A GAY VIEW ON KINCORA .
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
Gay people have watched the growth of the Kincora industry with fascinated horror : a number of sordid and petty crimes perpetrated against teenage adults have been presented as atrocities on a par with Bloody Sunday , Bloody Friday and every other bloody day of the Ulster week .
Prejudices long dormant in the intelligent public have been gentled back into life ; homosexual people are underhand , sexually voracious and unusually interested in young people as sex partners , whether those young people are willing or not .
This is how the crazed notion that a boy brothel could exist in a city the size of Belfast got off the ground . It could be taken for granted that gay men in particular would find such a set-up congenial and that we would close ranks to protect the people who would try to organise such a venture . William McGrath is the central figure in the Kincora 'stew' - he had ideas which were lunatic enough to pass for fascist , he was also homosexual and subjected his charges to distressing and unwanted sexual attentions .
This , it is implied , is the crux of the matter so far as McGrath is concerned . Such an attitude is nonsensical ; William McGrath and his fellow defendants spent whole lifetimes building up images of familial rectitude . They never once said anything about their homosexual orientation . It is worth questioning whether they were entirely homosexual at all . No hint of their being gay ever seeped out into the gay community , much less the general community .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Ted Murphy , the Fianna Fail Chairman of Midleton UDC , was approached by two local Labour Party Officers , Eddie Allen and Billy Murphy , about arranging a 'Civic Reception' for Dick Spring , who was due to visit Midleton while touring the Cork area . Ted Murphy says he agreed readily .
Days before the visit , Dick Spring refused the offer of a 'Civic Reception' : the 'problem' was Charles Ronayne , a Sinn Fein member of the UDC , who would also be present . Ted Murphy was not impressed - " As an elected public representative himself it is disgraceful that Mr. Spring will not meet a fellow elected public representative . The Tanaiste (ie 'Tanaiste' - 'second-in-command' of the Free State Administration , as Dick Spring was at the time) , in refusing to meet the urban council , is acting like a dictator . "
The next day , Spring issued a statement saying - " I would not for the world have wished to offend the people of Midleton , or their elected representatives , in this way . " He pointed out , however , that for him to attend a function at which a Sinn Fein member would also be present would be in contravention of the government's decision not to deal with Sinn Fein .
He said he would be writing to the Urban District Council (UDC) to express his regret at the upset caused and to suggest a separate meeting with Ted Murphy - the latter , however , was not happy with that .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
At the same time as Garda Ted O'Mahony was transferred , his neighbour Stephen Moore was suing the gardai for injuries sustained while he was in garda custody . Eileen O'Mahony believes that the fact that her husband was friendly with Stephen Moore was the reason for his transfer .
When Stephen Moore was awarded £25,000 in an out-of-court settlement , the gardai immediately started an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his detention . On 19 July , Stephen Moore gave evidence of his ordeal to two Garda Superintendents ; ironically , the interview took place on a Saturday in a deserted garda building on Saint John's Road in Dublin .
The building is used mainly for scrapped garda cars ; at one point , it housed the Garda Technical Bureau , part of which includes the 'Investigation Section' from which sprung the alleged ' Heavy Gang ' of the 1973-1977 period . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - Nothing "alleged" about the 'Heavy Gang' : they did exist , and were given a free reign by the Free Staters to operate outside 'normal' practice when it came to 'interviewing' Irish Republicans . )
The file was expected to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for 'consideration' by 1 August .
[END of 'THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS' : from 1986.)
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .......
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
One of the defendants , Guiseppe Conlon , was a particularly pathetic figure - aged fifty-two , he suffered from Chronic Tuberculosis and had not worked for eleven years .
He arrived at the Maguire house only hours before the police raid , on his first visit to England for seventeen years . He had come to inquire about his son Gerry , who had just been arrested . He died in prison in 1980 and on his deathbed asked Gerry Fitt to clear his name . Fitt promised that he would try .
The campaign to clear the Maguire's family name , and to achieve a posthumous pardon for Guiseppe Conlon , goes on . In a sense those jailed were victims of the IRA , for their 1974 bombings led to a great wave of anti-Irish hysteria in England and tremendous pressure on the police to catch the bombers . ( ' 1169 ..... ' Comment - Unfortunately , the fact that the police made a mistake in this case did not ensure that "tremendous pressure" was brought to bear on them to stop it happening again . )
Meanwhile , it stands to reason that the authorities will resist with determination any attempt to reopen any of these cases , for to do so would run the risk of having to grant up to seventeen pardons : such an admission of injustice would be to much for the system to bear . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ....and that remains the prevailing mindset within the British 'Establishment' regarding this country - its last colony . )
[END of '17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE' .]
(Tomorrow - 'A Gay View On Kincora' - from 1984.)
SINN FEIN ALONE .
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
During the last election , Patsy Wright , a Sinn Fein member of Athy UDC , met Alan Dukes (FG) and they had an argument about Section 31 of The Broadcasting Act : according to Patsy Wright , Dukes told him that Sinn Fein could go on the radio whenever they handed up their guns - Wright argued that Sinn Fein had no guns : " Would you ever fuck off , " Alan Dukes replied .
Six months later , however , in June 1983 , Joe Bermingham , (FS) Minister of State , invited Patsy Wright to the opening of a new Garda Station in Athy ; Wright declined the invitation . He said that he would not attend such an opening until there was a thirty-two county Republic . The Government's attitude towards Sinn Fein has hardened considerably over the past eight months . This hardening followed the Dublin Central by-election , the deaths at Ballinamore and the Harrods bombing .
The main result of this tougher approach is the embargo on dealings with elected public representatives who are members of Sinn Fein - this embargo was started by Labour Party Ministers and became Government policy on February 21 . It has caused intense bitterness and confusion .
There was , for example , the proposed Civic Reception for Dick Spring in Midleton , Cork , during the Euro elections .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Doctor Michael Moloney found a two-inch bruise on John Milne's chest and left shoulder , and found that he was mildy agitated . Milne also complained of back pain and pain in his leg from time to time . A jury heard the case in November 1983 and after a two-and-a-half-hour deliberation , found that the two named gardai had assaulted John Milne . They made a £51,900 award , plus costs .
Stephen Moore was arrested a third time under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act : in June of 1984 , he became one of 2,216 people arrested under that Section , that year ! He was held for nine and a half hours - there was , this time , no questions , no interviews , no charges . He was fingerprinted and photographed . He lost a day's wages - at that time he started work at 4.30 pm and finished at 3am . He was arrested by his next door neighbour at 2.30pm - his neighbour , Garda Ted O' Mahony , had gone on duty half an hour earlier , and had been ordered to carry out the arrest .
The O'Mahony's and the Moores had been neighbours for eight years ; the two households got on well together . Last August , Garda O'Mahony was told that he was being transferred to Gorey , in Wexford , within two weeks . He appealed the decision to Commissioner Lawrence Wren - the appeal was turned down . He then appealed to the Garda Tribunal . Garda O'Mahony was well liked locally . He asked for an explanation as to why he was being moved , and was told that it was in the interests of the Garda force .
He was forced to take up duty in Gorey , by May 1 . He had spent 15 years in the gardai , almost eight of them in Clones , County Monaghan - he had never been disciplined . According to his wife , "...all he ever wanted was a reasonable explanation .. " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - The "explanation" was , obviously , that a 'cover-up' had begun , and people were being moved into , or out of , place . ) .......
(MORE LATER).
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
One of the defendants , Guiseppe Conlon , was a particularly pathetic figure - aged fifty-two , he suffered from Chronic Tuberculosis and had not worked for eleven years .
He arrived at the Maguire house only hours before the police raid , on his first visit to England for seventeen years . He had come to inquire about his son Gerry , who had just been arrested . He died in prison in 1980 and on his deathbed asked Gerry Fitt to clear his name . Fitt promised that he would try .
The campaign to clear the Maguire's family name , and to achieve a posthumous pardon for Guiseppe Conlon , goes on . In a sense those jailed were victims of the IRA , for their 1974 bombings led to a great wave of anti-Irish hysteria in England and tremendous pressure on the police to catch the bombers . ( ' 1169 ..... ' Comment - Unfortunately , the fact that the police made a mistake in this case did not ensure that "tremendous pressure" was brought to bear on them to stop it happening again . )
Meanwhile , it stands to reason that the authorities will resist with determination any attempt to reopen any of these cases , for to do so would run the risk of having to grant up to seventeen pardons : such an admission of injustice would be to much for the system to bear . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ....and that remains the prevailing mindset within the British 'Establishment' regarding this country - its last colony . )
[END of '17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE' .]
(Tomorrow - 'A Gay View On Kincora' - from 1984.)
SINN FEIN ALONE .
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
During the last election , Patsy Wright , a Sinn Fein member of Athy UDC , met Alan Dukes (FG) and they had an argument about Section 31 of The Broadcasting Act : according to Patsy Wright , Dukes told him that Sinn Fein could go on the radio whenever they handed up their guns - Wright argued that Sinn Fein had no guns : " Would you ever fuck off , " Alan Dukes replied .
Six months later , however , in June 1983 , Joe Bermingham , (FS) Minister of State , invited Patsy Wright to the opening of a new Garda Station in Athy ; Wright declined the invitation . He said that he would not attend such an opening until there was a thirty-two county Republic . The Government's attitude towards Sinn Fein has hardened considerably over the past eight months . This hardening followed the Dublin Central by-election , the deaths at Ballinamore and the Harrods bombing .
The main result of this tougher approach is the embargo on dealings with elected public representatives who are members of Sinn Fein - this embargo was started by Labour Party Ministers and became Government policy on February 21 . It has caused intense bitterness and confusion .
There was , for example , the proposed Civic Reception for Dick Spring in Midleton , Cork , during the Euro elections .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Doctor Michael Moloney found a two-inch bruise on John Milne's chest and left shoulder , and found that he was mildy agitated . Milne also complained of back pain and pain in his leg from time to time . A jury heard the case in November 1983 and after a two-and-a-half-hour deliberation , found that the two named gardai had assaulted John Milne . They made a £51,900 award , plus costs .
Stephen Moore was arrested a third time under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act : in June of 1984 , he became one of 2,216 people arrested under that Section , that year ! He was held for nine and a half hours - there was , this time , no questions , no interviews , no charges . He was fingerprinted and photographed . He lost a day's wages - at that time he started work at 4.30 pm and finished at 3am . He was arrested by his next door neighbour at 2.30pm - his neighbour , Garda Ted O' Mahony , had gone on duty half an hour earlier , and had been ordered to carry out the arrest .
The O'Mahony's and the Moores had been neighbours for eight years ; the two households got on well together . Last August , Garda O'Mahony was told that he was being transferred to Gorey , in Wexford , within two weeks . He appealed the decision to Commissioner Lawrence Wren - the appeal was turned down . He then appealed to the Garda Tribunal . Garda O'Mahony was well liked locally . He asked for an explanation as to why he was being moved , and was told that it was in the interests of the Garda force .
He was forced to take up duty in Gorey , by May 1 . He had spent 15 years in the gardai , almost eight of them in Clones , County Monaghan - he had never been disciplined . According to his wife , "...all he ever wanted was a reasonable explanation .. " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - The "explanation" was , obviously , that a 'cover-up' had begun , and people were being moved into , or out of , place . ) .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, August 29, 2005
17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .......
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
The defence called John Yallop OBE , an internationally-recognised authority on explosives ; he had spent thirty-two years as a (British) 'Home Office' explosives expert and was a former head of the British government's explosives laboratory .
He had written more than sixty scientific papers on explosives and related topics , and appeared in the courts as an expert witness on more than 400 occasions ; and he had actually invented the ' Thin Layer Chromtography ' (TLC) test !
The 'gist' of John Yallop's evidence was that the test , as conducted , had not conclusively proved the existence of nitroglycerine . He suggested that other substances could produce the same results in the test - household substances might do it .....
One of the defendants , Guiseppe Conlon , was a particularly pathetic figure ; aged fifty-two , he suffered from Chronic Tuberculosis and had not worked for eleven years .......
(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.
'MAGILL' Magazine : " Is it still seen within the Republican Movement as a long war , another twenty years ? "
Danny Morrison : " There was some Republican criticism that the 1978 declaration of a long war actually led to some demoralisation and deterred people from joining the Republican Movement because they thought , " Gee , there's not going to be an amnesty for Christmas , if I go to jail I'm not getting out for Christmas , I'm going in for a long time . "
That's possibly true . The point is , I think , that the IRA has to say what it believes , it has to tell the truth of how it sees things . The fact is that the Brits are'nt going to get out tomorrow or next year . It is going to be a long struggle , and people who join the Republican Movement obviously are entitled to be acquainted with that belief .
