LOTTERIES AND OTHER HOLD-UPS .......
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987.

My Aunt Molly would say about my Uncle Jack - " And there's a strange thing about that man - he never seemed to meet rich people who are good company . Maybe such folk don't exist , but if they do , you'd imagine that , surely , for once in a lifetime , your uncle might share a public house stool with somebody who owes less that himself. " But she was never really bitter about it .

Jack was Jack , and not for anything in the world would he ever be anybody else - except on Friday , after a few jars , when he was Rockefeller! Aunt Molly just thought that it might be nice if the working class didn't always have to mix with people poorer than themselves . It was alright for folk like the Good Samaritan or Antoine Ozanam who founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul : they were rich to begin with , helping the poor was only a kind of slumming . And Uncle Jack's 'outlaws' , our rich relatives , didn't help a great deal . One or other was always stirring the muck .

As one of the 'outlaw' relatives was fond of saying , " Mark you my words , Molly Carr , that fella of yours has more principles than is decent in any man . A union official who does it for nothing ! A bank robber who does it for the Cause ! What sort of an eejit have ya married at all....... " The bank robbery ! Now theres a story.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Michael McDowell has stated - " The current system is just not acceptable . I'm going to make sure that time doesn't start running where there is an investigation in progress . "

Legislation providing for the long-awaited Garda inspectorate will be brought to Leinster House "...very shortly .. " , McDowell says , although officials have conceded that the bill , which was first promised two years ago , is unlikely to be passed before the end of the year .

Robbie Dawson (25) didn't bother complaining to the Garda Complaints Board , though he says he was "battered" by gardai on his way to Store Street Garda barracks : he readily admits he had been "out of it" on vodka and heroin when he was picked-up by the Gardai . By chance , members of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the 'CPT' for short) were in Dublin on the day , carrying out a spot-check on the treatment of persons detained by the gardai .

Robbie was brought to a room in Buswell's Hotel in Dublin to be examined by a doctor.......
(MORE LATER).



THE STRANGE STATE KILLING OF MAURICE O'NEILL .......
James Gogartys Tribunal reminiscences about the shooting dead of a Garda colleague have resurrected a long-lost story of justice miscarried .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 .
By ANTON McCABE .

The State Appeal Court reduced Harry White's conviction to 'manslaughter' , on the basis that the Gardai had not identified themselves as such before opening fire .

Garda Chief Superintendent Gantly was in charge of the raid on Holly Road in Donnycarney . Doubts about who shot Detective Mordaunt were strengthened in February 1948 - Superintendent Gantly was shot dead by one of his own men during a search for a burglar at the Hammond Lane Foundry . As censorship eased , an electorate tired of repression ditched Fianna Fail from office that same month , bringing in the first 'Inter-Party' Administration .

When de Valera tried to speak in Maurice O' Neill's home town of Cahirciveen in County Kerry , an angry crowd broke up the meeting . There is no reason why Maurice O' Neill's case cannot be re-opened .
[END of ' THE STRANGE STATE KILLING OF MAURICE O'NEILL ']
(Next - 'The Younger Breed : Tony Gregory' - from 1985)

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Sir Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher , Free State Junior Minister of State for Transport , pictured in happier days !

This up-standing example of all that is good within the political elite in this State was born on the 10 March , 1948 , in Burtonport , County Donegal . He was educated in Roshine NS , in Dungloe , then travelled to Luinnagh NS in Gweedore , Donegal and almost finished his schooling in St. Enda's College , Galway before realising it would be unfair to deprive University College Galway of his vast knowledge , so he graced that institution with his presence for a few years !

He worked as a fish exporter before becoming the inheritor of the title 'The Cope' from his grandfather , a founder-figure of the co-op movement in County Donegal . At 15 years of age he joined with like-minded members of the local political elite by throwing his lot in with the local Fianna Fail gang , a move which brought him , today , to the county of Monaghan , to open a by-pass . His fame preceeded him so much that between eight and ten thousand well-wishers turned out to welcome him to the county , no doubt hoping to rub-up against the legend that is Pat 'The Cope' , and perhaps become members of the 'elite' themselves ! Indeed , even the very State car that this champion of the dispossessed travelled in was transformed by having the great mans bum in it into being something which the peasants desired to rub up against . However - there being such a large crowd of fans present , those at the back could not even get close enough to Sir Cope's carriage , never mind the man himself and , there being a severe shortage of laurel leaves to hand , decided to pay homage instead by throwing pebbles at the car , in a quaint display of servitude . Sir Pat then realised he was hungry and was immediately rushed to a near-by hotel for shel.... food .

