'd collapse under that pressure . You have to fight . " ('1169..... ' Comment : But , of course - that was 'then' , this is 'now' ; no more fighting for 'Bic' and his colleagues [not against the Brits , anyway...] . Instead , 'concerns' will be raised in Stormont and Leinster House . And Westminster to follow , no doubt . And those same 'concerns' will also , no doubt , be raised on the so-called 'Policing Boards' in the Six Counties when the Provisionals eventually take their seats on same . "Soldering on ... " , Brendan ..... ?)
[END of ' McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY ' .]
(Tomorrow - ' CHAOS IN THE GARDAI ' - from 1986 . )
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Ask Unionists , either political or paramilitary , or anywhere on the spectrum in between , to explain the 'Ulster' Clubs and they talk first of Carson's legacy , the 'Ulster' Clubs of 1912 , and next of how remarkably naive but sincere Alan Wright is . He resents the pointed queries about the UDA's position in his organisation , and is tired fending off suggestions that he might be easy to manipulate : " No one's behind Alan Wright except the Lord . "
It's an odd habit , referring to yourself in the third person . On the same theme , his independence , he told ' Fortnight' magazine ... " ...Alan Wright's a thirty-one year old man from Portadown ... " , with no political axe to grind . But he does have a religious axe and he keeps it sharp . He's a Salvationist , a Salvation Army man - " At the end of the day my politics are not divisible from my faith . It's Protestantism versus Rome . "
Like all convinced evangelists he speaks of matters spiritual and in his case matters politico-spiritual with complete unselfconsciousness . Basically , it's a harsh message all the more startling for being delivered in an 'unpolished' way . You feel as if you've stumbled on someome completely untried , rehearsing their lines . Smashing the Hillsborough 'Agreement' is his first and prime aim but the Clubs will not go out of existence once that 'Agreement' is scrapped . There can only be peace when a new environment is created : " Militant Nationalism must be addressed . You can't kill the dream but you can remove the dreamer . The Ulster (sic) Clubs are not anti-Roman Catholic for the sake of being anti- Roman Catholic and anyone who smashes a Roman Catholic's windows , say , will have us to deal with , let me tell you . But we are anti-Nationalist...".......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Gregory Campbell , DUP , stated (re Fianna Fail) - " What they are beginning is a process . John Hume calls it a healing process ; well , as far as we are concerned it is to open a wound , to fester the wound and to rub salt in the wound . We will find ourselves at the very end of the constitutional road and we will find ourselves in the very same position as Carson found himself in at Balmoral in 1912 , where we will have to get every able-bodied man in Ulster (sic) armed as best we can , whether it is with guns or sticks . Once the ink is dry and the unionists acquiesce in any way to Dublin involvement , then we are finished . "
Sammy Wilson , DUP , stated - " You don't give a consultative role if it does'nt mean anything . Once that role is conceded , nationalists on both sides of the border would want to work on it and develop it , and what might seem innocuous initially could be the embryo for a huge monster which would eventually gobble us up . Our case is this : that when it comes to the internal arrangements in this province (sic) , to the devolving of powers , the (British) government requires that there be widespread acceptance of any changes . Yet when it comes to a much more major constitutional change , that is giving an outside government (by which he meant Dublin) a role in Northern Ireland (sic) , the (British) government is not prepared to concede that it requires the measurable widespread acceptance of this community . "
According to Jim Allister , the DUP Chief Whip at the Assembly , Unionists have a carefully planned strategy of opposition to the Anglo-Irish package : " If it gives a role to the Dublin government it is unacceptable , no matter how innocuous it may seem . Assuming that that is the case , then we set ourselves on a course of seeking to undo that process . Our first bounded duty is to exhaust each and every constitutional and democratic facility we have ....... "
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
In prison in Amsterdam , Brendan 'Bic' McFarlane has no association with any of the other prisoners ; he cannot attend Mass with the other men and he is only allowed one hour's fresh air a day , taken separately . In relation to the appeal , he says that he's " ...prepared for the worst , so that when it happens , you're better prepared to deal with it . "
He has a colour TV in his cell , which costs nine guilders - seventy cents a week . But he gets 'paid' three guilders ( eighty cents) a day - just to be in prison . He is very critical of the " ...misinformation .." that is being "..put about.. " regarding the North of Ireland - " People here are educated and they think that there's two religions fighting it out and the poor Brits are stuck in the middle . The BBC version of events always comes across . When an eleven-year-old schoolgirl gets blown away by a plastic bullet , the British Army version comes across . "
When asked if he ever thought of stopping his activity through pressure , he says - " ...you have to soldier on . If you sit down you'd collapse under that pressure . You have to fight . " ('1169..... ' Comment : But , of course - that was 'then' , this is 'now' ; no more fighting for 'Bic' and his colleagues [not against the Brits , anyway...] . Instead , 'concerns' will be raised in Stormont and Leinster House . And Westminster to follow , no doubt . And those same 'concerns' will also , no doubt , be raised on the so-called 'Policing Boards' in the Six Counties when the Provisionals eventually take their seats on same . "Soldering on ... " , Brendan ..... ?)
[END of ' McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY ' .]
(Tomorrow - ' CHAOS IN THE GARDAI ' - from 1986 . )
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Friday, July 15, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
James Molyneaux watches the intense and emotional Harold McCusker , once a contender for his 'throne' , and he watches the coldly ambitious MEP John Taylor , who wheeled out the remains of the Official Unionist Party 'fur-coat' establishment brigade to take the European selection off McCusker , the 'working-class boy ' . And when there is time , no doubt , Jim Molyneaux also watches the perpetually ambitious Orange Order leader the Reverend Martin Smyth . The Official Unionist Party leader could not be said to take a vital part in the joint working-party .
No more , in fact , than his co-leader , who has his own 'boys' to keep an eye on , and none 'hungrier' than Peter Robinson , and the Ballymena barrister Jim Allister . Ian Paisley's remarkable preoccupation with Unionist unity in this campaign has left Robinson free to cultivate the 'Ulster' Clubs , to make the noises on the ultimate place for the violence that Paisley usually specialises in .
Ian Paisley has 'toned down' the rhetoric , veterans of his campaigns think , because the failure of the 1977 strike still haunts him . As one of his men put it - " He thought he could do it on his own (but) the Official Unionist Party swung in against him and the power-workers did'nt pull the plug . He's not going to make that mistake again . We can only ask the people to do this after everything else . Morally we had to have the elections , the council thing , the Assembly had to be put at risk - because then we can say , as the politicians have done everything , now it's the turn of the Clubs ... " Often Unionist political figures do not finish that sentence , but this was a frank DUP man .
Even he was'nt specific about what happens next , but there was no mistaking his relish for the imminent exhaustion of constitutional means , nor his approval of the 'Ulster' Clubs .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
The DUP is implacably opposed to any role whatsoever for the Irish government (sic) in the running of Northern Ireland , (sic) even if that role is minor , 'consultative' and cosmetic - they see it as the beginning of the end , the road to Armageddon : " While we are interested in the fine print of an agreement , and we will study it carefully , the fact that for the first time the Dublin government are going to be given an input in any way , that will be enough to trigger off all of our opposition , whatever the fine print , " says the DUP's Gregory Campbell .