It's only fair on them . I would say , yes - still in terms of five to ten years . "
[END of 'THE IRA HAS TO DO WHAT THE IRA HAS TO DO' .]
(Tomorrow - 'Sinn Fein Alone' - from 1984 .)
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Dr. Caraher examined Stephen Moore on three occasions while he was in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station ; on the first occasion , there were no abnormalities present in the patient , on the second occasion he appeared to be anxious and he had burns to the hair and he was complaining of pains . On the third occasion , the burns were still present and he had extensive bruising to the groin and thigh .
But this was not the first time that a detainee at Monaghan Garda Station had been awarded damages as a result of injuries sustained in garda custody -
- on 6 May 1978 , there was a Long Kesh protest march in Monaghan . As the protestors were dispersing , two squad cars loaded with gardai arrived on the scene and proceeded to make arrests under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act 1939 ; John Milne was amongst those arrested - he was taken to Monaghan Garda Station where he said that he was kicked , punched and beaten for about fifteen minutes by Detective Garda John McCoy and Garda Eamonn Flynn .
He said he was frightened and speechless ; his wife saw him in a cell and called for a doctor . A local Priest , Reverend Kevin Cassidy , said in court that he visited John Milne in the garda station but that he got no reply when he tried to speak to him . Doctor Michael Moloney saw John Milne on May 8 , 1978 , two days after his arrest , and he said that Milne was complaining of headaches and a sore neck .......
(MORE LATER).
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
The defence called John Yallop OBE , an internationally-recognised authority on explosives ; he had spent thirty-two years as a (British) 'Home Office' explosives expert and was a former head of the British government's explosives laboratory .
He had written more than sixty scientific papers on explosives and related topics , and appeared in the courts as an expert witness on more than 400 occasions ; and he had actually invented the ' Thin Layer Chromtography ' (TLC) test !
The 'gist' of John Yallop's evidence was that the test , as conducted , had not conclusively proved the existence of nitroglycerine . He suggested that other substances could produce the same results in the test - household substances might do it .....
One of the defendants , Guiseppe Conlon , was a particularly pathetic figure ; aged fifty-two , he suffered from Chronic Tuberculosis and had not worked for eleven years .......
(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.
'MAGILL' Magazine : " Is it still seen within the Republican Movement as a long war , another twenty years ? "
Danny Morrison : " There was some Republican criticism that the 1978 declaration of a long war actually led to some demoralisation and deterred people from joining the Republican Movement because they thought , " Gee , there's not going to be an amnesty for Christmas , if I go to jail I'm not getting out for Christmas , I'm going in for a long time . "
That's possibly true . The point is , I think , that the IRA has to say what it believes , it has to tell the truth of how it sees things . The fact is that the Brits are'nt going to get out tomorrow or next year . It is going to be a long struggle , and people who join the Republican Movement obviously are entitled to be acquainted with that belief .
It's only fair on them . I would say , yes - still in terms of five to ten years . "
[END of 'THE IRA HAS TO DO WHAT THE IRA HAS TO DO' .]
(Tomorrow - 'Sinn Fein Alone' - from 1984 .)
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Dr. Caraher examined Stephen Moore on three occasions while he was in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station ; on the first occasion , there were no abnormalities present in the patient , on the second occasion he appeared to be anxious and he had burns to the hair and he was complaining of pains . On the third occasion , the burns were still present and he had extensive bruising to the groin and thigh .
But this was not the first time that a detainee at Monaghan Garda Station had been awarded damages as a result of injuries sustained in garda custody -
- on 6 May 1978 , there was a Long Kesh protest march in Monaghan . As the protestors were dispersing , two squad cars loaded with gardai arrived on the scene and proceeded to make arrests under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act 1939 ; John Milne was amongst those arrested - he was taken to Monaghan Garda Station where he said that he was kicked , punched and beaten for about fifteen minutes by Detective Garda John McCoy and Garda Eamonn Flynn .
He said he was frightened and speechless ; his wife saw him in a cell and called for a doctor . A local Priest , Reverend Kevin Cassidy , said in court that he visited John Milne in the garda station but that he got no reply when he tried to speak to him . Doctor Michael Moloney saw John Milne on May 8 , 1978 , two days after his arrest , and he said that Milne was complaining of headaches and a sore neck .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, August 26, 2005
17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .......
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
Unless Annie Maguire is one of history's great mistresses of disguise and deception , she does not fit the bill as a terrorist . She and her husband had left Belfast twenty years earlier and took no interest in Irish politics or the 'Troubles' .
She , her husband and her son Vincent were all members of Paddington Conservative Club : a bust of Winston Churchill stood on her mantlepiece . In the children's bedroom two Union Jacks were pinned on the wall . The family had never been in trouble with the police ; indeed , her son Vincent , one of those jailed , had earlier applied to join the police cadets , and been turned down only because of his eyesight .
The Conlon-Hill trial took place first , and the 'popular' papers carried headlines such as ' Auntie Annie's Bomb Kitchen ' when their statements were read out in court . Even before her own trial , in other words - she had been publicly named as a terrorist . And she was tried before the same judge who put Conlon and Hill into the guinness book of records . With all the defendants pleading not guilty - and all recognising the court , which the IRA at the time did not do - the prosecution case rested on the forensic evidence of nitroglycerine traces .
This evidence was highly controversial : the test - 'Thin Layer Chromtography' (TLC) - had been carried out by an eighteen year old apprentice with only three months' experience . This youth had forgotten to photograph the evidence , as was normally done . The amount of nitroglycerine which he said he had detected was minute - equivalent to one millionth of a grain of sugar . And this amount was so small that it had been destroyed by the test itself meaning that the result could not be checked .......
(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.
Danny Morrison : " There is no peaceful way of getting the Brits out of Ireland . There is no constitutional way . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - Now Mr. Morrison and his colleagues in the Provisional political party assure us that there is no other way to remove that British presence other than the 'constitutional way ' . ) We are told to do it by the ballot box . Harold McCusker said in January of last year , whenever he was examining the demographics , the increasing numbers of Catholic school children at primary school level - don't worry if the Catholics get a majority in the six counties , we will just re-partition !
Even if nationalists got into a majority in the six counties and tried to vote it into a united Ireland , we still would not get a united Ireland . The loyalists would merely re-partition ; they did it before - they were going for nine counties and went for six , they can go for three . And unfortunately that's why the IRA exists . The IRA has to fight the Brits , has to wear down the will of the British to remain in Ireland . And I have absolutely no doubt that they will be scccessful in inflicting a political defeat - not a military defeat on the British Army but a political defeat on the British government .
The British will have examined everything - internal settlements , assemblies , constitutional conventions , everything , until their last option : and it will be their last option , because the Brits will not examine it until that day . And that option will be British withdrawal and reunification . "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Fintan MacPhillips's father has since died . His brother Leo says that they both went down to visit him and that he said that he had been beaten . His father suggested that they get a doctor , and they phoned Dr. Quinn and Dr. McGoldrick , but neither doctor was in a position to come to the police station .
Dr McGoldrick said that he had examined people in custody in the station on previous occasions and that he had got "...hassle .." from the gardai . Dr Adrian McGoldrick says he examined a Lou Ginley after he had emerged from garda custody ; he had a broken tooth , his body was bruised and his blood pressure was up . He was afterwards not in a position to take a civil action . However , Dr. McGoldrick gave evidence in the Special Criminal Court at the trial of another man , Seamus Soraghan , who was tried and convicted under the Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act . According to Dr. McGoldrick , the medical evidence he gave was "... totally disregarded .. " .
It was after that case that he was in a toilet of a pub when a Special Branch man came up to him and said that in future , when he examined IRA suspects , he should see no injuries . Dr. McGoldrick was of the opinion that the Special Branch man might have drink taken and did'nt consider the matter of any relevance . Nonetheless , he took the step of informing the garda authorities of what had happened ; Dr. McGoldrick says that he would not have felt intimidated by this .
He says also that one of the main reasons that he did less of these cases was that he received very little notice when he had to appear in the Special Criminal Court to give evidence and his routine was unpredictable . In the case of Fintan MacPhillips , the doctor says that he was off the weekend , as far as he can remember , and that he was going away on the Sunday . He would therefore not be in a position to do a follow-up examination in the case , as is desirable . One year later , Dr. Adrian McGoldrick moved to Newbridge in County Kildare .......
(MORE LATER).
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
Unless Annie Maguire is one of history's great mistresses of disguise and deception , she does not fit the bill as a terrorist . She and her husband had left Belfast twenty years earlier and took no interest in Irish politics or the 'Troubles' .
She , her husband and her son Vincent were all members of Paddington Conservative Club : a bust of Winston Churchill stood on her mantlepiece . In the children's bedroom two Union Jacks were pinned on the wall . The family had never been in trouble with the police ; indeed , her son Vincent , one of those jailed , had earlier applied to join the police cadets , and been turned down only because of his eyesight .
The Conlon-Hill trial took place first , and the 'popular' papers carried headlines such as ' Auntie Annie's Bomb Kitchen ' when their statements were read out in court . Even before her own trial , in other words - she had been publicly named as a terrorist . And she was tried before the same judge who put Conlon and Hill into the guinness book of records . With all the defendants pleading not guilty - and all recognising the court , which the IRA at the time did not do - the prosecution case rested on the forensic evidence of nitroglycerine traces .
This evidence was highly controversial : the test - 'Thin Layer Chromtography' (TLC) - had been carried out by an eighteen year old apprentice with only three months' experience . This youth had forgotten to photograph the evidence , as was normally done . The amount of nitroglycerine which he said he had detected was minute - equivalent to one millionth of a grain of sugar . And this amount was so small that it had been destroyed by the test itself meaning that the result could not be checked .......
(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.
Danny Morrison : " There is no peaceful way of getting the Brits out of Ireland . There is no constitutional way . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - Now Mr. Morrison and his colleagues in the Provisional political party assure us that there is no other way to remove that British presence other than the 'constitutional way ' . ) We are told to do it by the ballot box . Harold McCusker said in January of last year , whenever he was examining the demographics , the increasing numbers of Catholic school children at primary school level - don't worry if the Catholics get a majority in the six counties , we will just re-partition !
Even if nationalists got into a majority in the six counties and tried to vote it into a united Ireland , we still would not get a united Ireland . The loyalists would merely re-partition ; they did it before - they were going for nine counties and went for six , they can go for three . And unfortunately that's why the IRA exists . The IRA has to fight the Brits , has to wear down the will of the British to remain in Ireland . And I have absolutely no doubt that they will be scccessful in inflicting a political defeat - not a military defeat on the British Army but a political defeat on the British government .
The British will have examined everything - internal settlements , assemblies , constitutional conventions , everything , until their last option : and it will be their last option , because the Brits will not examine it until that day . And that option will be British withdrawal and reunification . "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Fintan MacPhillips's father has since died . His brother Leo says that they both went down to visit him and that he said that he had been beaten . His father suggested that they get a doctor , and they phoned Dr. Quinn and Dr. McGoldrick , but neither doctor was in a position to come to the police station .
Dr McGoldrick said that he had examined people in custody in the station on previous occasions and that he had got "...hassle .." from the gardai . Dr Adrian McGoldrick says he examined a Lou Ginley after he had emerged from garda custody ; he had a broken tooth , his body was bruised and his blood pressure was up . He was afterwards not in a position to take a civil action . However , Dr. McGoldrick gave evidence in the Special Criminal Court at the trial of another man , Seamus Soraghan , who was tried and convicted under the Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act . According to Dr. McGoldrick , the medical evidence he gave was "... totally disregarded .. " .
It was after that case that he was in a toilet of a pub when a Special Branch man came up to him and said that in future , when he examined IRA suspects , he should see no injuries . Dr. McGoldrick was of the opinion that the Special Branch man might have drink taken and did'nt consider the matter of any relevance . Nonetheless , he took the step of informing the garda authorities of what had happened ; Dr. McGoldrick says that he would not have felt intimidated by this .
He says also that one of the main reasons that he did less of these cases was that he received very little notice when he had to appear in the Special Criminal Court to give evidence and his routine was unpredictable . In the case of Fintan MacPhillips , the doctor says that he was off the weekend , as far as he can remember , and that he was going away on the Sunday . He would therefore not be in a position to do a follow-up examination in the case , as is desirable . One year later , Dr. Adrian McGoldrick moved to Newbridge in County Kildare .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, August 25, 2005
17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .......
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
Closer examination of the facts surrounding the Guildford and Woolwich bombings raised enough doubts to lead even Sir John Biggs-Davidson , a 'pillar of the Establishment' who does not lightly criticise the courts , to conclude that a miscarraige of justice took place .