And that , readers , is the gospel according to Saint Cope. Anyone who claims otherwise is a communist/dissident/malcontent/has a political axe to grind/begrudger/and/or a Blueshirt . And we know where you live......

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LOTTERIES AND OTHER HOLD-UPS .
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987.

No , no regrets . Nor none belonging to me . No anniversaries . Ireland has had more than her fair share of the past . No expecting her to think of the future . Let her catch up with the present . Happenings , not dates , are important in life .

Whenever anybody asked Aunt Molly to buy a Sweepstakes ticket , she'd cluck her tongue and look reproachfully at Uncle Jack , or in his general direction . Mention some fella like the adenoidal compere , Bart Bastable , or tell a story about a winning ticket being flogged by Lucky Coady's , and me poor uncle's name was taken in vain . Lost mass , he did . Always lost mass . Uncle Jack must have lost more mass than Martin Luther!

Aunt Molly used to say - " Don't talk to me about your Uncle Jack ! He's as useful as a hole in a bucket . He'd take a sieve to a well . Like Larry McHale's dog he'd walk a step of the road with anyone . And he never meets anybody but beggars . If he went out with a gypsy he'd come back with a tinker . Never knew anybody but dossers and tramps . 'Molly' , he'd say to me , ' I was in a fella's company tonight and honest to God , how he's not on the stage ! Such gas ! You'd have paid to hear him . An honour to buy him a drink .' " And of course Uncle Jack did . Buy the drink , that is.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Dublin North-Central competes for its place at the top of the complaints league with Dublin South Central , which includes Pearse Street , Kevin Street and Donnybrook Garda Stations . Until this year (ie 2003) the Garda Complaints Board compiled statistics to show complaints per head of population . The two Dublin central divisions 'won' hands down ! In 2000 , Dublin North Central had 27.6 complaints per 10,000 people compared to 1.5 in Waterford/Kilkenny .

Less than one per cent of all complaints to the Garda Complaints Board , according to its last report , resulted in a criminal prosecution , although the figures will show an increase this year as a result of the May Day riots: seven gardai are facing charges as a result of clashes with protesters .

In 2001 , almost 200 complaints were passed on to the (State) Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) but because of delays in processing the complaints the vast majority were never acted upon . Summary prosecutions must commence within six months of the date of the offence . Even the Garda Complaints Board itself admits that increasingly it is failing to provide completed investigation files to the DPP within the time limit . In its latest report it acknowledged that "...in these circumstances the right of the DPP to consider whether a member of the Garda Siochana should be prosecuted arising from a complaint has effectively been removed . The situation cannot be regarded as satisfactory....... "
(MORE LATER).



THE STRANGE STATE KILLING OF MAURICE O'NEILL .......
James Gogartys Tribunal reminiscences about the shooting dead of a Garda colleague have resurrected a long-lost story of justice miscarried .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 .
By ANTON McCABE .

Harry White dived through a window into the night and shot his way through a garda cordon : hit twice in the leg , he collapsed in a clump of whins half-a-mile from the house . For two cold October nights he lay wounded under the stars . (Free State) Soldiers scoured the area ; a sympathrtic soldier found him , fed him , got him to shelter and finally escorted him by bicycle to Dublin .

It was October 1946 before Harry White was finally captured on a lonely mountain farm on the Derry side of the Sperrins . Four days later , he was 'released' from Crumlin Road Jail , bundled into an RUC car and driven to a bridge on the Armagh-Monaghan road : a Garda car stopped on the other side , and he was bundled across the border without the slightest pretence of judicial process .

Six weeks later , at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin , he was sentenced to death . Sean McBride was defence counsel . Under cross-examination , a detective admitted he and his companions had fired on three men in the passageway . Of thirty to forty bullets fired in the lane , only two were ever produced - neither of those was the bullet that killed State Detective Mordaunt . Instead , a pathologist claimed that the hole in Mordaunt's skull was too small to have been made by a shot from any of the Gardai's .45 revolvers , despite the fact there was evidence some had weapons of smaller calibre . Evidence was produced that Garda fire had hit targets well away from the lane.......
(MORE LATER).

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US Marines at Shannon Airport .


In a continuation of the policy in which they hang their back-bones up with their coats in the morning , our 'leaders' in Leinster House profess ignorance of there being anything amiss in facilitating , on Irish soil (Shannon Airport), a foreign army on its way to use force of arms in a resource war in a country it has no business in .