" If Tom King were to say to us - 'Look , we're only consulting Dublin about the colour of the lamp-posts ' , that is sufficient for us to say that for the first time Dublin has a toe in the door . It's only a few months or a few years from advising us on the colour of the lamp-posts , to telling us what way we will conduct the traffic , to what way we will dress the police , to what way we will arm them . If Dublin is to have a say in any respect , if they are to have a say in that the ' Flags and Emblems Act ' is to be repealed , because Peter Barry and Garret Fitzgerald have said it is offensive to nationalists and must be repealed , something that is regarded as small beer , then the British government will be sitting down and listening to the views of the Dublin government .
Sovereignty is sovereignty . You either are sovereign over a part of a country (sic) or you are not . You either have absolute control or you do not . If Dublin has a consultative role , that is the beginning of the end . I would see the final day had arrived whereby Ulster (sic) had finally been sold , and we would have no other option but to exhaust the constitutional process and then proceed as quickly as possible to arming ourselves and to fighting .
Lets not forget that Charles Haughey is waiting in the wings and if Garret Fitzgerald were to put his toe in the door , Haughey will be coming through the door . Fianna Fail are'nt going to be content with the colour of the lamp-posts or of the police uniforms or with the 'Flags and Emblems Act' . They are going to demand a more meaningful role and subsequent summits will increase that role ....... " ('1169... ' Comment - Fianna Fail continues to 'comment' on how Westminster 'governs' the Six Counties ; however , Fianna Fail never queries Westminster's jurisdictional control over those Six Counties . The Unionists and their 'paymasters' in Westminster have nothing to fear from Fianna Fail - or any other group of Free Staters .)
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
Brendan McFarlane is not very optimistic about his own future ; he believes that he will be extradited back to the North of Ireland - " When they lock me up , they'll throw away the key . I don't want to go back to H-Blocks , or any prison for that matter . But if they do send me back it's a small price to pay for the political victory we have scored in Holland . I think it's very significant - they recognise that the struggle is political . It was an achievement beyond all expectations . It was also unprecedented in so far as there were two IRA Volunteers in front of cameras for the first time in quite a number of years . "
He was amused at the last court hearing when he was told that he could make a claim for various items that were taken from him when he was arrested , such as jewellery and cassettes : " I was also told that I could claim for the 'equipment' found nearby ! I told them if they were so disposed regarding the found 'equipment' , they could forward it to the Republican Movement ... " It should be noted that Brendan McFarlane has not been charged with any offence in Holland .
He is totally isolated in the Amsterdam prison - he has no association with any of the other prisoners .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' today , Friday 15th July for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
James Molyneaux watches the intense and emotional Harold McCusker , once a contender for his 'throne' , and he watches the coldly ambitious MEP John Taylor , who wheeled out the remains of the Official Unionist Party 'fur-coat' establishment brigade to take the European selection off McCusker , the 'working-class boy ' . And when there is time , no doubt , Jim Molyneaux also watches the perpetually ambitious Orange Order leader the Reverend Martin Smyth . The Official Unionist Party leader could not be said to take a vital part in the joint working-party .
No more , in fact , than his co-leader , who has his own 'boys' to keep an eye on , and none 'hungrier' than Peter Robinson , and the Ballymena barrister Jim Allister . Ian Paisley's remarkable preoccupation with Unionist unity in this campaign has left Robinson free to cultivate the 'Ulster' Clubs , to make the noises on the ultimate place for the violence that Paisley usually specialises in .
Ian Paisley has 'toned down' the rhetoric , veterans of his campaigns think , because the failure of the 1977 strike still haunts him . As one of his men put it - " He thought he could do it on his own (but) the Official Unionist Party swung in against him and the power-workers did'nt pull the plug . He's not going to make that mistake again . We can only ask the people to do this after everything else . Morally we had to have the elections , the council thing , the Assembly had to be put at risk - because then we can say , as the politicians have done everything , now it's the turn of the Clubs ... " Often Unionist political figures do not finish that sentence , but this was a frank DUP man .
Even he was'nt specific about what happens next , but there was no mistaking his relish for the imminent exhaustion of constitutional means , nor his approval of the 'Ulster' Clubs .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
The DUP is implacably opposed to any role whatsoever for the Irish government (sic) in the running of Northern Ireland , (sic) even if that role is minor , 'consultative' and cosmetic - they see it as the beginning of the end , the road to Armageddon : " While we are interested in the fine print of an agreement , and we will study it carefully , the fact that for the first time the Dublin government are going to be given an input in any way , that will be enough to trigger off all of our opposition , whatever the fine print , " says the DUP's Gregory Campbell .
" If Tom King were to say to us - 'Look , we're only consulting Dublin about the colour of the lamp-posts ' , that is sufficient for us to say that for the first time Dublin has a toe in the door . It's only a few months or a few years from advising us on the colour of the lamp-posts , to telling us what way we will conduct the traffic , to what way we will dress the police , to what way we will arm them . If Dublin is to have a say in any respect , if they are to have a say in that the ' Flags and Emblems Act ' is to be repealed , because Peter Barry and Garret Fitzgerald have said it is offensive to nationalists and must be repealed , something that is regarded as small beer , then the British government will be sitting down and listening to the views of the Dublin government .
Sovereignty is sovereignty . You either are sovereign over a part of a country (sic) or you are not . You either have absolute control or you do not . If Dublin has a consultative role , that is the beginning of the end . I would see the final day had arrived whereby Ulster (sic) had finally been sold , and we would have no other option but to exhaust the constitutional process and then proceed as quickly as possible to arming ourselves and to fighting .
Lets not forget that Charles Haughey is waiting in the wings and if Garret Fitzgerald were to put his toe in the door , Haughey will be coming through the door . Fianna Fail are'nt going to be content with the colour of the lamp-posts or of the police uniforms or with the 'Flags and Emblems Act' . They are going to demand a more meaningful role and subsequent summits will increase that role ....... " ('1169... ' Comment - Fianna Fail continues to 'comment' on how Westminster 'governs' the Six Counties ; however , Fianna Fail never queries Westminster's jurisdictional control over those Six Counties . The Unionists and their 'paymasters' in Westminster have nothing to fear from Fianna Fail - or any other group of Free Staters .)
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
Brendan McFarlane is not very optimistic about his own future ; he believes that he will be extradited back to the North of Ireland - " When they lock me up , they'll throw away the key . I don't want to go back to H-Blocks , or any prison for that matter . But if they do send me back it's a small price to pay for the political victory we have scored in Holland . I think it's very significant - they recognise that the struggle is political . It was an achievement beyond all expectations . It was also unprecedented in so far as there were two IRA Volunteers in front of cameras for the first time in quite a number of years . "
He was amused at the last court hearing when he was told that he could make a claim for various items that were taken from him when he was arrested , such as jewellery and cassettes : " I was also told that I could claim for the 'equipment' found nearby ! I told them if they were so disposed regarding the found 'equipment' , they could forward it to the Republican Movement ... " It should be noted that Brendan McFarlane has not been charged with any offence in Holland .
He is totally isolated in the Amsterdam prison - he has no association with any of the other prisoners .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' today , Friday 15th July for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Thursday, July 14, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The 'post-mortem' the day after the election count was in Ian Paisley's house ; big , over-heated and a bit overpowering , like its owner . Too many things on the walls , thick carpets . Unusually , they moved the talk from the particular to the general and for about thirty minutes , with souls bared , discussed the viability of the various options for 'governing Northern Ireland' (sic) .