Gerry Conlon and Paul Hill , who allegedly confessed to the Guildford and Woolwich bombings and implicated Conlon's Auntie Annie , were later jailed for sentences which stand in the 'Guinness Book Of Records' as the longest ever handed down in Britain - natural life and thirty-five years , respectively .
Yet doubt was cast on this conviction too when four admitted IRA men , on trial for other bombings and killings , said they had bombed Guildford and Woolwich too . This was clearly un-welcome news to the authorities , for when the IRA men were tried they were simply not charged with the Guildford and Woolwich killings .
Why should first Gerry Conlon and then Paul Hill have implicated Annie Maguire ? Patrick Maguire , just out of prison , said last month that he had met both men in jail , and that they told him they would have named anybody to stop the police beating them . The police were certainly looking for a woman bomber at that stage , and may have been pressing for the name of a woman . The Maguire family advance the theory that Gerry Conlon may have named Annie Maguire in the belief that nobody could possibly believe she was a bombmaker .......
(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.
Danny Morrison : " Sinn Fein sympathises with the difficulties that the IRA has , and that will always be our position . We're painted as extremists for saying that , but there's one thing about republicans ; republicans speak their minds . Free State politicians won't speak their minds . They won't say , for example , that they don't want a united Ireland . They pretend that they want it . Why don't they get up and say - " We don't want a united Ireland , right , because I don't want to lose my job , I don't want to lose my power and prestige . " All the parties in the 26 counties have a vested interest in the Free State continuing to exist forever .
The problem which the Dublin government has , which the SDLP has , is that they can't guarantee that their approach is going to deliver an end to second-class citizenship and civil rights for the nationalists in the North . Because the achievement of civil rights is directly related to the achievement of national rights . The way to get our civil rights is to get our national rights , which means that Britain has to go , the loyalist veto has to be ended . "
'MAGILL' Magazine : " And the loyalists ? "
Danny Morrison : " The people who are presently tied to loyalism can become whatever political power they want in a new Ireland , nobody wants to drive them out . We don't want civil war , we don't want to create a 'Protestant Republican Army' , we have no interest in any of that ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
In his own words , Fintan MacPhillips , a friend of Stephen Moore , describes what happened him in garda custody -
" I was made to sit down and stand up repeatedly . I was put into a corner and my arm was twisted behind my back . A uniformed garda put his head around the door and it stopped for a while . Between 8.30 and 9 my father and my brother , Leo , came in . I told them they were beating me and said to get a doctor . I was brought back up to the room and got a similar going over again .
Plunkett Taaffe , my solicitor , came in and I told him what had happened . He seemed furious . I made a statement to the effect that I did not want to make a statement now or in the near future . I was brought back to the same room and there was a new fellow there . The first thing he did was to knee me in the groin . He did it again a short time later . Of the three Detectives , one did'nt beat me . My brother and father came back . They said that the doctors could'nt come to see me .
I was photographed on Sunday . My flat in Dublin was also raided . I talked to Plunkett Taaffe on Sunday as well . I was released at 12 noon on Monday . I went to Taaffe and he told me that in the absence of any medical evidence , there was nothing I could do . That it was one word against the other . I was beaten on the Saturday night . I was 21 at the time and working in Dublin . I was arrested once before , two years previously . I was held for four hours . The gardai took all my clothes (the second time) and I got clothes from home . They took books from my flat in Dublin . " .......
(MORE LATER).
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
Closer examination of the facts surrounding the Guildford and Woolwich bombings raised enough doubts to lead even Sir John Biggs-Davidson , a 'pillar of the Establishment' who does not lightly criticise the courts , to conclude that a miscarraige of justice took place .
Gerry Conlon and Paul Hill , who allegedly confessed to the Guildford and Woolwich bombings and implicated Conlon's Auntie Annie , were later jailed for sentences which stand in the 'Guinness Book Of Records' as the longest ever handed down in Britain - natural life and thirty-five years , respectively .
Yet doubt was cast on this conviction too when four admitted IRA men , on trial for other bombings and killings , said they had bombed Guildford and Woolwich too . This was clearly un-welcome news to the authorities , for when the IRA men were tried they were simply not charged with the Guildford and Woolwich killings .
Why should first Gerry Conlon and then Paul Hill have implicated Annie Maguire ? Patrick Maguire , just out of prison , said last month that he had met both men in jail , and that they told him they would have named anybody to stop the police beating them . The police were certainly looking for a woman bomber at that stage , and may have been pressing for the name of a woman . The Maguire family advance the theory that Gerry Conlon may have named Annie Maguire in the belief that nobody could possibly believe she was a bombmaker .......
(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.
Danny Morrison : " Sinn Fein sympathises with the difficulties that the IRA has , and that will always be our position . We're painted as extremists for saying that , but there's one thing about republicans ; republicans speak their minds . Free State politicians won't speak their minds . They won't say , for example , that they don't want a united Ireland . They pretend that they want it . Why don't they get up and say - " We don't want a united Ireland , right , because I don't want to lose my job , I don't want to lose my power and prestige . " All the parties in the 26 counties have a vested interest in the Free State continuing to exist forever .
The problem which the Dublin government has , which the SDLP has , is that they can't guarantee that their approach is going to deliver an end to second-class citizenship and civil rights for the nationalists in the North . Because the achievement of civil rights is directly related to the achievement of national rights . The way to get our civil rights is to get our national rights , which means that Britain has to go , the loyalist veto has to be ended . "
'MAGILL' Magazine : " And the loyalists ? "
Danny Morrison : " The people who are presently tied to loyalism can become whatever political power they want in a new Ireland , nobody wants to drive them out . We don't want civil war , we don't want to create a 'Protestant Republican Army' , we have no interest in any of that ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
In his own words , Fintan MacPhillips , a friend of Stephen Moore , describes what happened him in garda custody -
" I was made to sit down and stand up repeatedly . I was put into a corner and my arm was twisted behind my back . A uniformed garda put his head around the door and it stopped for a while . Between 8.30 and 9 my father and my brother , Leo , came in . I told them they were beating me and said to get a doctor . I was brought back up to the room and got a similar going over again .
Plunkett Taaffe , my solicitor , came in and I told him what had happened . He seemed furious . I made a statement to the effect that I did not want to make a statement now or in the near future . I was brought back to the same room and there was a new fellow there . The first thing he did was to knee me in the groin . He did it again a short time later . Of the three Detectives , one did'nt beat me . My brother and father came back . They said that the doctors could'nt come to see me .
I was photographed on Sunday . My flat in Dublin was also raided . I talked to Plunkett Taaffe on Sunday as well . I was released at 12 noon on Monday . I went to Taaffe and he told me that in the absence of any medical evidence , there was nothing I could do . That it was one word against the other . I was beaten on the Saturday night . I was 21 at the time and working in Dublin . I was arrested once before , two years previously . I was held for four hours . The gardai took all my clothes (the second time) and I got clothes from home . They took books from my flat in Dublin . " .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .......
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
In the 'Auntie Annie' case , Patrick Maguire , his wife Annie , two of their teenage sons , two other relatives and a friend were all jailed . Only Annie herself now remains in prison and although she is due for release next year the momentum of the campaign to clear the names of those found guilty seems to be growing .
The story began in late 1974 , following IRA bombs at pubs in guidford and Woolwich which killed seven people and injured a hundred more . The police picked-up two young Belfastmen , Gerry Conlon and Paul Hill , and interrogated them . Conlon is said to have confessed to bombings , adding that Annie Maguire , his aunt , showed him and others how to make bombs in the kitchen of her London home . Paul Hill is said to have confirmed this .
The police raided the Maguire house , arrested the occupants and searched the place : nothing was found in the search and none of the people would admit to knowing anything about bombs . But forensic tests on the fingernails of six of the people , and on a pair of kitchen gloves used by Annie Maguire , were said to have yielded traces of nitroglycerine . On this 'evidence' , the seven defendants were found guilty of handling explosives .
Patrick and Annie Maguire were sentenced to fourteen years , the judge remarking that he wished he could jail them for life . Annie's brother , Sean Smyth , also got fourteen years . Annie's sixteen year old son Vincent got five years , and her thirteen year old son Patrick got four years . Her brother-in-law , Guiseppe Conlon , and a family friend , Patrick O'Neill , both got twelve years .......
(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.
Danny Morrison : " Now , the way to get rid of the IRA is to solve the problem , not try and crack down on the IRA . Because the IRA is popular , it has support , and the Free State government needs to recognise that . Otherwise they would have beaten the IRA twelve years ago . But the IRA continues to exist .
Even if they introduced internment , even if they introduced capital punishment , even if they rounded up everybody , the problem still would'nt go away . They have to face up to the problem - and the problem is that in this country Britain claims that it has the right to occupy a certain amount of the territory on behalf of the national minority , the loyalists . Now , it would be quite different if loyalist politicians were very , very broad-minded , decent people who wanted to share power , give us jobs , give us decent housing - ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ...that 'stay if you want , just treat us better' attitude is now in control of Provisional Sinn Fein . Republicans , on the other hand , are opposed to the jurisdictional claim from Westminster over six Irish counties ) as it is the loyalists are sectarian , almost racist - when you consider George Seawright , who was only speaking his mind , he's being an honest man .
Britain is in here with guns , with finances , protecting the national minority , which is screwing and trying to make second-class citizens of us . And what does Dublin do about it ? Dublin , which has a constitutional claim , a territorial claim , over the North , Dublin which claims to be the inheritors of the 1916 men - it does nothing , except collaborate and perpetuate the problem . That is why you get the IRA , out of desperation , raising finances , using the methods that it does , in the 26 counties . And that is the tragedy of the situation . I would prefer that the IRA was handed money from somewhere else , that it did not have to go out and carry out armed raids - it would certainly make life easier for Sinn Fein ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore was again arrested in 1984 . Of a total of three Section 30 arrests , no charges were ever preferred . Neither were any charges brought against Fintan MacPhillips . He and Stephen Moore were friends ; MacPhillips was also arrested on 12 March 1983 , six hours before Stephen Moore . Both were 21 years old at the time .
Fintan MacPhillips was arrested around 12.45 pm that afternoon by two uniformed gardai ; he was taken to Clones Garda Station and his pockets were emptied . He was placed in a cell and a couple of hours later , two gardai interviewed him . They accused him of having been involved in hi-jacking the Post Office van in the North ; he was 'pushed around' slightly and then put back in his cell . Around 5.30 pm he was taken out and photographed and swab tested .
He was put back in his cell and then taken out to a different room . He was interviewed there by two Detectives : in his own words , this is Fintan MacPhillips' description of what happened then ... " A Detective hit me a box on the shoulder and started a tirade of abuse . I was hit in the stomach and there were thumps to the back of my head ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
In the 'Auntie Annie' case , Patrick Maguire , his wife Annie , two of their teenage sons , two other relatives and a friend were all jailed . Only Annie herself now remains in prison and although she is due for release next year the momentum of the campaign to clear the names of those found guilty seems to be growing .
The story began in late 1974 , following IRA bombs at pubs in guidford and Woolwich which killed seven people and injured a hundred more . The police picked-up two young Belfastmen , Gerry Conlon and Paul Hill , and interrogated them . Conlon is said to have confessed to bombings , adding that Annie Maguire , his aunt , showed him and others how to make bombs in the kitchen of her London home . Paul Hill is said to have confirmed this .
The police raided the Maguire house , arrested the occupants and searched the place : nothing was found in the search and none of the people would admit to knowing anything about bombs . But forensic tests on the fingernails of six of the people , and on a pair of kitchen gloves used by Annie Maguire , were said to have yielded traces of nitroglycerine . On this 'evidence' , the seven defendants were found guilty of handling explosives .
Patrick and Annie Maguire were sentenced to fourteen years , the judge remarking that he wished he could jail them for life . Annie's brother , Sean Smyth , also got fourteen years . Annie's sixteen year old son Vincent got five years , and her thirteen year old son Patrick got four years . Her brother-in-law , Guiseppe Conlon , and a family friend , Patrick O'Neill , both got twelve years .......
(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.
Danny Morrison : " Now , the way to get rid of the IRA is to solve the problem , not try and crack down on the IRA . Because the IRA is popular , it has support , and the Free State government needs to recognise that . Otherwise they would have beaten the IRA twelve years ago . But the IRA continues to exist .
Even if they introduced internment , even if they introduced capital punishment , even if they rounded up everybody , the problem still would'nt go away . They have to face up to the problem - and the problem is that in this country Britain claims that it has the right to occupy a certain amount of the territory on behalf of the national minority , the loyalists . Now , it would be quite different if loyalist politicians were very , very broad-minded , decent people who wanted to share power , give us jobs , give us decent housing - ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ...that 'stay if you want , just treat us better' attitude is now in control of Provisional Sinn Fein . Republicans , on the other hand , are opposed to the jurisdictional claim from Westminster over six Irish counties ) as it is the loyalists are sectarian , almost racist - when you consider George Seawright , who was only speaking his mind , he's being an honest man .