In 1935 , when Shannon Airport was being built , the British government made what was then a secret offer of a £50,000 'gift' (said to be worth about £3 Million in 1994 , when this story was published in 'The Evening Press' newspaper) towards the capital cost of £600,000 , but the offer was refused on advice from senior State civil servants , who advised that the 'gift' was for political reasons. The fact that the 'offer' got that far through the system speaks volumes .

Will future generations be reading of a similar 'offer' from Washington to those worthless , non-productive leeches in Leinster House ?

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THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE .......
These files are now coming under the scrutiny of the 'authorities' . Heads will role . But whose ?
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 .

If an MI6 agent inside the Garda arranged for another MI6 agent , Captain Fred Holroyd , to meet the head of Garda security , it is a matter of more than academic interest , especially in view of Holroyd's other allegations . The failure to clear the matter up is being viewed with increasing disquiet in (Free State) Government Buildings .

The other part of the Wallace/Holroyd File - the claims of smear campaigns run by MI5 which have been made by Captain Colin Wallace - are not being viewed with the same urgency by the Haughey Government. Colin Wallace served as a civilian 'Information Officer' and later ' Head of Production Services ' , a cover-name for a 'black' propaganda unit at (British Army) Military HQ in Lisburn , County Antrim .

His statements back up much of what Fred Holroyd says , but such corroboration is unnecessary , so detailed are the former undercover man's notes . Neither of them have been contacted by Irish (sic - Free State) security officers in the four years that Holroyd has been making allegations , or since Wallace joined him last December , when he came out of jail after serving a sentence for a manslaughter he says he did not commit . It remains to be seen if the on-going investigation into the entire riddle ordered by Charlie Haughey will change that situation .
[END of 'THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE']
(Next - 'Lotteries and other hold-ups' : from 1987)


THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Allegations of abuse while in Garda custody are nothing new to Fr Peter McVerry - " I get a substantial number of complaints . It goes in phases , but it is very consistent . The problem is that no one has any way of verifying each individual case ; they are always inconclusive because it is the garda's word against the word of a young person who , more than likely , has a criminal record . Most of the guys here don't complain anymore , because they are afraid they will get a worse hiding the next time , and they know from past experience and the experience of others that it won't go anywhere . "

Fr McVerry believes it is time for Garda management to adopt a "...holistic approach.." in order to see if the same names and stations crop up repeatedly in complaints . " I believe there is substance to most of the complaints I hear - they may be exaggerated , and I may only hear half the story . They may have given the gardai a load of lip , but there are so many complaints coming in , from so many young people , many of whom have no contact with one another , that it is impossible to believe that they are all inventing these stories with a view to blackening the names of the gardai . They have nothing to gain by telling me the story . There is nothing I can do about it . I can't make the complaint on their behalf . "

The same garda stations come up repeatedly , he says , listing off Store Street , Fitzgibbon Street and the Bridewell . They also feature prominently in the annual reports of the Garda Complaints Board . In 2001 , the latest year for which figures are available , there were 143 complaints against the Dublin North Central Division which is made up of Store Street , the Bridewell and Fitzgibbon Street , compared to 47 in the Limerick Division and just 14 in the Roscommon/Galway East Division.......
(MORE LATER).



THE STRANGE STATE KILLING OF MAURICE O'NEILL .......
James Gogartys Tribunal reminiscences about the shooting dead of a Garda colleague have resurrected a long-lost story of justice miscarried .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 .
By ANTON McCABE .

Maurice O'Neill was a quiet man . The IRA had moved him up to Dublin that September . Once , when sent out on IRA business he didn't return till evening. When queried , O' Neill replied - " It is the custom , in our part , to call into every church that you have not been in before and to say a prayer ." The man had been in half the churches in Dublin !

In his last letter , Maurice O'Neill wrote to his father : " I am glad that I am not being reprieved as the thought of the torture I would have to endure in Portlaoise makes me shudder . The IRA prisoners there wear no clothes and have only two blankets to cover themselves . " A fellow Kerryman was in charge of the firing squad . There were only a handful of small and scattered protests .