Willie McCrea , the 'country-and-western' singing cleric from bitter South Derry , public ranter supreme , talked very frankly about power-sharing ; he felt no need , obviously , to go through the set-piece denunciation : " I could never sell it to my voters , " he said , " not after all the deaths of the last fifteen years . " Harold McCusker , Deputy Leader of the DUP , is right - he said in public a few weeks ago that the taboo had gone and it was now possible to discuss the previously unmentionable without automatically being called a 'Lundy' .
It sounded , mind you , a bit like the recitation of a 'charm' to ward off retribution - he had just finished proposing a tripartite London-Dublin-Belfast conference with no executive powers to discuss matters of mutual interest . Peter Robinson followed him with his new positive relationship with Dublin . Discussion of anything so sensitive as power-sharing is not frequent , however , in the joint working-party . It's an uneasy group , two mutually suspicious parties , individuals who had'nt much to do with each other prior to the agreement , ill-matched leaders . Ian Paisley blusters , tiredly , with nothing to contribute , really , once the microphones are off and the committee room door closes out the public . Everyone says the 'Big Man' is tired , but that does'nt mean he's going .
James Molyneaux , the bachelor who lives and breaths for politics and eats only as "...fuel.. " , has been shaky since Margaret Thatcher so ruthlessly exposed his mistaken trust in her , his conviction that in direct proportion to his visible love of Westminster and propriety , she would 'stand by Ulster' (sic) - he was wrong . But that does'nt mean that Molyneaux is 'going' , either . At least not yet .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Sammy Wilson , DUP , does not like to be called a 'socialist' ('1169... ' Comment : we would'nt think that would be a big worry for him ... ) : " Socialism is not a term that people use very often in Northern Ireland (sic) and yet if you look at the things that they (ie Irish Republicans) believed and the ideas they would put forward , I suppose if they lived anywhere else they would be socialists . I would prefer , because of the stigma which attaches to socialism , the term 'radicalism' rather that socialism . One of the problems of Irish history is that the concentration on the constitutional question by nationalists gave the excuse for not dealing with , and not prioritising , the social issues which affected the Protestant people as much if not more in some cases , than they affected the Roman Catholic people . " ('1169... ' Comment - Translation = ' Our people were stressed having usurped your land but you ignored our stress ...' )
With that view of the Protestant poverty , there is little sympathy in the DUP for talk of Catholic alienation : " Alienation ?" says Jim Wells , " There's many who feel alienated all the way to the bank . Catholics in West Belfast have houses that would be the pride of Dublin and many of them have top jobs . ('1169... ' Comment - replace the word 'Catholics' with 'Blacks' .......) How many Protestant barristers are there in Northern Ireland ? (sic) Catholics have prospered and increased in numbers here . They have retained their own educational system , the GAA gets more money for facilities from the oppressive British government than they get down south , in some cases they have their own hospitals , all funded by the state .
I do accept that Roman Catholics feel that the old structure of Stormont did not give adequate expression to their viewpoint , and I am realistic enough to accept that there will be no return to a one-party majority rule state . But the SDLP have been given a veto on all new arrangements for devolved government and until that veto is removed they have no incentive to come to terms with the unionists ... " ....
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
Brendan McFarlane and seven others had escaped from the H-Blocks (on Sunday 25 September 1983) ; they were now 'on the run' . At 8pm that evening they took to the fields again - they were close to the River Bann but could'nt cross it and they made a bed for the night close to a manor house . They then crossed the Bann late that evening and walked towards Scarva ; they walked on the main road to Newry until dawn . On the Wednesday (28 September 1983) they came to a railway line which they followed . It took them across the border - " I still remember every minute of that escape . I did an interview with 'An Phoblacht' two days after I got away . "
Brendan McFarlane is reluctant to say where he has been since the escape ; he claims that to do so would entail giving countries and dates which would in turn identify people . His name was linked with the Don Tidey kidnap and shoot-out at Derrada Wood near Ballinamore towards the end of 1983 , which took place shortly after his escape . However , he says that he was "...definitely not .. " involved with that . Garda Recruit Gary Sheehan and (Free State Army) Private Paddy Kelly were shot dead during that incident . Whilst on the run , he began to learn of other deaths , more friends being killed : on the first Sunday in December 1984 , Provo Antoine MacGiolla Bhrighde was shot dead when an undercover SAS squad was taken on by three Provos . An SAS man was also shot dead . However , a few weeks later , the body of another Provo turned up - that of Kieran Fleming ; he had escaped with Brendan McFarlane from the Maze Prison and had also evaded capture by the SAS squad following the shoot-out .
It was presumed that he had escaped ; he was last seen on the banks of the River Bannagh close to where the shoot-out took place ; he had a fear of water and drowned . Brendan McFarlane says that he "...was out of the country at the time . He (Fleming) had escaped and got out of the ambush and then the water .... I was pretty down when I read about that . It's the type of thing you read about and you say 'Jesus Christ !' "
He laughs when he remembers his arrest ; the Dutch police came through the windows and threw 'flash' grenades - which set fire to the curtains , filling the flat with smoke ! " I was sleeping on the floor . The guys were piling in the windows . I crawled to the door and one of them said to me - ' Excuse me , do you have a key to the front door?' " He declined to give the Dutch police the key ! Among the items that were seized by the Dutch police was an entire collection of Christy Moore albums ; he misses them as they were a tangible link with Ireland at a time when he could not even make a telephone call back , just in case it would be traced and his whereabouts discovered and those who were helping him endangered .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' on Friday 15th July next for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The 'post-mortem' the day after the election count was in Ian Paisley's house ; big , over-heated and a bit overpowering , like its owner . Too many things on the walls , thick carpets . Unusually , they moved the talk from the particular to the general and for about thirty minutes , with souls bared , discussed the viability of the various options for 'governing Northern Ireland' (sic) .
Willie McCrea , the 'country-and-western' singing cleric from bitter South Derry , public ranter supreme , talked very frankly about power-sharing ; he felt no need , obviously , to go through the set-piece denunciation : " I could never sell it to my voters , " he said , " not after all the deaths of the last fifteen years . " Harold McCusker , Deputy Leader of the DUP , is right - he said in public a few weeks ago that the taboo had gone and it was now possible to discuss the previously unmentionable without automatically being called a 'Lundy' .
It sounded , mind you , a bit like the recitation of a 'charm' to ward off retribution - he had just finished proposing a tripartite London-Dublin-Belfast conference with no executive powers to discuss matters of mutual interest . Peter Robinson followed him with his new positive relationship with Dublin . Discussion of anything so sensitive as power-sharing is not frequent , however , in the joint working-party . It's an uneasy group , two mutually suspicious parties , individuals who had'nt much to do with each other prior to the agreement , ill-matched leaders . Ian Paisley blusters , tiredly , with nothing to contribute , really , once the microphones are off and the committee room door closes out the public . Everyone says the 'Big Man' is tired , but that does'nt mean he's going .