Britain is in here with guns , with finances , protecting the national minority , which is screwing and trying to make second-class citizens of us . And what does Dublin do about it ? Dublin , which has a constitutional claim , a territorial claim , over the North , Dublin which claims to be the inheritors of the 1916 men - it does nothing , except collaborate and perpetuate the problem . That is why you get the IRA , out of desperation , raising finances , using the methods that it does , in the 26 counties . And that is the tragedy of the situation . I would prefer that the IRA was handed money from somewhere else , that it did not have to go out and carry out armed raids - it would certainly make life easier for Sinn Fein ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore was again arrested in 1984 . Of a total of three Section 30 arrests , no charges were ever preferred . Neither were any charges brought against Fintan MacPhillips . He and Stephen Moore were friends ; MacPhillips was also arrested on 12 March 1983 , six hours before Stephen Moore . Both were 21 years old at the time .
Fintan MacPhillips was arrested around 12.45 pm that afternoon by two uniformed gardai ; he was taken to Clones Garda Station and his pockets were emptied . He was placed in a cell and a couple of hours later , two gardai interviewed him . They accused him of having been involved in hi-jacking the Post Office van in the North ; he was 'pushed around' slightly and then put back in his cell . Around 5.30 pm he was taken out and photographed and swab tested .
He was put back in his cell and then taken out to a different room . He was interviewed there by two Detectives : in his own words , this is Fintan MacPhillips' description of what happened then ... " A Detective hit me a box on the shoulder and started a tirade of abuse . I was hit in the stomach and there were thumps to the back of my head ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
There are two main types of Irish prisoners in British jails - those who say they are members of the Provisional IRA and those who say they are innocent . The recent release from Wakefield Prison of Patrick Maguire will focus attention on the second type .
The phenomenon of prisoners who go on protesting their innocence is virtually unknown in the North of Ireland and the 26 Counties , with the obvious exception of the Nicky Kelly case . Yet in Britain three separate sets of Irish people have been jailed on murder or bombing charges , who for almost a decade have maintained that they were wrongfully imprisoned .
In ten years of reporting in Northern Ireland (sic) , I never found a case where an innocent man or woman was sentenced to imprisonment . There were , of course , many criticisms that could be levelled at the justice system , but locking up the wrong people was not one of them . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - How many of the so-called 'Supergrass Trials' did the author attend ... ? None , apparently ... )
In England , however , serious doubts surround the convictions of a total of 17 people jailed in connection with the IRA bombing campaign of 1974 - six for the Birmingham pub bombings , four for pub bombings in Guildford and Woolwich , and seven in the 'Auntie Annie's Bomb Factory' case .......
(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.
Danny Morrison : " Britain has dictated the political complexion of the 26 Counties . It's a neo-colony . You've got them talking , for instance , about 'National Wage Agreements ' - they're not 'national ' , they're 26 counties . The 'nation' stops at Dundalk . You've this attempt to become insular and to try and create a nation out of 26 counties - which is a bigger contradiction than we face . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...and now we have Mr. Morrison and his colleagues sitting in , and/or supporting those that sit in , an assembly in this Free State which refers to itself as ' the Parliament of Ireland' : Leinster House . Note that 'Ireland' , for that 'Parliament' at least , "stops at Dundalk.. " . )
Sinn Fein faces massive problems in the 26 counties because obviously if the public considers the institutions of the State as being legitimate , and you're trying to appeal to the public , surely you have to follow suit . And that's a big problem for us , because our republican tradition says that we can't follow suit - and I quite honestly don't know how we are going to overcome the problem , but I just know that , as revolutionaries , as republicans , who have the responsibility to plot a political way forward ... I think that we will do it , but we will do it by degrees . " ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...or it could be done by securing the votes of new members ; you know - the 'militant nationaists' we mentioned earlier ... )
'MAGILL' Magazine : " To what extent is Sinn Fein embarrassed by the IRA's activities in the South - the kind of thing that the majority of people disagree with , armed robberies and the like ? "
Danny Morrison : " The IRA , in doing things , has the potential to electorally hurt Sinn Fein . Having said that , the IRA has to do what the IRA has to do . For example , in the abduction of Don Tidey - which obviously arose because the IRA needed finances to wage struggle in the North , it was directly related to the struggle in the North . If Dublin governments were proving to the ordinary people in the Six Counties that there is a constitutional , or a pacifist , negotiable way out of this crisis - well then , surely they would be undermining the IRA ? But they don't do that . They ignore what's going on in the North , they are part of the problem , they have actually perpetuated the problem by collaborating and giving the Brits hope that there can be a repressive method of killing this political crisis . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - "..collaborating and giving the Brits hope ... " - like sitting in Stormont , you mean ? Like stating your intention that you are ...." prepared to administer British rule in Ireland for the foreseeable future ... " , as your colleague Francie Molloy did , in 1999 ? "...revolutionaries.. " , Danny ?)
And so therefore , you have the nationalist people in the North , you have the IRA linked in to their interests and fighting for them - the IRA has to find funds somewhere and it's obvious that it's going to try and raise money in the 26 counties . It's obvious ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore ; two Detectives : in his own words , this is what happened ...
" My solicitor , Plunkett Taaffe , called for a doctor . She came . Examined me . She saw my hair was burnt and the state I was in . She gave me tablets , told me that I should be put back in my cell , that I should'nt be interrogated anymore . I was put back in my cell . A Detective who had hit me earlier came into my cell and he asked me would I see a doctor representing them . I said yes , of course . A doctor came in . Just as he was about to start the examination , I said to him that Doctor Caraher had been in a few minutes beforehand . He did'nt start the examination . He picked up his bag and he left . As far as I'm concerned , he did'nt want to be put in the position of conflicting doctors' reports . When he left , I had no more interruptions . I was left in my cell .
On Monday morning , I was brought out of the cell . My father was at the station . They gave me breakfast . I went to the toilet . I noticed bruising to my groin and left thigh . I immediately called for Doctor Caraher again . She came and examined me . She saw the bruising . After the examination , she left . After she left , they said I could go . They wanted me to sign for my possessions that they had taken , which I refused . They gave me back my watch , my shoes , money , and released me without charge . That was roughly around half ten or that . "
Stephen Moore was in the charge of at least 19 gardai during his arrest and detention . These included eleven Detectives . Some of those who assaulted him he can definitely identify . In other instances , he could , he says , put names to faces if he saw them again . Stephen Moore was never charged with anything . He had spent about 40 hours in custody under Section 30 . The gardai could have held him for 48 hours . He had been arrested once before , under Section 30 - that was during the H-Block hunger strike and around the time Bobby Sands MP died , in 1981 . He was arrested in Clones , County Monaghan , and held for 14 hours .
At that time , the gardai were making widespread arrests under Section 30 . Stephen Moore was not charged with any offence .......
(MORE LATER).
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
There are two main types of Irish prisoners in British jails - those who say they are members of the Provisional IRA and those who say they are innocent . The recent release from Wakefield Prison of Patrick Maguire will focus attention on the second type .
The phenomenon of prisoners who go on protesting their innocence is virtually unknown in the North of Ireland and the 26 Counties , with the obvious exception of the Nicky Kelly case . Yet in Britain three separate sets of Irish people have been jailed on murder or bombing charges , who for almost a decade have maintained that they were wrongfully imprisoned .
In ten years of reporting in Northern Ireland (sic) , I never found a case where an innocent man or woman was sentenced to imprisonment . There were , of course , many criticisms that could be levelled at the justice system , but locking up the wrong people was not one of them . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - How many of the so-called 'Supergrass Trials' did the author attend ... ? None , apparently ... )
In England , however , serious doubts surround the convictions of a total of 17 people jailed in connection with the IRA bombing campaign of 1974 - six for the Birmingham pub bombings , four for pub bombings in Guildford and Woolwich , and seven in the 'Auntie Annie's Bomb Factory' case .......
(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.
Danny Morrison : " Britain has dictated the political complexion of the 26 Counties . It's a neo-colony . You've got them talking , for instance , about 'National Wage Agreements ' - they're not 'national ' , they're 26 counties . The 'nation' stops at Dundalk . You've this attempt to become insular and to try and create a nation out of 26 counties - which is a bigger contradiction than we face . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...and now we have Mr. Morrison and his colleagues sitting in , and/or supporting those that sit in , an assembly in this Free State which refers to itself as ' the Parliament of Ireland' : Leinster House . Note that 'Ireland' , for that 'Parliament' at least , "stops at Dundalk.. " . )
Sinn Fein faces massive problems in the 26 counties because obviously if the public considers the institutions of the State as being legitimate , and you're trying to appeal to the public , surely you have to follow suit . And that's a big problem for us , because our republican tradition says that we can't follow suit - and I quite honestly don't know how we are going to overcome the problem , but I just know that , as revolutionaries , as republicans , who have the responsibility to plot a political way forward ... I think that we will do it , but we will do it by degrees . " ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...or it could be done by securing the votes of new members ; you know - the 'militant nationaists' we mentioned earlier ... )
'MAGILL' Magazine : " To what extent is Sinn Fein embarrassed by the IRA's activities in the South - the kind of thing that the majority of people disagree with , armed robberies and the like ? "
Danny Morrison : " The IRA , in doing things , has the potential to electorally hurt Sinn Fein . Having said that , the IRA has to do what the IRA has to do . For example , in the abduction of Don Tidey - which obviously arose because the IRA needed finances to wage struggle in the North , it was directly related to the struggle in the North . If Dublin governments were proving to the ordinary people in the Six Counties that there is a constitutional , or a pacifist , negotiable way out of this crisis - well then , surely they would be undermining the IRA ? But they don't do that . They ignore what's going on in the North , they are part of the problem , they have actually perpetuated the problem by collaborating and giving the Brits hope that there can be a repressive method of killing this political crisis . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - "..collaborating and giving the Brits hope ... " - like sitting in Stormont , you mean ? Like stating your intention that you are ...." prepared to administer British rule in Ireland for the foreseeable future ... " , as your colleague Francie Molloy did , in 1999 ? "...revolutionaries.. " , Danny ?)
And so therefore , you have the nationalist people in the North , you have the IRA linked in to their interests and fighting for them - the IRA has to find funds somewhere and it's obvious that it's going to try and raise money in the 26 counties . It's obvious ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore ; two Detectives : in his own words , this is what happened ...
" My solicitor , Plunkett Taaffe , called for a doctor . She came . Examined me . She saw my hair was burnt and the state I was in . She gave me tablets , told me that I should be put back in my cell , that I should'nt be interrogated anymore . I was put back in my cell . A Detective who had hit me earlier came into my cell and he asked me would I see a doctor representing them . I said yes , of course . A doctor came in . Just as he was about to start the examination , I said to him that Doctor Caraher had been in a few minutes beforehand . He did'nt start the examination . He picked up his bag and he left . As far as I'm concerned , he did'nt want to be put in the position of conflicting doctors' reports . When he left , I had no more interruptions . I was left in my cell .
On Monday morning , I was brought out of the cell . My father was at the station . They gave me breakfast . I went to the toilet . I noticed bruising to my groin and left thigh . I immediately called for Doctor Caraher again . She came and examined me . She saw the bruising . After the examination , she left . After she left , they said I could go . They wanted me to sign for my possessions that they had taken , which I refused . They gave me back my watch , my shoes , money , and released me without charge . That was roughly around half ten or that . "
Stephen Moore was in the charge of at least 19 gardai during his arrest and detention . These included eleven Detectives . Some of those who assaulted him he can definitely identify . In other instances , he could , he says , put names to faces if he saw them again . Stephen Moore was never charged with anything . He had spent about 40 hours in custody under Section 30 . The gardai could have held him for 48 hours . He had been arrested once before , under Section 30 - that was during the H-Block hunger strike and around the time Bobby Sands MP died , in 1981 . He was arrested in Clones , County Monaghan , and held for 14 hours .
At that time , the gardai were making widespread arrests under Section 30 . Stephen Moore was not charged with any offence .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, August 22, 2005
THE INEVITABILITY OF SECTARIAN COLLISION .......