Harry White had nine lives : on 30 September he had been with Paddy Dermody who was also on the run . Dermody had slipped home to attend his sister's wedding , taking Harry White with him . Armed Gardai stormed the wedding reception at a house near Mount Nugent in Cavan . A Garda inside the house stumbled in front of a window - a colleague of his outside shot him dead . Then Paddy Dermody was killed instantly by a bullet in the back . Harry White was on his own now , in a house which was surrounded by armed gardai , some of whom were coming in . He would have to shoot his way out.......
(MORE LATER).

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The 'Royals'/UDA golf partners out for a stroll !


One wonders how Mary McAleese can find the time in her busy itinerary to open proceedings at a golf competition especially when , as far as we know , her husband's colleague ,Jackie McDonald , was not present . One also wonders if Mrs McAleese will receive an extra allowance , on top of the €6,613 per week which her spokesperson stated she receives "...for entertainment and personal expenses . The substantial proportion of this allowance goes to meet the cost of food , refreshments and entertainment.." We may yet have to do a collection , readers ......
Incidentally , Mary McAleese did not have an agreed proposer or seconder in 1997 when she sought the nomination for the position of State President from Fianna Fail . As she said herself at the time - " Either of the candidates (Albert Reynolds and Michael O' Kennedy , left , holding a British trinket) could have got rid of me , there and then ; they would have been perfectly within their rights to insist that we follow the rules . That would have been the end of me and I would not have been a threat to whichever one of them was elected . I was very grateful for their generosity ."
Martin McAleese stated at the time , in relation to that same Fianna Fail nomination meeting : " When Rory O'Hanlon (Fianna Fail Chairperson at the time) told us about the new procedure (ie that Fianna Fail were willing to forgo proposer and seconder) , I couldn't believe that Albert had left the door open for her like that . I can only put it down to overconfidence on his part . If I was in his shoes , I'm afraid I would have insisted on party rules being obeyed ."
The McAleese's and their like , in Leinster House and in the Free State Senate , are non-productive leeches that are living beyond our means . They should first be made to apologise to the people on this isle , then forced to reimburse their ill-gotten financial gains and then permanently expelled from Irish soil .

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THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE .......
These files are now coming under the scrutiny of the 'authorities' . Heads will role . But whose ?
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 .

Despite the fact that Fred Holroyd's allegations were not investigated , 'security correspondents' were briefed that the claims that he made on BBC and then RTE were "...being dismissed in Garda Headquarters.." . This week , as the first serious look at those claims is underway , the question of dismissals does not centre on Holroyd's statements , but on those who rejected them .

Included in the file are photocopies of pages from Capt Fred Holroyd's official notebook from that period , mentioning the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings and naming names . None of those named have been interviewed , nor have the RUC been asked to assist in the investigation , although 34 people died and the crimes are still unsolved . By far the most crucial allegation made by Fred Holroyd is that he met Assistant Garda Commissioner Ned Garvey during a trip to Garda Headquarters in April 1975 . Holroyd has a mass of detail in his notebooks about the visit . He was driven to the Border at Kileen on the main Dundalk-Newry Road by his subordinate , Ian Bushell , in an unmarked car along with Detective Inspector Frank Murray of the RUC.

The two men transferred to a Garda car driven by a Garda detective named by Fred Holroyd in his file , which also gives details of how they were escorted by a second Garda car containing other detectives , and covered front and rear by two Irish (Free State) Army Panhards which peeled off from the convoy just before the outskirts of Dublin . According to Holroyd , the visit had been arranged through the 'Badger', who had told Assistant Garda Commissioner Ned Garvey who had "...told Garvey what sort of a chap I was.." : Mr. Garvey has emphatically denied Captain Fred Holroyd's claim about the visit since it was first made on Channel Four TV in the 'Diverse Reports' programme in the early 1980's and through all its subsequent repetitions .

The providing of the names , times and other details in the Holroyd file obtained by G2 six months ago , offered a chance , if desired , to disprove the meeting had take place.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Most of Barry Gannon's teenage years were spent in one institution or another : he has two children of his own , a six-year-old and four-year-old girl - their names are tattooed on his hands . He is now 24 and facing a stretch for robbery . " I'm trying to get off the stuff . I try to turn the corner but I always seem to go straight on , " he says .

Gannon claimed that one night in 1999 , after being arrested by gardai in Dublin city centre , he was punched and kicked on his way to the Garda station . Once inside, he claims to have been batoned on the legs , and had his head banged against a wall . He was released at about 4am and returned to the hostel for homeless young men on Whitworth Road , run by Fr. Peter McVerry - " He had marks all over his body and was very distressed, " says the priest . " We brought him to see a doctor who found bruises on his legs and back which were consistent with baton marks . He got a hiding , as bad a hiding as I had ever seen . There was no way he was inventing that distress."