James Molyneaux , the bachelor who lives and breaths for politics and eats only as "...fuel.. " , has been shaky since Margaret Thatcher so ruthlessly exposed his mistaken trust in her , his conviction that in direct proportion to his visible love of Westminster and propriety , she would 'stand by Ulster' (sic) - he was wrong . But that does'nt mean that Molyneaux is 'going' , either . At least not yet .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Sammy Wilson , DUP , does not like to be called a 'socialist' ('1169... ' Comment : we would'nt think that would be a big worry for him ... ) : " Socialism is not a term that people use very often in Northern Ireland (sic) and yet if you look at the things that they (ie Irish Republicans) believed and the ideas they would put forward , I suppose if they lived anywhere else they would be socialists . I would prefer , because of the stigma which attaches to socialism , the term 'radicalism' rather that socialism . One of the problems of Irish history is that the concentration on the constitutional question by nationalists gave the excuse for not dealing with , and not prioritising , the social issues which affected the Protestant people as much if not more in some cases , than they affected the Roman Catholic people . " ('1169... ' Comment - Translation = ' Our people were stressed having usurped your land but you ignored our stress ...' )
With that view of the Protestant poverty , there is little sympathy in the DUP for talk of Catholic alienation : " Alienation ?" says Jim Wells , " There's many who feel alienated all the way to the bank . Catholics in West Belfast have houses that would be the pride of Dublin and many of them have top jobs . ('1169... ' Comment - replace the word 'Catholics' with 'Blacks' .......) How many Protestant barristers are there in Northern Ireland ? (sic) Catholics have prospered and increased in numbers here . They have retained their own educational system , the GAA gets more money for facilities from the oppressive British government than they get down south , in some cases they have their own hospitals , all funded by the state .
I do accept that Roman Catholics feel that the old structure of Stormont did not give adequate expression to their viewpoint , and I am realistic enough to accept that there will be no return to a one-party majority rule state . But the SDLP have been given a veto on all new arrangements for devolved government and until that veto is removed they have no incentive to come to terms with the unionists ... " ....
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
Brendan McFarlane and seven others had escaped from the H-Blocks (on Sunday 25 September 1983) ; they were now 'on the run' . At 8pm that evening they took to the fields again - they were close to the River Bann but could'nt cross it and they made a bed for the night close to a manor house . They then crossed the Bann late that evening and walked towards Scarva ; they walked on the main road to Newry until dawn . On the Wednesday (28 September 1983) they came to a railway line which they followed . It took them across the border - " I still remember every minute of that escape . I did an interview with 'An Phoblacht' two days after I got away . "
Brendan McFarlane is reluctant to say where he has been since the escape ; he claims that to do so would entail giving countries and dates which would in turn identify people . His name was linked with the Don Tidey kidnap and shoot-out at Derrada Wood near Ballinamore towards the end of 1983 , which took place shortly after his escape . However , he says that he was "...definitely not .. " involved with that . Garda Recruit Gary Sheehan and (Free State Army) Private Paddy Kelly were shot dead during that incident . Whilst on the run , he began to learn of other deaths , more friends being killed : on the first Sunday in December 1984 , Provo Antoine MacGiolla Bhrighde was shot dead when an undercover SAS squad was taken on by three Provos . An SAS man was also shot dead . However , a few weeks later , the body of another Provo turned up - that of Kieran Fleming ; he had escaped with Brendan McFarlane from the Maze Prison and had also evaded capture by the SAS squad following the shoot-out .
It was presumed that he had escaped ; he was last seen on the banks of the River Bannagh close to where the shoot-out took place ; he had a fear of water and drowned . Brendan McFarlane says that he "...was out of the country at the time . He (Fleming) had escaped and got out of the ambush and then the water .... I was pretty down when I read about that . It's the type of thing you read about and you say 'Jesus Christ !' "
He laughs when he remembers his arrest ; the Dutch police came through the windows and threw 'flash' grenades - which set fire to the curtains , filling the flat with smoke ! " I was sleeping on the floor . The guys were piling in the windows . I crawled to the door and one of them said to me - ' Excuse me , do you have a key to the front door?' " He declined to give the Dutch police the key ! Among the items that were seized by the Dutch police was an entire collection of Christy Moore albums ; he misses them as they were a tangible link with Ireland at a time when he could not even make a telephone call back , just in case it would be traced and his whereabouts discovered and those who were helping him endangered .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' on Friday 15th July next for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Unionist tactics to date have worked well enough as a simple demonstration of implacable resentment , but there is no 'coherent , well-thought out strategy' directed at the achievement of an agreed aim : because there is no post-agreement policy , either inside the respective parties , or in the joint working-party , there can be no clarity now .
On the one hand , the Unionists have talked of wholesale withdrawal , on the other they hold back - urging the councillors to forge ahead , stopping short of total withdrawal at Westminster . Some express relief that the British government's 'goof' of prematurely declaring their power to bring in commissioners to run the councils , not only whipped up a flagging protest , but also may take the councillors off the hook of responsibility for running down local services .
An 'Ulster' Clubs member stated - " And we've got a whole host of other opportunities for causing disruption ; obstructing the commissioners , that kind of thing . " In the wings , the Clubs are looking on , a bit grimly - " This is the politicians' last chance . If the councillors break ....the people won't stand for that , " says one rather bleak young man , over-estimating his own somewhat makeshift organisation . A more detached observer reckons no councillor will have to go the distance and go to jail , thus ending a local government career ! " The government will strike a rate - then what's the point of the courts penalising councillors for failing to ? "
Meanwhile , the 'working party' surveyed the scene in the wake of that damp and cold by-election , weighing the handsome Unionist total vote against Seamus Mallon's Westminster seat , and eventually decided they needed another gimmick . Perhaps a one-day strike ... ?
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Gregory Campbell , DUP , states - " Obviously I thought about their ( the Catholics in the Six Counties) deprivation and I thought about what kind of political structures there might be to bring about a better society , but there continued to be an attitude on their part that they were the only ones being discriminated against , and that I was part of the group that was discriminating against them . There seemed to be a continual diatribe against me , against people like me .
We were the first-class citizens and these people were separated , were downtrodden and different . And it never seemed to get across to them that the people they were agitating against were in exactly the same position as them . Maybe in the early days there was a socialist ideology in the Civil Rights Movement , but it was always couched in terms of republicanism which obviously distanced me and people like me from it . I joined the 'Young Unionist Movement' and I found myself campaigning for people that I was still socially opposed to . I found myself campaigning for people like Robin Chichester-Clarke , brother of the former Prime Minister , and to me that person was on a different social scale , a different planet , to me . The guy was a highbrow Tory who cared very little if at all for working-class Protestant people , who were the people who were electing him .
And gradually I moved over to the Protestant Unionist Party which , at that time , 1970-1971 , was just changing over to the DUP . "
Sammy Wilson , the DUP Chairperson of the Planning Committee of Belfast City Council , is also from a working-class background : " I've lived most of my life in East Belfast , which is perhaps in Belfast now the stomping ground for the DUP . It's a strongly traditional Loyalist area where there was a fair amount of social deprivation , far worse housing conditions even at present , and longer waiting lists for houses , than you have in West Belfast . I was attracted by the new dimension which the DUP introduced into Ulster (sic) politics and that was the radicalism which characterises Evangelical Protestantism , and which can be seen for instance in the kind of people who left here and went to form the backbone of the American revolution , their dislike of the old establishment and the system .
In the longer term it's the potential radicalism of the party which attracted me , representing as I do an area where there is terrible housing and other social problems . " He does not , however , like to be called a socialist - " I think it's one of the problems with those kind of labels in Northern Ireland (sic) that the constitutional question has really over-ridden other considerations . Socialism is , mainly because of the actions of the Labour Party , identified with republicanism ......." .......