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) says what little element of accommodation there had been in the Sinn Fein programme - a federal Ireland - had now "...been wiped right off the sheet of their philosophy in one go . Now when they speak of 'Brits Out!' they can't seriously be referring to the soldiers who came here in 1969 - Protestants would construe it as meaning them . "
And he concludes with a grim warning to his fellow Loyalists : " Provisionalism has its act together . Republicanism is going the direct road , it's got a clear-cut objective one way or the other . Facing that situation , if Protestants dither - and there is an element of confusion among Protestants - if they remain confused and don't get their act together in this generation , then they'll have to face defeat and have to get out of Northern Ireland (sic) . I believe that when they're faced with the enormity of this situation that will be enough to motivate them to get their act together . "
(' 1169 ... ' Comment - this , again , was propaganda from Seawright : the Irish Struggle is not about 'forcing Unionists/Loyalists out ' of the Six Counties - it is about obtaining an end to Westminster's jurisdictional claim over that part of Ireland and the withdrawal of British Army troops from the island . If those , in the Six Counties , that consider themselves 'British' do not want to stay then they will not be forced to . It is their choice . )
[END of 'THE INEVITABILITY OF SECTARIAN COLLISION' .]
(Tomorrow - '17 Victims Of British Justice' : from 1984 .)
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.
'MAGILL' Magazine : " Is'nt one major reason for the lack of development of Sinn Fein in the South its ambiguity towards the State , whether the State has to be removed ? "
Danny Morrison : " Owen Carron was badly misquoted in a speech he made in London two years ago , about how republicans have to destabilise the 26 counties . The Free State government has on occasion since then berated us over that statement , which Owen Carron did not make . (' 1169 ... ' Comment - this corrupt State needs not only to be 'destabilised' , but tore asunder and re-built . The career politicians in Leinster House are living beyond the means of the people ; was Morrison of the opinion that the then Sinn Fein leadership would be content simply to 'tweak' the existing system .. ?)
What Sinn Fein has to recognise and I think is recognising is that the vast majority of people in the 26 counties consider the institutions of the State as being legitimate . Now , I don't . But it is not legitimate to attempt to bring down the 26 counties through armed struggle . ( '1169...' Comment - by this definition , then , was the Republican campaign against the Free State in the early 1920's not a 'legitimate' struggle ?) Fianna Fail and Fine Gael , they're trying to change the 26 counties . Fianna Fail would argue for a unitary state - if there is a unitary state the 26 counties ceases to exist , the institutions of the state become new institutions . Fine Gael say they would favour a federal or confederal arrangement - in which case it has to be new institutions .
What I'm saying is that in the course of achieving a united Ireland the 26 counties will naturally change . And it will have to at some stage cease to exist . Now , that's not the same as getting up waving a red flag and saying "We're out to blow youse away " . The ordinary people in the 26 counties will remove the people who are presently in government and in opposition - because of their failures . They will have to go , they will be removed , quite naturally , by the people . It's got nothing to do with Sinn Fein , it's got nothing to do with the IRA .
Having said that , I recognise that the vast majority of people in the 26 counties consider the State and its institutions to be legitimate . I still say that I don't consider it to be legitimate . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - that is not now the position of Provisional Sinn Fein , nor has it been since 1986 . Since that year they have been a constitutionally-registered 'political party' in the Free State .) I consider that the Free State was created by Britain and is still defending what was defended in the civil war ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore ; two Detectives : in his own words , this is what happened ....
... " The Detectives forced me into a metal filing cabinet . They locked the doors . They started banging it and shaking it . It fell to the floor , with me inside . That went on for a few minutes - it was only a few minutes . They opened the doors and I got out . There was a table in the room . The older of the two Detectives continued shouting abuse and the younger one was fiddling about with a piece of paper . I was more or less looking at the fellow who was shouting at me . I felt the younger one putting a piece of paper in my left ear . I know myself that it was a piece of paper that he had rolled up . I honestly thought he was only messing about . I thought he was only playing a trick .
He lit the paper . The moment it was lit , he flicked it out . He did'nt think it would catch alight so quick but at that stage it had burned my hair . The two of them had threatened to throw me out the window . They brought me over and had me at it . There was wire mesh at the front , they could'nt have thrown me out . I knew myself . They continued to hit into my stomach and kicking me in the groin . I called for a doctor continually over the one and a half hour period that I was in there . At that stage they got frightened - I was short of breath . I had bronchitis as a child . I'd been in hospital about a year or two before that . I had pains in my chest . One of the Detectives went out and brought in tea and chicken sandwiches . " You'll be OK ... " , this was the type of shit they were going on with .
They stayed for a few minutes , did'nt do anything to me , and they left then . Next thing , two more Detectives came in - one that I knew very well and the other I'd never seen before . They continued the interrogation . The one that I knew shouted at me and the other slapped me about the back of the head . That went on for about half an hour or so . The next thing I knew my solicitor was there and they asked me if I wanted to see him . 'Course , I said yes . They brought me downstairs and I met Plunkett Taaffe . Broke down . Broke down in front of him . It was'nt the pain of what happened ; it was the relief of knowing that when Plunkett was there at that stage there was a chance that I would'nt be hit again . He immediately called for a doctor ....... "
(MORE LATER).
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) says what little element of accommodation there had been in the Sinn Fein programme - a federal Ireland - had now "...been wiped right off the sheet of their philosophy in one go . Now when they speak of 'Brits Out!' they can't seriously be referring to the soldiers who came here in 1969 - Protestants would construe it as meaning them . "
And he concludes with a grim warning to his fellow Loyalists : " Provisionalism has its act together . Republicanism is going the direct road , it's got a clear-cut objective one way or the other . Facing that situation , if Protestants dither - and there is an element of confusion among Protestants - if they remain confused and don't get their act together in this generation , then they'll have to face defeat and have to get out of Northern Ireland (sic) . I believe that when they're faced with the enormity of this situation that will be enough to motivate them to get their act together . "
(' 1169 ... ' Comment - this , again , was propaganda from Seawright : the Irish Struggle is not about 'forcing Unionists/Loyalists out ' of the Six Counties - it is about obtaining an end to Westminster's jurisdictional claim over that part of Ireland and the withdrawal of British Army troops from the island . If those , in the Six Counties , that consider themselves 'British' do not want to stay then they will not be forced to . It is their choice . )
[END of 'THE INEVITABILITY OF SECTARIAN COLLISION' .]
(Tomorrow - '17 Victims Of British Justice' : from 1984 .)
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.
'MAGILL' Magazine : " Is'nt one major reason for the lack of development of Sinn Fein in the South its ambiguity towards the State , whether the State has to be removed ? "
Danny Morrison : " Owen Carron was badly misquoted in a speech he made in London two years ago , about how republicans have to destabilise the 26 counties . The Free State government has on occasion since then berated us over that statement , which Owen Carron did not make . (' 1169 ... ' Comment - this corrupt State needs not only to be 'destabilised' , but tore asunder and re-built . The career politicians in Leinster House are living beyond the means of the people ; was Morrison of the opinion that the then Sinn Fein leadership would be content simply to 'tweak' the existing system .. ?)
What Sinn Fein has to recognise and I think is recognising is that the vast majority of people in the 26 counties consider the institutions of the State as being legitimate . Now , I don't . But it is not legitimate to attempt to bring down the 26 counties through armed struggle . ( '1169...' Comment - by this definition , then , was the Republican campaign against the Free State in the early 1920's not a 'legitimate' struggle ?) Fianna Fail and Fine Gael , they're trying to change the 26 counties . Fianna Fail would argue for a unitary state - if there is a unitary state the 26 counties ceases to exist , the institutions of the state become new institutions . Fine Gael say they would favour a federal or confederal arrangement - in which case it has to be new institutions .
What I'm saying is that in the course of achieving a united Ireland the 26 counties will naturally change . And it will have to at some stage cease to exist . Now , that's not the same as getting up waving a red flag and saying "We're out to blow youse away " . The ordinary people in the 26 counties will remove the people who are presently in government and in opposition - because of their failures . They will have to go , they will be removed , quite naturally , by the people . It's got nothing to do with Sinn Fein , it's got nothing to do with the IRA .
Having said that , I recognise that the vast majority of people in the 26 counties consider the State and its institutions to be legitimate . I still say that I don't consider it to be legitimate . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - that is not now the position of Provisional Sinn Fein , nor has it been since 1986 . Since that year they have been a constitutionally-registered 'political party' in the Free State .) I consider that the Free State was created by Britain and is still defending what was defended in the civil war ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore ; two Detectives : in his own words , this is what happened ....
... " The Detectives forced me into a metal filing cabinet . They locked the doors . They started banging it and shaking it . It fell to the floor , with me inside . That went on for a few minutes - it was only a few minutes . They opened the doors and I got out . There was a table in the room . The older of the two Detectives continued shouting abuse and the younger one was fiddling about with a piece of paper . I was more or less looking at the fellow who was shouting at me . I felt the younger one putting a piece of paper in my left ear . I know myself that it was a piece of paper that he had rolled up . I honestly thought he was only messing about . I thought he was only playing a trick .
He lit the paper . The moment it was lit , he flicked it out . He did'nt think it would catch alight so quick but at that stage it had burned my hair . The two of them had threatened to throw me out the window . They brought me over and had me at it . There was wire mesh at the front , they could'nt have thrown me out . I knew myself . They continued to hit into my stomach and kicking me in the groin . I called for a doctor continually over the one and a half hour period that I was in there . At that stage they got frightened - I was short of breath . I had bronchitis as a child . I'd been in hospital about a year or two before that . I had pains in my chest . One of the Detectives went out and brought in tea and chicken sandwiches . " You'll be OK ... " , this was the type of shit they were going on with .
They stayed for a few minutes , did'nt do anything to me , and they left then . Next thing , two more Detectives came in - one that I knew very well and the other I'd never seen before . They continued the interrogation . The one that I knew shouted at me and the other slapped me about the back of the head . That went on for about half an hour or so . The next thing I knew my solicitor was there and they asked me if I wanted to see him . 'Course , I said yes . They brought me downstairs and I met Plunkett Taaffe . Broke down . Broke down in front of him . It was'nt the pain of what happened ; it was the relief of knowing that when Plunkett was there at that stage there was a chance that I would'nt be hit again . He immediately called for a doctor ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Friday, August 19, 2005
THE INEVITABILITY OF SECTARIAN COLLISION .......
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) believes one of the clearest signs that the two sides were now irreconcilable was the low vote received by 'The Workers Party' in Nationalist working-class areas - " This signifies to Protestants the rejection by the Roman Catholic and Nationalist community of non-sectarian Socialism , an old-fashioned Republicanism - if you could call it that - based on the ideals of Wolfe Tone and company which believed that Socialism could be implemented in Ireland accommodating Protestants and Catholics alike . ('1169.... ' Comment - We presume Mr Seawright was simply being mischievous in linking the Stickies ('WP') with Wolfe Tone ...)
Provisionalism is dramatically different ; it is something rising up and saying quite clearly that there can be no real accommodation for Protestants or for a people who wish to live as a separate entity on this island - their culture , their identity , would not be recognised in the event of the Provisionals taking over . " ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...again : another incorrect 'assumption' by George Seawright - he no doubt used this line to 'encourage' loyalists to attack their nationalist neighbours ie ''get them before they get you " . Seawright and his type were part of the problem - not part of the solution . He went on to claim that the 'Brits Out!' slogan , as used by Irish Republicans , was directed at ordinary unionists and loyalists as well as at the British military and political presence - yet another incorrect 'assumption' . )
(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.
' MAGILL ' Magazine : " Getting involved in electoral politics necessitates explaining and arguing politics , things get more complicated , the old simplicities are not enough . Have these developments not created a gap between the leadership and its older rank and file , particularly in the South ? "
Danny Morrison : " I think Sinn Fein in the South has undergone a lot of developments as well . It's not just a paper-selling organisation and collecting for prisoners . It has started to get involved . Our successes are probably more marked in Dublin than in other places . But there has been an influx of new members , especially as a result of the European election , new cummain flourishing in different areas and that's good for the organisation .
Now , the social content of the organisation has not changed . Although there have been a lot of people coming in who don't directly come from Republican families , who have never been in jail - I mean , I would be afraid that too much of an influx of that type of people would upset the balance inside the Republican organisation . ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ....and that is exactly what happened : the 'new members' were not educated on the politics of the Movement - they were 'militant Nationalists' more so than 'Republicans' and , within a few years of this interview , the Provisional Sinn Fein leadership 'pointed' those new members towards a 'nationalist solution' (ie like the SDLP and Fianna Fail) and were then able to declare , to the objectors within - ' ....but that's where the members want to go ..' . A sleight of hand operation . )
And you would have people coming in who would perhaps be 'trendy' , who would not have had that long history of involvement that's actually the anchor of our stability and our consistency . And that might push things too quickly . ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ....so it was apparently acceptable to "push things..." slowly ... ?) The leadership can't get ahead of the grassroots . It has to bring the grassroots along with it . We face many problems in the 26 Counties : the policy of abstentionism obviously handicaps our potential for gathering votes . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...but not , apparently , regarding Westminster , it seems ... !) But abstentionism has been a very important issue with the Movement down the years . You don't change abstentionism as a result of all these new people coming in and getting a majority - ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...you 'should'nt ' , Danny . Not "don't " or 'can't ' ... ) that's why you can't allow people to come in and change the social content of the organisation . ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ...unless the leadership themselves are in favour of such a move , of course ....)