After letters were written to the newspapers , the Garda complaints procedure was speeded up . Fr McVerry believes his arrest should have been captured on CCTV , but as in the case of the Walsh sisters , no footage was ever produced . " They called me in eventually to say they had found no substance to the allegation . They believed the bruising might have occurred before the arrest . It was his word against theirs ....... "
(MORE LATER).



THE STRANGE STATE KILLING OF MAURICE O'NEILL .......
James Gogartys Tribunal reminiscences about the shooting dead of a Garda colleague have resurrected a long-lost story of justice miscarried .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 .
By ANTON McCABE .

Maurice O' Neill and Harry White of Belfast were in a house at 14 Holly Road , in Donnycarney , Dublin , : there was a £5,000 price on Harry White's head . Maurice O' Neill was not a wanted man . At 9.30pm they were tipped off that their 'safe house' was compromised , but finished their game of cards . Unknown to them , armed (Free State) police and soldiers had had the area surrounded from 8pm . Detectives at the door were listening to the last hands of the card game being played .

At approximately 9.50pm , White and O' Neill left by the back door , to pick up their bicycles and slip away down a narrow laneway . Seconds later , Detective Mordaunt and three other armed detectives burst in the front door . Mordaunt rushed out the back in hot pursuit . Armed Officers were posted at both ends of the lane and , as soon as figures appeared at the garden gate , they opened fire . In the darkness , a chaotic fire-fight erupted . Maurice O' Neill might have got away , but turned back when he heard a groan . He ran out of ammunition and retreated into the house , where he was captured .

Harry White escaped through gardens and a house , and hid in undergrowth for a night and a day before reaching another safe house . Detective Mordaunt's body was found , by accident , in a garden on the other side of the lane , in the early hours of the following morning . The detective who stumbled across his corpse was searching for a lost pen . The dead garda detective had not been listed as missing as no role-call had been held .

Maurice O' Neill had only three days to prepare his defence before his 'trial' by military tribunal began on November 2 , 1942 - important information was withheld from his counsel , Sean McBride - the record book showing weapons issued to the police and ammunition expended , plus information showing the targets hit by police shooting.......
(MORE LATER).

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THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE .......
These files are now coming under the scrutiny of the 'authorities' . Heads will role . But whose ?
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 .

No one disputes that Fred Holroyd was what he says he was ; he has documentary evidence of every step in his career , from his rise through the ranks to his association with Craig Smellie , the Secret Service Chief in Lisburn , County Antrim . His allegations are that loyalist gunmen were used to kill and kidnap IRA suspects living south of the Border - with the help of three corrupt Garda detectives - at various times .

Their roles , according to Fred Holroyd , besides supplying information to British Intelligence , were to 'freeze' certain areas , ensuring that there were no Irish (ie 26-County State) security patrols when kidnaps or murders were planned . The names of those three Garda detectives were in the file which Irish (ie 26-County State) G2 Intelligence got last August (1986) , along with times , dates and specific dirty tricks operations , including the murders of John Francis Green and Eugene McQuaid , and the attempted kidnaps of two other men .

Amazingly , no attempt was made to establish the truth or otherwise of Fred Holroyd's claims : no interviews were carried out , nor were any Garda records for the dates and areas in question examined.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Normally , solicitor Peter Mullen would not advise clients to take a civil case (against the Gardai) : " The Walsh sisters had huge advantages - they were middle class , well presented , articulate . It would have been a different story if they spoke with an inner-city accent , and had an address in Dublin 1 . It's easy to abuse the weak . The people I represent are more likely to be dispossessed , inarticulate or drug addicts . There are never any witnesses , because what happens takes place after the arrest . In court , you are faced with a Garda who is educated and articulate . The natural instinct is to believe the Gardai . "

Barry Gannon is a classic example : in June 1999 , Fr. Peter McVerry wrote to the newspapers about the then 20-year-old Barry Gannon - the Jesuit priest claimed that Gannon had been beaten up by gardai in Store Street Garda Barracks , having been accused of breaking a shop window in the city centre . A complaint had been made but would "...almost certainly not succeed.." , Peter Mullen predicted . He was right .

From behind the glass partition in the visiting room in Clover Hill prison in Dublin , Barry Gannon explains his life history in a few minutes . One of five children , his father died when he was eight years old . He was on the streets at 11 years of age , on heroin at the age of 13.......
(MORE LATER).