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
At 2.15 pm on Sunday 25 September 1983 , Brendan McFarlane and two others moved into the 'sensitive' area , the 'Circle' , of H-Block 7 . They were armed . The warders were overpowered in Wings A , B , C and D . One of the warders made a move to an alarm button and was shot . Warders were stripped and some of the prisoners put on their clothes . McFarlane walked towards the gate with the 'warders' and was let through ; the plan was to take over each gate , one at a time , and leave Provos behind dressed as warders . They commandeered a food lorry and they intended to replace any warders that challenged them with men from inside the lorry .
However , at what was known as 'the Tally Lodge ' , there were too many warders coming and going ; one of them started to blow his whistle - two cars pulled-up in front of the lorry and scuffles broke out . Some warders were stabbed . The Provos then apparently surrendered , and things calmed down . Then they made a rush across the fence ; the British Army was unable to fire on the fleeing men due to the confusion - there were prisoners dressed as warders , and warders in civilian clothing , all running across the fields . Cars were hijacked as soon as the road was reached . Nineteen men were recaptured almost immediately . Brendan McFarlane , by now dressed as a warder , led seven men to the road , took over three vehicles and drove off in the direction of Moira . They took over a secluded house belonging to a Protestant couple , the McFarlanes (no
relation) .
They were a few miles from the jail and still within roadblocks . McFarlane changed his clothes , took a torch , a map , a compass and food from the house . All eight men headed off to cross the border at 11 pm that night ; at 5 am the following morning , they decided to 'dig in' for the day . They watched as a helicopter flew over and back and listened as Garret FitzGerald ( Free State [Fine Gael] 'Taoiseach' ) said on the radio that if any of the escapees were caught , they would be handed back across the border .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' on Friday 15th July next for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Unionist tactics to date have worked well enough as a simple demonstration of implacable resentment , but there is no 'coherent , well-thought out strategy' directed at the achievement of an agreed aim : because there is no post-agreement policy , either inside the respective parties , or in the joint working-party , there can be no clarity now .
On the one hand , the Unionists have talked of wholesale withdrawal , on the other they hold back - urging the councillors to forge ahead , stopping short of total withdrawal at Westminster . Some express relief that the British government's 'goof' of prematurely declaring their power to bring in commissioners to run the councils , not only whipped up a flagging protest , but also may take the councillors off the hook of responsibility for running down local services .
An 'Ulster' Clubs member stated - " And we've got a whole host of other opportunities for causing disruption ; obstructing the commissioners , that kind of thing . " In the wings , the Clubs are looking on , a bit grimly - " This is the politicians' last chance . If the councillors break ....the people won't stand for that , " says one rather bleak young man , over-estimating his own somewhat makeshift organisation . A more detached observer reckons no councillor will have to go the distance and go to jail , thus ending a local government career ! " The government will strike a rate - then what's the point of the courts penalising councillors for failing to ? "
Meanwhile , the 'working party' surveyed the scene in the wake of that damp and cold by-election , weighing the handsome Unionist total vote against Seamus Mallon's Westminster seat , and eventually decided they needed another gimmick . Perhaps a one-day strike ... ?
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Gregory Campbell , DUP , states - " Obviously I thought about their ( the Catholics in the Six Counties) deprivation and I thought about what kind of political structures there might be to bring about a better society , but there continued to be an attitude on their part that they were the only ones being discriminated against , and that I was part of the group that was discriminating against them . There seemed to be a continual diatribe against me , against people like me .
We were the first-class citizens and these people were separated , were downtrodden and different . And it never seemed to get across to them that the people they were agitating against were in exactly the same position as them . Maybe in the early days there was a socialist ideology in the Civil Rights Movement , but it was always couched in terms of republicanism which obviously distanced me and people like me from it . I joined the 'Young Unionist Movement' and I found myself campaigning for people that I was still socially opposed to . I found myself campaigning for people like Robin Chichester-Clarke , brother of the former Prime Minister , and to me that person was on a different social scale , a different planet , to me . The guy was a highbrow Tory who cared very little if at all for working-class Protestant people , who were the people who were electing him .
And gradually I moved over to the Protestant Unionist Party which , at that time , 1970-1971 , was just changing over to the DUP . "
Sammy Wilson , the DUP Chairperson of the Planning Committee of Belfast City Council , is also from a working-class background : " I've lived most of my life in East Belfast , which is perhaps in Belfast now the stomping ground for the DUP . It's a strongly traditional Loyalist area where there was a fair amount of social deprivation , far worse housing conditions even at present , and longer waiting lists for houses , than you have in West Belfast . I was attracted by the new dimension which the DUP introduced into Ulster (sic) politics and that was the radicalism which characterises Evangelical Protestantism , and which can be seen for instance in the kind of people who left here and went to form the backbone of the American revolution , their dislike of the old establishment and the system .
In the longer term it's the potential radicalism of the party which attracted me , representing as I do an area where there is terrible housing and other social problems . " He does not , however , like to be called a socialist - " I think it's one of the problems with those kind of labels in Northern Ireland (sic) that the constitutional question has really over-ridden other considerations . Socialism is , mainly because of the actions of the Labour Party , identified with republicanism ......." .......
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
At 2.15 pm on Sunday 25 September 1983 , Brendan McFarlane and two others moved into the 'sensitive' area , the 'Circle' , of H-Block 7 . They were armed . The warders were overpowered in Wings A , B , C and D . One of the warders made a move to an alarm button and was shot . Warders were stripped and some of the prisoners put on their clothes . McFarlane walked towards the gate with the 'warders' and was let through ; the plan was to take over each gate , one at a time , and leave Provos behind dressed as warders . They commandeered a food lorry and they intended to replace any warders that challenged them with men from inside the lorry .
However , at what was known as 'the Tally Lodge ' , there were too many warders coming and going ; one of them started to blow his whistle - two cars pulled-up in front of the lorry and scuffles broke out . Some warders were stabbed . The Provos then apparently surrendered , and things calmed down . Then they made a rush across the fence ; the British Army was unable to fire on the fleeing men due to the confusion - there were prisoners dressed as warders , and warders in civilian clothing , all running across the fields . Cars were hijacked as soon as the road was reached . Nineteen men were recaptured almost immediately . Brendan McFarlane , by now dressed as a warder , led seven men to the road , took over three vehicles and drove off in the direction of Moira . They took over a secluded house belonging to a Protestant couple , the McFarlanes (no
relation) .
They were a few miles from the jail and still within roadblocks . McFarlane changed his clothes , took a torch , a map , a compass and food from the house . All eight men headed off to cross the border at 11 pm that night ; at 5 am the following morning , they decided to 'dig in' for the day . They watched as a helicopter flew over and back and listened as Garret FitzGerald ( Free State [Fine Gael] 'Taoiseach' ) said on the radio that if any of the escapees were caught , they would be handed back across the border .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' on Friday 15th July next for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The DUP's Frank Millar is a much-resented thirty-one year-old with no following ; not least because he repeatedly asks the most belligerent of his colleagues if they will themselves lead the fight they so often predict with apparent glee . Last week he told a BBC radio interviewer that no , he could not envisage any circumstances in which he would take to the streets and fight the members of the RUC .
The trouble is that not only do most of Millar's working party colleagues see the inevitability of confrontation with the RUC , but that there are almost as many different destinations envisaged for the campaign - independence , integration , a confederation of the 'British Isles' (including the 'Republic') , power-sharing of some kind - as there are working party members ! Which is perhaps inevitable , given the different elements of Unionism they represent .