Any difficult issues which we face in the months and years ahead , we're going to have to resolve them on the basis of being completely united and with almost total agreement about how you go forward . " ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ...two years after those fine words , Mr Morrison was one of those who opened the doors at the 1986 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis to let the terms "completely united .. " and "...with almost total agreement .. " escape . )
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore ; two Detectives : in his own words , this is what happened ....
... " My parents arrived Sunday evening around 5 PM . I had a half-hour visit with them . I was interviewed by two guards from Clones before my parents arrived . They were extremely nice . They said more or less that I was an embarrassment to my family and "...you can't get away with this sort of thing around Clones .. " . They asked me if I wanted to see my parents and I said "yes" . When my parents left , the interview continued .
There was no ill-treatment whatsoever . The interview lasted until about half six/seven o'clock , as far as I can remember . Two other Detectives came in that I did'nt know . They did'nt stay very long . There was no ill-treatment . I was put back in my cell then . Sometime around eight o'clock , a Detective came into the cell . He told me to get up and follow the other Detectives that were outside the door . He turned left and went up a stairs . There was a young Detective in front of me on the way up the stairs . When I was going up the stairs the older Detective behind me hit me a slap across the back of the head .
I had an idea something was going to happen , I knew they were'nt taking me up the stairs for nothing . It was the first time during the time I was in Monaghan Barracks that I was being taken upstairs . I was brought to a small box room . The minute I got into the room , they started kicking and punching . They started leathering into me . They had a statement written out and they wanted me to sign it . The beating that them two fellows gave me went on for about one and a half hours . In that space of time , they placed a cardboard box over my head when they kicked me and punched me . I did'nt know where it was coming from . One would twist my arm up my back while the other would hit me .
When they'd hit me , I'd move - one of them would grab me and twist my arm up my back to keep me in the one position where I could'nt avoid being hit . They had a pen and placed it into my hand and one would grab my hand and force it down on the statement , to try and make me sign it . They kept referring to "..we've had harder men in here .. " and they gave names of people who , they say , broke ....... "
(MORE LATER).
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) believes one of the clearest signs that the two sides were now irreconcilable was the low vote received by 'The Workers Party' in Nationalist working-class areas - " This signifies to Protestants the rejection by the Roman Catholic and Nationalist community of non-sectarian Socialism , an old-fashioned Republicanism - if you could call it that - based on the ideals of Wolfe Tone and company which believed that Socialism could be implemented in Ireland accommodating Protestants and Catholics alike . ('1169.... ' Comment - We presume Mr Seawright was simply being mischievous in linking the Stickies ('WP') with Wolfe Tone ...)
Provisionalism is dramatically different ; it is something rising up and saying quite clearly that there can be no real accommodation for Protestants or for a people who wish to live as a separate entity on this island - their culture , their identity , would not be recognised in the event of the Provisionals taking over . " ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...again : another incorrect 'assumption' by George Seawright - he no doubt used this line to 'encourage' loyalists to attack their nationalist neighbours ie ''get them before they get you " . Seawright and his type were part of the problem - not part of the solution . He went on to claim that the 'Brits Out!' slogan , as used by Irish Republicans , was directed at ordinary unionists and loyalists as well as at the British military and political presence - yet another incorrect 'assumption' . )
(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.
' MAGILL ' Magazine : " Getting involved in electoral politics necessitates explaining and arguing politics , things get more complicated , the old simplicities are not enough . Have these developments not created a gap between the leadership and its older rank and file , particularly in the South ? "
Danny Morrison : " I think Sinn Fein in the South has undergone a lot of developments as well . It's not just a paper-selling organisation and collecting for prisoners . It has started to get involved . Our successes are probably more marked in Dublin than in other places . But there has been an influx of new members , especially as a result of the European election , new cummain flourishing in different areas and that's good for the organisation .
Now , the social content of the organisation has not changed . Although there have been a lot of people coming in who don't directly come from Republican families , who have never been in jail - I mean , I would be afraid that too much of an influx of that type of people would upset the balance inside the Republican organisation . ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ....and that is exactly what happened : the 'new members' were not educated on the politics of the Movement - they were 'militant Nationalists' more so than 'Republicans' and , within a few years of this interview , the Provisional Sinn Fein leadership 'pointed' those new members towards a 'nationalist solution' (ie like the SDLP and Fianna Fail) and were then able to declare , to the objectors within - ' ....but that's where the members want to go ..' . A sleight of hand operation . )
And you would have people coming in who would perhaps be 'trendy' , who would not have had that long history of involvement that's actually the anchor of our stability and our consistency . And that might push things too quickly . ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ....so it was apparently acceptable to "push things..." slowly ... ?) The leadership can't get ahead of the grassroots . It has to bring the grassroots along with it . We face many problems in the 26 Counties : the policy of abstentionism obviously handicaps our potential for gathering votes . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...but not , apparently , regarding Westminster , it seems ... !) But abstentionism has been a very important issue with the Movement down the years . You don't change abstentionism as a result of all these new people coming in and getting a majority - ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...you 'should'nt ' , Danny . Not "don't " or 'can't ' ... ) that's why you can't allow people to come in and change the social content of the organisation . ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ...unless the leadership themselves are in favour of such a move , of course ....)
Any difficult issues which we face in the months and years ahead , we're going to have to resolve them on the basis of being completely united and with almost total agreement about how you go forward . " ( ' 1169 .... ' Comment - ...two years after those fine words , Mr Morrison was one of those who opened the doors at the 1986 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis to let the terms "completely united .. " and "...with almost total agreement .. " escape . )
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore ; two Detectives : in his own words , this is what happened ....
... " My parents arrived Sunday evening around 5 PM . I had a half-hour visit with them . I was interviewed by two guards from Clones before my parents arrived . They were extremely nice . They said more or less that I was an embarrassment to my family and "...you can't get away with this sort of thing around Clones .. " . They asked me if I wanted to see my parents and I said "yes" . When my parents left , the interview continued .
There was no ill-treatment whatsoever . The interview lasted until about half six/seven o'clock , as far as I can remember . Two other Detectives came in that I did'nt know . They did'nt stay very long . There was no ill-treatment . I was put back in my cell then . Sometime around eight o'clock , a Detective came into the cell . He told me to get up and follow the other Detectives that were outside the door . He turned left and went up a stairs . There was a young Detective in front of me on the way up the stairs . When I was going up the stairs the older Detective behind me hit me a slap across the back of the head .
I had an idea something was going to happen , I knew they were'nt taking me up the stairs for nothing . It was the first time during the time I was in Monaghan Barracks that I was being taken upstairs . I was brought to a small box room . The minute I got into the room , they started kicking and punching . They started leathering into me . They had a statement written out and they wanted me to sign it . The beating that them two fellows gave me went on for about one and a half hours . In that space of time , they placed a cardboard box over my head when they kicked me and punched me . I did'nt know where it was coming from . One would twist my arm up my back while the other would hit me .
When they'd hit me , I'd move - one of them would grab me and twist my arm up my back to keep me in the one position where I could'nt avoid being hit . They had a pen and placed it into my hand and one would grab my hand and force it down on the statement , to try and make me sign it . They kept referring to "..we've had harder men in here .. " and they gave names of people who , they say , broke ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, August 18, 2005
THE INEVITABILITY OF SECTARIAN COLLISION .......
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) says that for a Loyalist politician to have any role (with the Loyalist paramilitaries ) he would have to be similar to Gerry Adams - " There is no contradiction between Adams being a political leader , which he is - much as I'd like to see him put out of the way - and also saying that in some ways he's the spokesman or representative of an armed force . "
He also warns against underestimating the strength of Provisional Republicanism - " The Protestants have to approach the situation keeping in mind that they're dealing with people who are well geared up , people who , if they have any sense at all , one must reasonably assume have become an armed camp in the Republican ghettoes over the last 14 or 15 years . We know that they can hold areas but for how long we don't know . The idea of running over them , wiping them out , realistically , is'nt on anymore .
That was something that prevailed in the 1970's - it was the 1969 mentality - ' ...if only the (British) army had'nt come in ... if only the (British) army would get out ...we'd fix them , we'd run over the top of them and wipe them out ... ' . It's a load of old nonsense . "
George Seawright scares himself when he talks like that . He foresees the North ending up like the Lebanon ... "...with armed camps within the present partitioned boundary , people holding areas for generations to come and holding areas unless someone moves in and takes them . The only person who would want what I have just said as a possible eventuality is some kind of psychopath , someone devoid of humanitarian feelings . But what I am saying is that these two irreconcilable forces in the North of Ireland have now reached a peak , a situation where such things could possibly be unavoidable ....... "
(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.
' MAGILL ' Magazine : " Ostensibly , there has been a change from left to right in Sinn Fein , yet you say there is no conflict , no disagreement , and the main effect seems to be a more enthusiastic approach to electoral politics . Have there really been any political changes , then ? "
Danny Morrison : " There is a change , of course . There's been a change in the politics and a lot of people have been given their head and the Movement is more open to discussion and debate and to persuasion . For example , we were opposed to the Amendment campaign in the Free State last year ...."
' MAGILL ' Magazine : "....but some of your members campaigned for it .. "
Danny Morrison : "...but , sure , you have to allow that ... you can't over-rule people's personal beliefs , even in a revolutionary organisation . But the point about it is ... the Movement's open political position , for example on divorce , is that there should be divorce allowed in the 26 counties , there should be contraception in the 26 counties .
In terms of ten years ago - in January 1974 on the front page of 'Republican News' there was an article against contraception , right ? Front page article , England was trying to corrupt the morals of the Irish people , right ? I mean ...that has been a big change .
But what the Sinn Fein electoral intervention has done has been to create a network , an organisation , of all these advice centres , of people who are'nt sitting on the sidelines . It's not a question of if you can't join the IRA you're just an observer . "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore ; two Detectives : in his own words , this is what happened .....
... " One of the Detectives would continuously rub the back of my neck and the sides of my face until it got red and sore . The taller of the two told me that if he ever seen me with a stick in my hand he would shoot first and ask questions later .
Then the two fellows went into all sorts of humiliation . They tried to humiliate me in various ways . They slapped me around the back of the head . That went on for a couple of hours . They threw water in my face to sort of wake me up . I was ignoring them . In the 'Doctor's Room' there was a sink and a tap . They would hand me a cup of water and say 'here drink that' and then they would flick the top of it into my face .
Plunkett Taaffe , the Solicitor , called sometime in the afternoon . I made a complaint to him about the way they were treating me . I made a statement in the presence of the two Detectives , exactly the same statement that I had made on Saturday night . That was , that I did not wish to make a statement now or in the near future . I found out who the gardai were at that point . Plunkett Taaffe called for a doctor to be called to examine me . I had a cut on my lip . I can't remember how I got it .
Doctor Caraher arrived . She examined me and found no marks except a small cut on my lip . She left after about ten or fifteen minutes . I told her there was nothing wrong with me ....... "
(MORE LATER).
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) says that for a Loyalist politician to have any role (with the Loyalist paramilitaries ) he would have to be similar to Gerry Adams - " There is no contradiction between Adams being a political leader , which he is - much as I'd like to see him put out of the way - and also saying that in some ways he's the spokesman or representative of an armed force . "
He also warns against underestimating the strength of Provisional Republicanism - " The Protestants have to approach the situation keeping in mind that they're dealing with people who are well geared up , people who , if they have any sense at all , one must reasonably assume have become an armed camp in the Republican ghettoes over the last 14 or 15 years . We know that they can hold areas but for how long we don't know . The idea of running over them , wiping them out , realistically , is'nt on anymore .
That was something that prevailed in the 1970's - it was the 1969 mentality - ' ...if only the (British) army had'nt come in ... if only the (British) army would get out ...we'd fix them , we'd run over the top of them and wipe them out ... ' . It's a load of old nonsense . "
George Seawright scares himself when he talks like that . He foresees the North ending up like the Lebanon ... "...with armed camps within the present partitioned boundary , people holding areas for generations to come and holding areas unless someone moves in and takes them . The only person who would want what I have just said as a possible eventuality is some kind of psychopath , someone devoid of humanitarian feelings . But what I am saying is that these two irreconcilable forces in the North of Ireland have now reached a peak , a situation where such things could possibly be unavoidable ....... "
(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.