THE STRANGE STATE KILLING OF MAURICE O'NEILL .
James Gogartys Tribunal reminiscences about the shooting dead of a Garda colleague have resurrected a long-lost story of justice miscarried .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 .
By ANTON McCABE .

In evidence to the Flood Tribunal on Tuesday , 2 February , former garda James Gogarty remembered - " I was within six feet of being shot dead , and a comrade of mine was shot dead , George Mordaunt " . Two dark chapters of Irish history briefly touched . The Flood and Moriarity Tribunals are casting light on the under-belly of Irish (Free State) politics in the past two decades , but little light has ever been shone on the dark days of World War Two (or 'The Emergency' , as it was euphemistically termed here) .

Fifteen-hundred Irish Republicans were interned . Five men faced firing squads and a sixth was hanged , after sentence by military tribunal - from which the only verdicts were death or acquittal . Three prisoners died on hunger strike and four individuals were victims of a shoot-to-kill policy .

Garda George Mordaunt died on October 24 , 1942 : on November 12 , 25-year-old Maurice O' Neill , an IRA member from Cahirciveen in County Kerry , was executed by firing squad , even though the prosecution accepted he did not fire the fatal shots . His death sentence was for shooting at police with intent to resist arrest.......
(MORE LATER).

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From 'VILLAGE' magazine , 7-13th September 2006 -


' Garda Donal Corcoran (left , with baton) who became known as 'Robocop' after he struck protesters with his baton at the 'Reclaim The Streets (RTS)' rally in May 2002 was recently promoted to detective rank . He was acquitted of assault charges arising from the protest , but admitted using excessive force . He is currently being investigated by the Garda Complaints Board for allegedly not wearing an ID number at the RTS rally .'

So there you have it : if you want to 'get ahead' in the Gardai , don't use your head . Use someone else's .

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Annual Eve-Of-All-Ireland Rally -
DATE - Saturday 16th September 2006 .
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance at 2pm , for parade to the GPO .
Also , on this same Saturday (16th) , Republicans will be holding a 12-hour fast at the GPO in support of Irish Republican political prisoners , from 9AM to 9PM .

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THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE .......
These files are now coming under the scrutiny of the 'authorities' . Heads will role . But whose ?
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 .

Chief Supt. Hubert Reynolds of the Murder Squad at Garda HQ wants to know why 'Commandant P' was never interviewed by the gardai about his involvement in the Wallace/Holroyd File . Reynolds heads a team which has been told to get to the bottom of the affair - and quick .

He has taken statements from 'Commandant P' and other (State) Army Officers , serving and retired , who might throw light on the subject . But that is only one of the curious things which have been thrown up by the persistent claim made by Fred Holroyd and Colin Wallace on TV , radio and in the press in Britain and Ireland . Their allegations divide neatly into two , but are complementary .

Fred Holroyd was a Captain in the 'Special Military Intelligence Unit' in the North of Ireland and served as a Military Intelligence Officer in the RUC's 'Juliet' Division of Mid Ulster (sic) between 1974 and 1976 . As a bearded undercover man , often operating in disguise , he was well placed to discover what was going on in the RUC Special Branch , local military intelligence , the SAS (who had a troop based at Castledillon near his patch) and MI6 for who he worked secretly as their eyes and ears in that part of the British Army command structure.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Grainne Walsh (35) readily admits that she and her sister , Ciara , were the perfect plaintiffs :

" For us , taking the case was a huge risk . The District Court case cost us thousands of pounds , and we faced the possibility of losing tens of thousands in the High Court . But we knew we were innocent and we were in a position to fight it . If you don't have the finances , or the witnesses , or if you have a record or a drug problem , you have to drop it . "

Peter Mullen's clients are more likely to fit into the latter category - " I receive complaints on a regular basis from clients who say they have been assaulted by the gardai ," says the Dublin solicitor . He rarely advises anyone to go to the Garda Complaints Board : " I don't have a huge amount of confidence in the Garda complaints procedure , nor do my clients . " Normally , Peter Mullen would'nt advise clients to take a civil case , either , but he had good reasons for advising the Walsh sisters to do so on this occasion.......
(MORE LATER).




VINCENT BROWNE : PILLARS OF SOCIETY .......
Vincent Browne is the nearest thing to Robert Maxwell that Ireland has got - in style , if not in scale .
From 'PHOENIX' magazine , 1985.