Not to mention the state of Unionism , generally . It is pointless to try fitting the 'Ulster' Clubs , for example , into a neat scheme of Unionist opposition ; the old monolith is long gone and while talk of a mass identity-crisis is overdone , there is no doubt that unthinking allegiances have probably had their day . One of the many Official Unionists who have joined their local 'Ulster' Clubs defends their present function as a neutral , extra-party 'meeting-place' : but maintains their eventual place depends on circumstances -
- " Whether they'll 'slot in' behind the political parties as the infantry or take the lead fronted up by Robinson , who knows ? It's very like 1972-74 , when the lead moved from one group to another depending on circumstances ... " .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
The Reverend Ivan Foster , DUP , states - " I have a dread in my heart at ever being under a Roman Catholic regime . I don't anticipate that if we were under a United Ireland tomorrow , that my house would be burned down and I'd be put out on the street and my children butchered , but without a shadow of a doubt , there are those who at this moment dislike me so much , not me as an individual but me as a being , that they are prepared to back those who would plan my murder and kill me , back them by their votes , back them by their support , back them by not turning them in .
Have I not got grounds for fearing therefore a political change that will give greater freedom to those people who feel that way ; freedom to express their opposition , to act out that opposition , act it out business-wise , social-wise , every way ? "
Gregory Campbell , in another world , might have been a socialist ; the Waterside in Derry where he has always lived is no bastion of Loyalist privilege - " My parents were'nt members of any political party , and paid no heed or interest to politics . My father was a serviceman in the navy . We were just the average Protestant family in Northern Ireland (sic) . The thing that pushed me into involvement in politics was the whole Civil Rights scenario , and the whole nationalist complaint and agitation that they were getting a raw deal . That was the clincher for me because I saw on the television screens and read in the papers where people like John Hume and the beginnings of the SDLP were agitating for Catholic rights , and at that same time I saw the type of community that John Hume was from and the type of living standards that they had , which were very similar to my own .
Barry White's biography of John Hume makes great play of the fact that Hume was a working-class Catholic - no bathroom , two up , two down , outside toilet . Well I had the exact same . I saw the nationalists were campaigning for better living conditions , jobs , voting rights , and yet everything that they were campaigning for , I had'nt got either . I had'nt got hot running water , I had to go outside to the toilet , I had all the disadvantages that the urban Catholic had , and yet they were campaigning as if it were an exclusive prerogative of Catholics to be discriminated against . I felt the exact same way ....... "
('1169... ' Comment : if Mr Gregory Campbell was happy with his lot , then that was his business ; but he had no right to insist that others should not seek to improve their living conditions . Or was it because those 'others' were Catholics ? Perhaps he was of the opinion that they were getting a bit 'uppity' ...)
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
Brendan McFarlane is still visibly shaken and emotional when he talks about the 1981 hunger-strike : he had smuggled a 'crystal' radio into his cell and had an aerial hooked-up to it - he left it on at night so that he could hear the news in the morning . He listened to the BBC news at 2am , and learned that Bobby Sands had died at 1.17am ; " I was shattered , " he says .
He was considered the 'soft underbelly' by the British , in relation to the hunger strike ; he knew each of the men personally and had a close friendship with Sinn Fein leaders on the outside , especially Gerry Adams . During this time he became pale , tense and nervous . The ten men who died on hunger strike are never far from his mind - " There's not a day goes by but I don't think of them . It was a traumatic experience and it took a lot out of me mentally and physically . I never experienced anything like it in my life , and I don't think I ever will . Just talking with guys two and three and four days before they died . It's very hard to see it , to feel it ...the pressure ... the dedication they had . I've never seen anything like it anywhere . "
After it was over , the men began to re-group and build on the concessions that they had gained from the hunger strike ; they as good as had their five demands , even if they were known by another name . Out of that came the Armalite/Ballot Box strategy - Brendan McFarlane says that "...it came out of the forces of the establishment lined up against the Republican Movement . It was progress on a big scale . Otherwise how could we get 43 per cent of the Nationalist vote ? " ('1169...' Comment - "progress on a big scale" ? Not as far as this scribbler is concerned . It gave the 'wannabe' politicians in the Movement the leverage to eventually 'water down' the actual objectives [as opposed to the then stated objectives] of the Sinn Fein organisation ; 'nationalists' [as opposed to Republicans] began to show an interest in the organisation as they [correctly] figured it was attempting to 'turn its back ' on what they termed "violence" and which we considered , and still do , as self-defence in a just war . If "progress" can be measured in "votes" , then Fianna Fail , for instance , or the Unionist partys , are much more 'progressive' ! And what "per centage" had Wolfe Tone got ? Or Padraig Pearse ? )
Brendan McFarlane subscribes to the idea that no matter what military operations are carried out by the IRA , their support will not fall below a certain level .
But if the men were building on the reforms gained , they were also thinking of escape - Brendan McFarlane was instrumental in the planning of the mass break-out from Long Kesh (re-named the Maze) in September 1983 . He led thirty-seven men through the wire .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' on Friday 15th July next for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The DUP's Frank Millar is a much-resented thirty-one year-old with no following ; not least because he repeatedly asks the most belligerent of his colleagues if they will themselves lead the fight they so often predict with apparent glee . Last week he told a BBC radio interviewer that no , he could not envisage any circumstances in which he would take to the streets and fight the members of the RUC .
The trouble is that not only do most of Millar's working party colleagues see the inevitability of confrontation with the RUC , but that there are almost as many different destinations envisaged for the campaign - independence , integration , a confederation of the 'British Isles' (including the 'Republic') , power-sharing of some kind - as there are working party members ! Which is perhaps inevitable , given the different elements of Unionism they represent .
Not to mention the state of Unionism , generally . It is pointless to try fitting the 'Ulster' Clubs , for example , into a neat scheme of Unionist opposition ; the old monolith is long gone and while talk of a mass identity-crisis is overdone , there is no doubt that unthinking allegiances have probably had their day . One of the many Official Unionists who have joined their local 'Ulster' Clubs defends their present function as a neutral , extra-party 'meeting-place' : but maintains their eventual place depends on circumstances -
- " Whether they'll 'slot in' behind the political parties as the infantry or take the lead fronted up by Robinson , who knows ? It's very like 1972-74 , when the lead moved from one group to another depending on circumstances ... " .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
The Reverend Ivan Foster , DUP , states - " I have a dread in my heart at ever being under a Roman Catholic regime . I don't anticipate that if we were under a United Ireland tomorrow , that my house would be burned down and I'd be put out on the street and my children butchered , but without a shadow of a doubt , there are those who at this moment dislike me so much , not me as an individual but me as a being , that they are prepared to back those who would plan my murder and kill me , back them by their votes , back them by their support , back them by not turning them in .
Have I not got grounds for fearing therefore a political change that will give greater freedom to those people who feel that way ; freedom to express their opposition , to act out that opposition , act it out business-wise , social-wise , every way ? "
Gregory Campbell , in another world , might have been a socialist ; the Waterside in Derry where he has always lived is no bastion of Loyalist privilege - " My parents were'nt members of any political party , and paid no heed or interest to politics . My father was a serviceman in the navy . We were just the average Protestant family in Northern Ireland (sic) . The thing that pushed me into involvement in politics was the whole Civil Rights scenario , and the whole nationalist complaint and agitation that they were getting a raw deal . That was the clincher for me because I saw on the television screens and read in the papers where people like John Hume and the beginnings of the SDLP were agitating for Catholic rights , and at that same time I saw the type of community that John Hume was from and the type of living standards that they had , which were very similar to my own .