' MAGILL ' Magazine : " Ostensibly , there has been a change from left to right in Sinn Fein , yet you say there is no conflict , no disagreement , and the main effect seems to be a more enthusiastic approach to electoral politics . Have there really been any political changes , then ? "
Danny Morrison : " There is a change , of course . There's been a change in the politics and a lot of people have been given their head and the Movement is more open to discussion and debate and to persuasion . For example , we were opposed to the Amendment campaign in the Free State last year ...."
' MAGILL ' Magazine : "....but some of your members campaigned for it .. "
Danny Morrison : "...but , sure , you have to allow that ... you can't over-rule people's personal beliefs , even in a revolutionary organisation . But the point about it is ... the Movement's open political position , for example on divorce , is that there should be divorce allowed in the 26 counties , there should be contraception in the 26 counties .
In terms of ten years ago - in January 1974 on the front page of 'Republican News' there was an article against contraception , right ? Front page article , England was trying to corrupt the morals of the Irish people , right ? I mean ...that has been a big change .
But what the Sinn Fein electoral intervention has done has been to create a network , an organisation , of all these advice centres , of people who are'nt sitting on the sidelines . It's not a question of if you can't join the IRA you're just an observer . "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore ; two Detectives : in his own words , this is what happened .....
... " One of the Detectives would continuously rub the back of my neck and the sides of my face until it got red and sore . The taller of the two told me that if he ever seen me with a stick in my hand he would shoot first and ask questions later .
Then the two fellows went into all sorts of humiliation . They tried to humiliate me in various ways . They slapped me around the back of the head . That went on for a couple of hours . They threw water in my face to sort of wake me up . I was ignoring them . In the 'Doctor's Room' there was a sink and a tap . They would hand me a cup of water and say 'here drink that' and then they would flick the top of it into my face .
Plunkett Taaffe , the Solicitor , called sometime in the afternoon . I made a complaint to him about the way they were treating me . I made a statement in the presence of the two Detectives , exactly the same statement that I had made on Saturday night . That was , that I did not wish to make a statement now or in the near future . I found out who the gardai were at that point . Plunkett Taaffe called for a doctor to be called to examine me . I had a cut on my lip . I can't remember how I got it .
Doctor Caraher arrived . She examined me and found no marks except a small cut on my lip . She left after about ten or fifteen minutes . I told her there was nothing wrong with me ....... "
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
THE INEVITABILITY OF SECTARIAN COLLISION .......
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) thinks that the Unionists' use of 'bluff' is important in Republican thinking - " I believe that within the Provisional leadership there are those who believe that basically the Protestants are bluffing and will not put up a sustained armed resistance . "
What this fails to take into account , says Seawright , is the hard core from areas like the Shankill Road and East Belfast who will fight a united Ireland to the death - " The only question is how many of that type of Loyalist would rise to the fore ? " Those determined to fight , Seawright believes , could be incorporated into a totally overhauled , broad-based Loyalist paramilitary structure .
He admits that at present in many Loyalist circles , the paramilitaries are a 'dirty word' for gangsterism and racketeering , and law-abiding Protestants want nothing to do with them . But he goes on - " What will happen in the 1980's , if Loyalists are to get their act together , is that paramilitarism is going to have to become acceptable to the broad mass of the Loyalist people . In that situation you could have a Loyalist paramilitary force working in conjunction with a political brain and the goal could be a provisional 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.
'MAGILL' magazine : " But the 'left-right' division remains . The 'right' are still there and the 'left' has yet to prove that its ideas are paying off . "
Danny Morrison ; " I think it has paid off . If you look at things from October 1982 onwards there have been occasions when , say for example , the IRA for whatever reason has'nt been as active , perhaps through some form of difficulties or other , for maybe a month at a time . You've had Sinn Fein electoral results making a big impact and demoralising the Brits and making the news in Britain and internationally , both in October 1982 and June 1983 .
Ken Livingstone's visit here in February 1983 , Gerry Adams going to London after the exclusion order was lifted in July 1983 - all of those things have been very important in terms of the struggle .
I think the Republican Movement , through having elected representatives , has increased credibility . It does make it easier - for example , Clive Soley was here talking to us two weeks ago - that makes it easier for people like that to engage in discussion and to realise that we have'nt got horns and to realise that what we are saying , that there is validity to it . "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
In his own words , this is Stephen Moore's description of what happened to him in garda custody -
- " They put me in a squad car and I was taken to Monaghan . There were two gardai in the front and two in the back and I was in the middle . I asked to make a telephone call . There was no problems . They said OK , like . I rang home . I told my mother and father where I was , that I had been transferred to Monaghan . I was interviewed by about four Detectives , in pairs of two , until about ten (o'clock) as far as I can make out . My watch , my gutties (shoes) and a few bob in my pocket was taken .
They were asking me about a hi-jacking of a Post Office van at Clontivern , County Fermanagh . There was no ill treatment . There was no problems . Plunkett Taaffe , Solicitor , arrived in . He advised me to make a statement to the gardai . I made it . I said in the statement that I did not wish to make a statement now or in the near future . That was it . When Plunkett Taaffe left , I was put back in my cell .
That was the end of Saturday night . No problems . I slept between twelve and nine . I had no worries , I slept . My family visited me on Sunday morning for about half an hour . When they left , I was taken to a place called the ' Doctor's Room ' . I suppose it was about eleven o' clock on Sunday . As far as times are concerned , it's guesswork . I had no watch . There was an interview with two Detectives . I did'nt know their names at that stage . They had a statement written out . They were trying to force me to sign it . The statement was in reference to the hi-jacking . They were trying to force me to sign it . They were pushing me from one to the other ....... " .......
(MORE LATER).
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) thinks that the Unionists' use of 'bluff' is important in Republican thinking - " I believe that within the Provisional leadership there are those who believe that basically the Protestants are bluffing and will not put up a sustained armed resistance . "
What this fails to take into account , says Seawright , is the hard core from areas like the Shankill Road and East Belfast who will fight a united Ireland to the death - " The only question is how many of that type of Loyalist would rise to the fore ? " Those determined to fight , Seawright believes , could be incorporated into a totally overhauled , broad-based Loyalist paramilitary structure .
He admits that at present in many Loyalist circles , the paramilitaries are a 'dirty word' for gangsterism and racketeering , and law-abiding Protestants want nothing to do with them . But he goes on - " What will happen in the 1980's , if Loyalists are to get their act together , is that paramilitarism is going to have to become acceptable to the broad mass of the Loyalist people . In that situation you could have a Loyalist paramilitary force working in conjunction with a political brain and the goal could be a provisional 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.
'MAGILL' magazine : " But the 'left-right' division remains . The 'right' are still there and the 'left' has yet to prove that its ideas are paying off . "
Danny Morrison ; " I think it has paid off . If you look at things from October 1982 onwards there have been occasions when , say for example , the IRA for whatever reason has'nt been as active , perhaps through some form of difficulties or other , for maybe a month at a time . You've had Sinn Fein electoral results making a big impact and demoralising the Brits and making the news in Britain and internationally , both in October 1982 and June 1983 .
Ken Livingstone's visit here in February 1983 , Gerry Adams going to London after the exclusion order was lifted in July 1983 - all of those things have been very important in terms of the struggle .
I think the Republican Movement , through having elected representatives , has increased credibility . It does make it easier - for example , Clive Soley was here talking to us two weeks ago - that makes it easier for people like that to engage in discussion and to realise that we have'nt got horns and to realise that what we are saying , that there is validity to it . "
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
In his own words , this is Stephen Moore's description of what happened to him in garda custody -
- " They put me in a squad car and I was taken to Monaghan . There were two gardai in the front and two in the back and I was in the middle . I asked to make a telephone call . There was no problems . They said OK , like . I rang home . I told my mother and father where I was , that I had been transferred to Monaghan . I was interviewed by about four Detectives , in pairs of two , until about ten (o'clock) as far as I can make out . My watch , my gutties (shoes) and a few bob in my pocket was taken .
They were asking me about a hi-jacking of a Post Office van at Clontivern , County Fermanagh . There was no ill treatment . There was no problems . Plunkett Taaffe , Solicitor , arrived in . He advised me to make a statement to the gardai . I made it . I said in the statement that I did not wish to make a statement now or in the near future . That was it . When Plunkett Taaffe left , I was put back in my cell .
That was the end of Saturday night . No problems . I slept between twelve and nine . I had no worries , I slept . My family visited me on Sunday morning for about half an hour . When they left , I was taken to a place called the ' Doctor's Room ' . I suppose it was about eleven o' clock on Sunday . As far as times are concerned , it's guesswork . I had no watch . There was an interview with two Detectives . I did'nt know their names at that stage . They had a statement written out . They were trying to force me to sign it . The statement was in reference to the hi-jacking . They were trying to force me to sign it . They were pushing me from one to the other ....... " .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
THE INEVITABILITY OF SECTARIAN COLLISION .......
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) sees the Northern Assembly as being kept in existence to play a very different role : " What's going to happen in the future is that Loyalists are going to have to take care of events themselves , and the more areas they take over , the stronger they will be . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - "...take care of events ... take over areas ..." - so Westminster is to be 'obeyed' only when it suits the Loyalists to do so !)
Loyalists have pointed out that if they could ever be in a strong enough position to operate from Stormont , give orders from Stormont , then they would be in a very strong position indeed , the position of a provisional government . The 1980's will see those who desire and believe that they can bring victory about through the democratic process , through standing for election and holding office , exhaust themselves . "
One of the problems of Unionist politicians , George Seawright claims , is that the British government has increasingly seen them as "... a pack of bluffers .. " . He believes , for example , that if the British had called the Unionist bluff in 1912 and made the North go along with Irish Home Rule , the Northern Unionist people would have split : " The hard-line , working-class people would have taken up the gun and fought , but I believe the middle-class and upper-class leadership would probably have defected and taken themselves off .
They were quite happy as long as it was a bluff , as long as it did'nt cost them anything . "
Thus he sees the Unionist political leadership in the 1980's eventually having to face a choice ; they can recognise that "... there is nothing more to be gained through the democratic process to maintain the Protestant position in Northern Ireland (sic) , and bow out . Or they can sit down with the leadership of the entire Loyalist community and say how exactly are we going to react , and what exactly are we going to do .
And , if it's a case of bluffing then that bluff is going to be called and that bluff's going to be defeated ....... " .......
(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.
' MAGILL ' magazine : " The involvement in electoral politics was paralleled by the rise of a new leadership in Sinn Fein : young , leftwing , Northern . While accepting the change , some of the older generations such as Ruairi O Bradaigh and Daithi O Conaill made no secret of their disapproval . Has the election setback affected that division ? "
Danny Morrison : " No . I mean nobody is questioning the correctness of the electoral intervention . We did'nt improve on our percentage share of the vote - that has'nt added grist to the mill , that has'nt strengthened a non-existent opposition to the policy of the Movement - it just does'nt exist . ( ' 1169.... ' Comment - ....a few years after those comments , when opposition started to be expressed in a louder voice , those 'voices' were 'side-lined' and 'new members' [ie 'paper- Cumann'] were introduced to 'fill the gap' in the organisations structure.]
And therefore , nobody suspects that myself or Gerry Adams or Martin Mcguinness or any of these people who have a public profile , there's no room for doubt for one minute exactly what we believe in . ( '1169 ... ' Comment - ...true enough ; " No room for doubt... " at all !) So there's no fears there . Daithi O Conaill was never opposed to electoral politics , so there would be no contradiction , there woud be no argument between us . " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - Did Daithi agree with taking seats in Leinster House ? Or Stormont ? Daithi O Conaill's intention was to 'break the connection with England' , NOT enforce its 'writ' in this country .)
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
On the 12 March 1983 , the Gardai entered the home of the Moore family in Clones in County Monaghan ; they had a search warrant ; one of 2,500 search warrants that were issued that year , yet charges resulted in only ten per cent of cases .
On their way out of the Moore house , the gardai arrested Stephen Moore under 'Section 30 of the Offences Against The State Act 1939' : - 2,234 people were arrested under the Act that year and prosecutions resulted in 15 per cent of cases .
Nothing was found as a result of that search warrant and no charges would be preferred as a result of the arrest ; what Stephen Moore did not know at this point was that a Post Office van had been hi-jacked in the North that morning between the time he had been in Clones and the time his parents left to do the shopping . He was taken to Clones Garda Station ; there were four garda in the car and he sat between the two in the back .