Vincent Browne owes the Revenue Commissioners £110,000 to last July , with probably the same amount piling up since then , Tony Ryan is still owed another £500,000 and journalists may take cold comfort from the fact that their own paltry debt of £15,000 in owed wages is by far the smallest of Browne's debts . These figures may explain why some of Browne's closest allies are thinking of ratting .

Vincent Browne is presently looking for a consortium of investors to put in £100,000 each , but whether or not the larger-than-life journalist manages to hang in there and become the country's most flamboyant publisher remains to be seen . If he does fail to get an investor , or investors , it will not be for the want of trying .

At one stage in the last ten months , Browne approached people close to Fianna Fail leader Charles Haughey , looking for funds . Possessed of an astute political brain and a manic energy , Vincent Browne himself will survive even if 'The Sunday Tribune' does not !
[END of 'VINCENT BROWNE : PILLARS OF SOCIETY']
(Next - ' THE STRANGE STATE KILLING OF MAURICE O' NEILL' - from 1999.)


Annual Eve-Of-All-Ireland Rally -
DATE - Saturday 16th September 2006 .
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance at 2pm , for parade to the GPO .
Also , on this same Saturday (16th) , Republicans will be holding a 12-hour fast at the GPO in support of Irish Republican political prisoners , from 9AM to 9PM .

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Annual Eve-Of-All-Ireland Rally -
DATE - Saturday 16th September 2006 .
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance at 2pm , for parade to the GPO .
Also , on this same Saturday (16th) , Republicans will be holding a 12-hour fast at the GPO in support of Irish Republican political prisoners , from 9AM to 9PM .

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THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE .......
These files are now coming under the scrutiny of the 'authorities' . Heads will role . But whose ?
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 .

'British Army ' Captain Peter Maynard , later 'Major' , told 'Commandant P' he had no fears for his safety in Ireland , showing him a long-barrelled Walther pistol in a shoulder holster . Then , as 'Commandant P's wife served tea and sandwiches , the two visitors got down to brass tacks . Peter Maynard asked the Irish (Free State) Army Officer to supply him with intelligence about IRA arms-running routes : 'Commandant P' asked the Badger if his Garda superior knew of the approach . He said he did .

The (Free State) Officer then told his visitors that in that case there would be no harm done if he kept himself on the right side of things and told his superiors : the two visitors left quickly and there was no further contact about the proposal , although 'Commandant P' continued to bump into the Badger during the course of his duties . Later that afternoon , 'Commandant P' telephoned a senior officer and told him of the incident - he was ordered to report it in writing when he returned to camp on Tuesday , the first day after the Bank Holiday. He did so .

In the normal course of events , the report should have reached Lt Col Paddy Cusack , then Command Intelligence Officer , Eastern Command (of the State Army) , from where it would have been directed to G2 Intelligence at GHQ in Parkgate , Dublin . Where that report has gone , and why it was not acted on , is one of the central mysteries of the Riddle of the Wallace/Holroyd File . Last week , 'Commandant P' came forward to tell his story again , after seeing Capts. Holroyd and Wallace on UTV : now retired and running an engineering business in Dublin he is still puzzled about why he was never interviewed by gardai about the incident . He is not the only one.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

It took Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne another six months to prepare a report on the incident for the (State) Minister for Justice , Michael McDowell : but the Minister has since sent that report back .

" I got an inadequate report , late , " Michael McDowell told 'MAGILL' magazine , " it did'nt explain the circumstances in which gardai instituted District Court proceedings without seeking the authority of their superiors . I did'nt receive any adequate explaination as to why that happened , so I asked for a second report . " He still has not received it , but says he will wait for as long as it takes .

Shortly after the incident , Grainne Walsh was contacted by a garda who said he was investigating the complaint - " It was 10 o'clock on a Friday night . He asked me to confirm my name and address and phone number , and said he would ring again . But that was the last I heard of him . " The gardai involved are still on the beat , according to Grainne Walsh - " I have seen them around Grafton Street and my heart stops , but they don't recognise me at all . I don't believe the gardai have any intention of doing anything about it . If they had , the same guards would not be in the same job , five years later . I'm sure they are just laughing....... "
(MORE LATER).




VINCENT BROWNE : PILLARS OF SOCIETY .......
Vincent Browne is the nearest thing to Robert Maxwell that Ireland has got - in style , if not in scale .
From 'PHOENIX' magazine , 1985.