Barry White's biography of John Hume makes great play of the fact that Hume was a working-class Catholic - no bathroom , two up , two down , outside toilet . Well I had the exact same . I saw the nationalists were campaigning for better living conditions , jobs , voting rights , and yet everything that they were campaigning for , I had'nt got either . I had'nt got hot running water , I had to go outside to the toilet , I had all the disadvantages that the urban Catholic had , and yet they were campaigning as if it were an exclusive prerogative of Catholics to be discriminated against . I felt the exact same way ....... "
('1169... ' Comment : if Mr Gregory Campbell was happy with his lot , then that was his business ; but he had no right to insist that others should not seek to improve their living conditions . Or was it because those 'others' were Catholics ? Perhaps he was of the opinion that they were getting a bit 'uppity' ...)
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
Brendan McFarlane is still visibly shaken and emotional when he talks about the 1981 hunger-strike : he had smuggled a 'crystal' radio into his cell and had an aerial hooked-up to it - he left it on at night so that he could hear the news in the morning . He listened to the BBC news at 2am , and learned that Bobby Sands had died at 1.17am ; " I was shattered , " he says .
He was considered the 'soft underbelly' by the British , in relation to the hunger strike ; he knew each of the men personally and had a close friendship with Sinn Fein leaders on the outside , especially Gerry Adams . During this time he became pale , tense and nervous . The ten men who died on hunger strike are never far from his mind - " There's not a day goes by but I don't think of them . It was a traumatic experience and it took a lot out of me mentally and physically . I never experienced anything like it in my life , and I don't think I ever will . Just talking with guys two and three and four days before they died . It's very hard to see it , to feel it ...the pressure ... the dedication they had . I've never seen anything like it anywhere . "
After it was over , the men began to re-group and build on the concessions that they had gained from the hunger strike ; they as good as had their five demands , even if they were known by another name . Out of that came the Armalite/Ballot Box strategy - Brendan McFarlane says that "...it came out of the forces of the establishment lined up against the Republican Movement . It was progress on a big scale . Otherwise how could we get 43 per cent of the Nationalist vote ? " ('1169...' Comment - "progress on a big scale" ? Not as far as this scribbler is concerned . It gave the 'wannabe' politicians in the Movement the leverage to eventually 'water down' the actual objectives [as opposed to the then stated objectives] of the Sinn Fein organisation ; 'nationalists' [as opposed to Republicans] began to show an interest in the organisation as they [correctly] figured it was attempting to 'turn its back ' on what they termed "violence" and which we considered , and still do , as self-defence in a just war . If "progress" can be measured in "votes" , then Fianna Fail , for instance , or the Unionist partys , are much more 'progressive' ! And what "per centage" had Wolfe Tone got ? Or Padraig Pearse ? )
Brendan McFarlane subscribes to the idea that no matter what military operations are carried out by the IRA , their support will not fall below a certain level .
But if the men were building on the reforms gained , they were also thinking of escape - Brendan McFarlane was instrumental in the planning of the mass break-out from Long Kesh (re-named the Maze) in September 1983 . He led thirty-seven men through the wire .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' on Friday 15th July next for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Monday, July 11, 2005
POLITICOS AND PARAMILITARIES .......
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The Unionist political parties and the 'Ulster' Clubs have worked together on plans for a one-day strike ; the push came from the DUP , through their representatives on the joint Official Unionist /DUP anti-agreement working party .
Peter Robinson and Harold McCusker duly went off to meet the Clubs' Steering Committee - the UDA's John McMichael among them . " Well , they needed us , did'nt they ? " says a cynical Clubs man . " They need someone to do the blockades , cut the power , stop the milk ... " He would'nt be drawn on the details , nor on whether he - and the politicians - had in mind a re-run of the unsavoury scenes in the 1974 strike's first uncertain week , when the presence of large numbers of paramilitaries at barricades on the streets over successive days convinced the workers to stay at home .
What is becoming clearer is that the DUP people on the joint political working party want a full-scale strike after their rehearsal , and they want it soon . Frank Millar's statement on the 'Panorama' programme constituted the first public comment from within the joint Unionist working party on the risks and difficulties of the present campaign , especially for Official Unionists ; he wound-up ringingly .... " I am re-echoing the oft-repeated declaration of Mr. Molyneaux and Dr. Paisley that violence has no part to play in the Anglo-Irish Agreement - that we as politicians are resolved , as we can only be resolved , to defeat that Agreement by way of political action .
The 420,000 who voted for us want us to do whatever is necessary to defeat the Anglo-Irish Agreement and we have undertaken to do that . We are confident we can do that . I think they equally expect us to give them the assurance that we know where we are intending to go , that we have a coherent , well-thought-out strategy and that our intention at all times is to steer a steady course through danger to safety . "
Frank Millar is highly articulate , perhaps the Unionist most aware of British perceptions of Unionist behaviour and the most capable of tailoring a campaign to suit . He is also a much-resented thirty-one year-old with no following .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Jim Allister , the DUP's Chief Whip and former 'Personal Assistant' to Ian Paisley , says that his own parents "...had to move north out of the Irish republic (sic) where they were born . "
" I live in Fermanagh , " says Ivan Foster , " I have always lived in Fermanagh . That's only a hop and a skip across the border . I know the Protestants across the border , and I know what they endured . Nothing visible , but what they had to put up with when they went to the mart , when they went to the shop , when they were looking for financial assistance . Whenever anyone else had a problem , they had ten problems . It was civilised behaviour , it may have forbade the use of the scythe and the billhook , but it did'nt stop the manifestation of that animosity towards them .
And I think it has been subdued so much over the last forty , fifty years because there was still a section of Ireland that had to be re-taken , as it were , and it was no good pretending to be the best of friends while at the same time you were openly hammering the life out of Protestants . So the very existence of the Protestant majority in the north (sic) was the greatest guarantee that the Protestants in the south were at least given some degree of freedom .
Even if that were not the case , you can't tell me that the people who are prepared to back murderers will not do me any harm if they get the chance ....... "
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
The 3 Republican prisoners - Brendan McFarlane , Pat McKeon and Larry Marley - had escaped from Long Kesh , but were re-captured almost immediately . They were deemed to have left Cage 11 , Long Kesh , voluntarily , lost their political status and were transferred to the H-Blocks ; Brendan McFarlane had his clothes taken from him and was told to do prison work - he refused and joined others 'on the blanket ' : the men were locked in their cells , with no association . Their new environment was very restricted .
The prisoners shouted to each other from cell to cell , passing information , learning Irish , and so on . They sang and played quizzes to keep their spirits up ; they had reckoned that it was going to be a short protest . Towards the end of 1978 , forced washes and hair cuts were being introduced . Brendan McFarlane resisted and got a busted eye . As the men in H-Blocks began to be moved from cell to cell , they were learning from the writing on the wall . For example , the past tense of an Irish verb might be on one wall , the future tense on another and the present tense on another - "Jailic" , they called it ! In the beginning , they were scratched out . Later on , they were written in shit . Gradually , they came to accept that it was going to be a long-term struggle and resigned themselves to it .