One of the gardai in the back of the car said to him - " How do you feel now , Stephen ? " In Clones Garda Station , his hair was combed and the combings put into a plastic bag . He was'nt brought anywhere . He was kept at the reception area for about half an hour . During that time he heard shouting and screaming in the garda Station . Then the gardai decided to bring him somewhere else . In his own words , this is his description of what happened ( Note - The gardai , in their defence , denied his charges and the award of £25,000 was made without admission of liability ) .......
(MORE LATER).
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
George Seawright (DUP) sees the Northern Assembly as being kept in existence to play a very different role : " What's going to happen in the future is that Loyalists are going to have to take care of events themselves , and the more areas they take over , the stronger they will be . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - "...take care of events ... take over areas ..." - so Westminster is to be 'obeyed' only when it suits the Loyalists to do so !)
Loyalists have pointed out that if they could ever be in a strong enough position to operate from Stormont , give orders from Stormont , then they would be in a very strong position indeed , the position of a provisional government . The 1980's will see those who desire and believe that they can bring victory about through the democratic process , through standing for election and holding office , exhaust themselves . "
One of the problems of Unionist politicians , George Seawright claims , is that the British government has increasingly seen them as "... a pack of bluffers .. " . He believes , for example , that if the British had called the Unionist bluff in 1912 and made the North go along with Irish Home Rule , the Northern Unionist people would have split : " The hard-line , working-class people would have taken up the gun and fought , but I believe the middle-class and upper-class leadership would probably have defected and taken themselves off .
They were quite happy as long as it was a bluff , as long as it did'nt cost them anything . "
Thus he sees the Unionist political leadership in the 1980's eventually having to face a choice ; they can recognise that "... there is nothing more to be gained through the democratic process to maintain the Protestant position in Northern Ireland (sic) , and bow out . Or they can sit down with the leadership of the entire Loyalist community and say how exactly are we going to react , and what exactly are we going to do .
And , if it's a case of bluffing then that bluff is going to be called and that bluff's going to be defeated ....... " .......
(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.
' MAGILL ' magazine : " The involvement in electoral politics was paralleled by the rise of a new leadership in Sinn Fein : young , leftwing , Northern . While accepting the change , some of the older generations such as Ruairi O Bradaigh and Daithi O Conaill made no secret of their disapproval . Has the election setback affected that division ? "
Danny Morrison : " No . I mean nobody is questioning the correctness of the electoral intervention . We did'nt improve on our percentage share of the vote - that has'nt added grist to the mill , that has'nt strengthened a non-existent opposition to the policy of the Movement - it just does'nt exist . ( ' 1169.... ' Comment - ....a few years after those comments , when opposition started to be expressed in a louder voice , those 'voices' were 'side-lined' and 'new members' [ie 'paper- Cumann'] were introduced to 'fill the gap' in the organisations structure.]
And therefore , nobody suspects that myself or Gerry Adams or Martin Mcguinness or any of these people who have a public profile , there's no room for doubt for one minute exactly what we believe in . ( '1169 ... ' Comment - ...true enough ; " No room for doubt... " at all !) So there's no fears there . Daithi O Conaill was never opposed to electoral politics , so there would be no contradiction , there woud be no argument between us . " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - Did Daithi agree with taking seats in Leinster House ? Or Stormont ? Daithi O Conaill's intention was to 'break the connection with England' , NOT enforce its 'writ' in this country .)
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
On the 12 March 1983 , the Gardai entered the home of the Moore family in Clones in County Monaghan ; they had a search warrant ; one of 2,500 search warrants that were issued that year , yet charges resulted in only ten per cent of cases .
On their way out of the Moore house , the gardai arrested Stephen Moore under 'Section 30 of the Offences Against The State Act 1939' : - 2,234 people were arrested under the Act that year and prosecutions resulted in 15 per cent of cases .
Nothing was found as a result of that search warrant and no charges would be preferred as a result of the arrest ; what Stephen Moore did not know at this point was that a Post Office van had been hi-jacked in the North that morning between the time he had been in Clones and the time his parents left to do the shopping . He was taken to Clones Garda Station ; there were four garda in the car and he sat between the two in the back .
One of the gardai in the back of the car said to him - " How do you feel now , Stephen ? " In Clones Garda Station , his hair was combed and the combings put into a plastic bag . He was'nt brought anywhere . He was kept at the reception area for about half an hour . During that time he heard shouting and screaming in the garda Station . Then the gardai decided to bring him somewhere else . In his own words , this is his description of what happened ( Note - The gardai , in their defence , denied his charges and the award of £25,000 was made without admission of liability ) .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, August 15, 2005
THE INEVITABILITY OF SECTARIAN COLLISION .
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
The importance of the UWC strike for George Seawright was that it showed that Northern Ireland's (sic) Loyalists had a veto on British government moves to push them towards a united Ireland ; now , he says , the British government is negotiating with Dublin over Loyalist heads , while the rise of Sinn Fein must force them into a "... drastic re-appraisal of their whole situation . "
George Seawright believes there are now two kinds of Unionists : " Those who believe that as the Provisional Republican Movement becomes stronger there is no political solution , and therefore don't expect their political leaders to deliver the goods ; and those who hope agains hope , believing blindly that somehow the political leaders will deliver and we'll have a peaceful solution . "
He thinks Sinn Fein will overtake the SDLP and become the main representatives of Northern nationalists at next year's local government elections . He goes on : " Throughout the 1970's many Loyalists believed that the Provisionals are going to become the undisputed spokesmen for the Nationalist community . Faced with this Provisional onslaught , faced with a philosophy that believes there is no accommodation for Protestants , the Protestants must obviously see themselves as a people with their backs to the sea , and must see that their right to exist is going to be threatened by those who are legitimately supported by the majority of the Nationalist community . "
He has little faith in the ability of the Northern Ireland (sic) Assembly to do anything about this trend , other than "...putting forward its verbal opposition to events .. " .......
(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.
Danny Morrison , Director of Publicity for Sinn Fein , interviewed ;
DM : " The public and supporters just don't blindly accept everything that the IRA does , and at times they will probably register some form of disapproval , either withdrawing support or by not voting for Sinn Fein .
Most republicans can understand , sympathise with , operations where Crown Forces or people connected with the establishment are clearly the identified targets - but where an operation goes wrong , there is a tendency there , it actually hurts the IRA and the only way it's tangible is probably through hurting Sinn Fein electorally .
Having said that , I think there's very little room for the IRA to lower its range , so to speak . I don't think the IRA has that much manoeuvrability and therefore I think we just have to live with the fact that there's always going to be this apparent contradiction . But I still think that our contradictions are less than the contradictions facing the SDLP , for example , attempting to sell a constitutional approach to reunification (' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...and what , now , of Provo Sinn Fein 'contradictions' re constitutionalism ?) , and the contradictions which the Dublin government faces . Everybody has contradictions , but I think those between the armalite and the ballot box is slight in comparison . (' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...so "slight" , in fact , that the former was eclipsed by the latter , in a move which Morrison himself supported !)
If the voters who went to John Hume because they perceived the SDLP to be under threat from Sinn Fein remain with the SDLP , and even if we go on increasing our support , largely from new people going on the register , young people , it could well be that we will not overtake the SDLP in the forseeable future ... " .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE . .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore was born and reared in Andersonstown , Belfast , and the family lived there until 1975 . Then , largely due to a desire to bring the children up outside that city , they moved to Cavan .
Stephen's father got a job as a supervisor in a factory in Cootehill ; Stephen did his Inter Cert and got a job with Cavan Crystal . In 1979 , the family moved again , this time to Clones , in County Monaghan . Stephen Moore continued to work with Cavan Crystal , becoming a qualified crystal glass cutter . But he was laid off in August 1982 .
By 12 March 1983 , he had spent about six months on the dole . Six months later , he got another job in a factory in Cootehill , making steam and hydraulic hoses . On the morning of 12 March , he got up around eleven o'clock and cycled into Clones - it was a journey of about a quarter of a mile . He talked to several people , bought milk and a newspaper , and cycled to his home , literally yards away from the border .
He was back home by 12.15 PM ; his parents left for Lisnaskea to do the weekend shopping a while after that . That was at about 12.30 PM . Later that afternoon , he played snooker with a friend in Clones , bought a pair of shoes , and visited another friend on a local housing estate . He got home about 6 PM . His snooker-playing friend was with him . Mrs Moore had the tea ready ; as both men sat down to eat , two carloads of gardai pulled up outside . They had a search warrant for the Moore home .
Stephen Moore and his father escorted the gardai around the house for about half an hour .......
(MORE LATER).
GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , the tough-talking Scotsman and self-proclaimed "honest bigot" from the Shankill Road , is a DUP member of both Belfast City Council and the Northern Assembly . He is also the politician most closely associated with the Loyalist paramilitaries .
He believes that the rise of Sinn Fein has made an armed confrontation between the forces of Loyalism and Republicanism inevitable .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , May 1984 .
The importance of the UWC strike for George Seawright was that it showed that Northern Ireland's (sic) Loyalists had a veto on British government moves to push them towards a united Ireland ; now , he says , the British government is negotiating with Dublin over Loyalist heads , while the rise of Sinn Fein must force them into a "... drastic re-appraisal of their whole situation . "
George Seawright believes there are now two kinds of Unionists : " Those who believe that as the Provisional Republican Movement becomes stronger there is no political solution , and therefore don't expect their political leaders to deliver the goods ; and those who hope agains hope , believing blindly that somehow the political leaders will deliver and we'll have a peaceful solution . "
He thinks Sinn Fein will overtake the SDLP and become the main representatives of Northern nationalists at next year's local government elections . He goes on : " Throughout the 1970's many Loyalists believed that the Provisionals are going to become the undisputed spokesmen for the Nationalist community . Faced with this Provisional onslaught , faced with a philosophy that believes there is no accommodation for Protestants , the Protestants must obviously see themselves as a people with their backs to the sea , and must see that their right to exist is going to be threatened by those who are legitimately supported by the majority of the Nationalist community . "
He has little faith in the ability of the Northern Ireland (sic) Assembly to do anything about this trend , other than "...putting forward its verbal opposition to events .. " .......
(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.
Danny Morrison , Director of Publicity for Sinn Fein , interviewed ;
DM : " The public and supporters just don't blindly accept everything that the IRA does , and at times they will probably register some form of disapproval , either withdrawing support or by not voting for Sinn Fein .
Most republicans can understand , sympathise with , operations where Crown Forces or people connected with the establishment are clearly the identified targets - but where an operation goes wrong , there is a tendency there , it actually hurts the IRA and the only way it's tangible is probably through hurting Sinn Fein electorally .
Having said that , I think there's very little room for the IRA to lower its range , so to speak . I don't think the IRA has that much manoeuvrability and therefore I think we just have to live with the fact that there's always going to be this apparent contradiction . But I still think that our contradictions are less than the contradictions facing the SDLP , for example , attempting to sell a constitutional approach to reunification (' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...and what , now , of Provo Sinn Fein 'contradictions' re constitutionalism ?) , and the contradictions which the Dublin government faces . Everybody has contradictions , but I think those between the armalite and the ballot box is slight in comparison . (' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...so "slight" , in fact , that the former was eclipsed by the latter , in a move which Morrison himself supported !)
If the voters who went to John Hume because they perceived the SDLP to be under threat from Sinn Fein remain with the SDLP , and even if we go on increasing our support , largely from new people going on the register , young people , it could well be that we will not overtake the SDLP in the forseeable future ... " .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE . .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Stephen Moore was born and reared in Andersonstown , Belfast , and the family lived there until 1975 . Then , largely due to a desire to bring the children up outside that city , they moved to Cavan .
Stephen's father got a job as a supervisor in a factory in Cootehill ; Stephen did his Inter Cert and got a job with Cavan Crystal . In 1979 , the family moved again , this time to Clones , in County Monaghan . Stephen Moore continued to work with Cavan Crystal , becoming a qualified crystal glass cutter . But he was laid off in August 1982 .
By 12 March 1983 , he had spent about six months on the dole . Six months later , he got another job in a factory in Cootehill , making steam and hydraulic hoses . On the morning of 12 March , he got up around eleven o'clock and cycled into Clones - it was a journey of about a quarter of a mile . He talked to several people , bought milk and a newspaper , and cycled to his home , literally yards away from the border .
He was back home by 12.15 PM ; his parents left for Lisnaskea to do the weekend shopping a while after that . That was at about 12.30 PM . Later that afternoon , he played snooker with a friend in Clones , bought a pair of shoes , and visited another friend on a local housing estate . He got home about 6 PM . His snooker-playing friend was with him . Mrs Moore had the tea ready ; as both men sat down to eat , two carloads of gardai pulled up outside . They had a search warrant for the Moore home .
Stephen Moore and his father escorted the gardai around the house for about half an hour .......
(MORE LATER).
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