Thirty-two men were put in isolation in an attempt to break the protests - it had the opposite effect and even more men went 'on the blanket.' Outside the prison , the Republican leadership was less than enthusiastic about taking on the political status issue in a major way for fear that it would hijack the entire Movement , and everything else would take second place . By the end of 1979 , the prisoners decided to take matters into their own hands : a hunger strike was decided and Brendan McFarlane volunteered - he was'nt chosen . The hunger strike went on for seven weeks and was called off coming up to Christmas in 1980 . The men believed that their five demands had been acceded to ; these included association , their own clothes , visits , parcels and remission . However , the deal did'nt stand up .
With the failure of the hunger strike , the men on the inside formulated another strategy , which both Brendan McFarlane and Bobby Sands were instrumental in shaping . McFarlane took over as 'Officer in Command' of the H-Blocks , representing over 400 men , on 1st March 1981 , when Bobby Sands went on hunger strike . Sands had passed the leadership to him , and it had also been ratified by the men .
Brendan McFarlane did'nt get to see Bobby Sands until almost the end , when he was very weak . All he said to him was " I'm dying ... " .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' on Friday 15th July next for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
Fionnuala O'Connor on the struggle for the Loyalist leadership as the politicians and their paramilitary allies gear up for a strike .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The Unionist political parties and the 'Ulster' Clubs have worked together on plans for a one-day strike ; the push came from the DUP , through their representatives on the joint Official Unionist /DUP anti-agreement working party .
Peter Robinson and Harold McCusker duly went off to meet the Clubs' Steering Committee - the UDA's John McMichael among them . " Well , they needed us , did'nt they ? " says a cynical Clubs man . " They need someone to do the blockades , cut the power , stop the milk ... " He would'nt be drawn on the details , nor on whether he - and the politicians - had in mind a re-run of the unsavoury scenes in the 1974 strike's first uncertain week , when the presence of large numbers of paramilitaries at barricades on the streets over successive days convinced the workers to stay at home .
What is becoming clearer is that the DUP people on the joint political working party want a full-scale strike after their rehearsal , and they want it soon . Frank Millar's statement on the 'Panorama' programme constituted the first public comment from within the joint Unionist working party on the risks and difficulties of the present campaign , especially for Official Unionists ; he wound-up ringingly .... " I am re-echoing the oft-repeated declaration of Mr. Molyneaux and Dr. Paisley that violence has no part to play in the Anglo-Irish Agreement - that we as politicians are resolved , as we can only be resolved , to defeat that Agreement by way of political action .
The 420,000 who voted for us want us to do whatever is necessary to defeat the Anglo-Irish Agreement and we have undertaken to do that . We are confident we can do that . I think they equally expect us to give them the assurance that we know where we are intending to go , that we have a coherent , well-thought-out strategy and that our intention at all times is to steer a steady course through danger to safety . "
Frank Millar is highly articulate , perhaps the Unionist most aware of British perceptions of Unionist behaviour and the most capable of tailoring a campaign to suit . He is also a much-resented thirty-one year-old with no following .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Jim Allister , the DUP's Chief Whip and former 'Personal Assistant' to Ian Paisley , says that his own parents "...had to move north out of the Irish republic (sic) where they were born . "
" I live in Fermanagh , " says Ivan Foster , " I have always lived in Fermanagh . That's only a hop and a skip across the border . I know the Protestants across the border , and I know what they endured . Nothing visible , but what they had to put up with when they went to the mart , when they went to the shop , when they were looking for financial assistance . Whenever anyone else had a problem , they had ten problems . It was civilised behaviour , it may have forbade the use of the scythe and the billhook , but it did'nt stop the manifestation of that animosity towards them .
And I think it has been subdued so much over the last forty , fifty years because there was still a section of Ireland that had to be re-taken , as it were , and it was no good pretending to be the best of friends while at the same time you were openly hammering the life out of Protestants . So the very existence of the Protestant majority in the north (sic) was the greatest guarantee that the Protestants in the south were at least given some degree of freedom .
Even if that were not the case , you can't tell me that the people who are prepared to back murderers will not do me any harm if they get the chance ....... "
(MORE LATER).
McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY .......
Last month , BRENDAN McFARLANE was ordered by a Dutch court to be extradited back to the North to serve out a sentence of 25 years . He is appealing the decision . His companion GERARD KELLY had his plea accepted that his offences were political . BRENDAN McFARLANE has been on the run since he led thirty-seven men in an escape out of the MAZE PRISON in September 1983 . In an exclusive interview with MAGILL at Bylmerbages Prison in Amsterdam , McFARLANE talks about his life , his youth and upbringing , and his involvement with the ARMED STRUGGLE in the North .
By DEREK DUNNE .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1986 .
The 3 Republican prisoners - Brendan McFarlane , Pat McKeon and Larry Marley - had escaped from Long Kesh , but were re-captured almost immediately . They were deemed to have left Cage 11 , Long Kesh , voluntarily , lost their political status and were transferred to the H-Blocks ; Brendan McFarlane had his clothes taken from him and was told to do prison work - he refused and joined others 'on the blanket ' : the men were locked in their cells , with no association . Their new environment was very restricted .
The prisoners shouted to each other from cell to cell , passing information , learning Irish , and so on . They sang and played quizzes to keep their spirits up ; they had reckoned that it was going to be a short protest . Towards the end of 1978 , forced washes and hair cuts were being introduced . Brendan McFarlane resisted and got a busted eye . As the men in H-Blocks began to be moved from cell to cell , they were learning from the writing on the wall . For example , the past tense of an Irish verb might be on one wall , the future tense on another and the present tense on another - "Jailic" , they called it ! In the beginning , they were scratched out . Later on , they were written in shit . Gradually , they came to accept that it was going to be a long-term struggle and resigned themselves to it .
Thirty-two men were put in isolation in an attempt to break the protests - it had the opposite effect and even more men went 'on the blanket.' Outside the prison , the Republican leadership was less than enthusiastic about taking on the political status issue in a major way for fear that it would hijack the entire Movement , and everything else would take second place . By the end of 1979 , the prisoners decided to take matters into their own hands : a hunger strike was decided and Brendan McFarlane volunteered - he was'nt chosen . The hunger strike went on for seven weeks and was called off coming up to Christmas in 1980 . The men believed that their five demands had been acceded to ; these included association , their own clothes , visits , parcels and remission . However , the deal did'nt stand up .
With the failure of the hunger strike , the men on the inside formulated another strategy , which both Brendan McFarlane and Bobby Sands were instrumental in shaping . McFarlane took over as 'Officer in Command' of the H-Blocks , representing over 400 men , on 1st March 1981 , when Bobby Sands went on hunger strike . Sands had passed the leadership to him , and it had also been ratified by the men .
Brendan McFarlane did'nt get to see Bobby Sands until almost the end , when he was very weak . All he said to him was " I'm dying ... " .......
(MORE LATER).
(Please Note - the '1169...' crew will be 'shutting up shop' on Friday 15th July next for at least/about/hopefully (!) one week [maybe two - if the cash stretches... !] - we are off to the 'Sometimes Sunny Southeast' ; Waterford , for a bit of a break . Leave your e-mail address (on the back of a €50 note !) in the 'Guestbook' and we might send you a postcard . And you might also get spammed ... - Sharon :)
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