The avuncular political correspondent of 'The Sunday Tribune' , Gerry Barry , was a student union radical in the 1960's , and Paul Tansey would have had mutual friends with ex-Workers Party leader , Mairin de Burca , in the past . All in all , a volatile lot . And while Vincent Browne could bully the tiny handful of journalists working for 'MAGILL' magazine , causing cringing editor Colm Toibin weekly nervous breakdowns , he finds the stronger 'Sunday Tribune' union chapel a constant irritation .

NUJ negotiators are now seriously worried that the latest outbreak of hostilities with Vincent Browne are motivated by his realisation that the newspaper cannot get a new backer . They fear he has provoked a row in order to scapegoat the NUJ for a liquidation that is inevitable anyway . An alternative scenario is that Browne has got a backer , or backers , but that his wage projections are way below those currently under negotiation with the NUJ .

Browne's immediate cash-flow problems are daunting . Extra advertising revenue from the Christmas period will keep the newspaper going for another fortnight or so , a deadline which will coincide with the ending of Gordon Colleary's funding commitment of £100,000 over six months .......
(MORE LATER).

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Annual Eve-Of-All-Ireland Rally -
DATE - Saturday 16th September 2006 .
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance at 2pm , for parade to the GPO .
Also , on this same Saturday (16th) , Republicans will be holding a 12-hour fast at the GPO in support of Irish Republican political prisoners .

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THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE .......
These files are now coming under the scrutiny of the 'authorities' . Heads will role . But whose ?
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 .

It was a man in the engineering business in Dublin who brought about the examination of the 'Riddle of the Wallace/Holroyd File' : more than 12 years ago he had been an Explosives Ordnance Officer in command of an Irish (Free State) Army bomb disposal team around what the British call 'the Monaghan salient' - that bit of the 26-County State which juts into what they call ' Northern Ireland' (sic) .

When he was'nt defusing Provisional IRA bombs , 'Commandant P' liked to have a drink in a local hotel . One of his social contacts was a man who was to become 'famous' as the 'Badger' - the MI6 agent identified by British Captain Fred Holroyd as a Garda detective .

On August Bank Holiday , Saturday , 1975 , the Badger paid an unexpected call on 'Commandant P's home in Castleknock , Dublin , : with him he had a tall Englishman , a " 'Peter Maynard' of the British Army " - Maynard was , in fact , Captain Maynard , of the RAOC , whom Fred Holroyd has identified as working for the MI6 chief in Lisburn , Craig Smellie.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Six months later , after the Walsh sisters had lodged proceedings against the gardai , summonses were served : the girls were accused of assaulting two garda officers !

One of the assaults was said to have taken place on Nassau Street in Dublin , even though they were arrested and taken into custody on Grafton Street : they were also said to be so drunk as to be a danger to themselves and others and , in court , one of the Gardai said that Grainne Walsh was so intoxicated she could not speak or sign her name , even though a copy of her signature was later produced !

The Walsh sisters had been warned by their solicitor to expect a summons , " But it was still alarming , " said Grainne . Nine gardai , including two sergeants , turned up at the District Court to give evidence against them - " Every one told a different story when they took the stand . " In court , one of the two gardai who had arrested the sisters was asked by the judge if the incident had been investigated internally , and he replied that it had . When pressed , he told the court that he had investigated it himself ! The judge threw out the case , describing it as a "...disgraceful.. " day in the history of the police force , and stated that he would have awarded costs if he could , but public policy did not allow it , he said . In the (State) High Court last summer , counsel for the Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne said the force "...regret very much what had happened.."
and acknowledged that both women were of "...unblemished character.. " , and told the court that damages had been paid . However , trouble was to follow over the garda report into the incident.......
(MORE LATER).




VINCENT BROWNE : PILLARS OF SOCIETY .......
Vincent Browne is the nearest thing to Robert Maxwell that Ireland has got - in style , if not in scale .
From 'PHOENIX' magazine , 1985.

One of the first casualties of Vincent Browne's leadership-style was news editor Don Buckley , who found his editor's swashbuckling behaviour impossible to work under . Buckley left only a few weeks after the relaunch of 'The Sunday Tribune' , and was followed by Eugene McGloin whose contract was not renewed . Joe Carroll , the Diplomatic Correspondent , went to RTE's 'Today Tonight' programme , as did Emily O' Reilly who had previously enjoyed a close working relationship with Vincent Browne .

Others to leave were Deputy Chief-Sub David Quin , who joined the 'Irish Independent', Maggie O' Kane , who went to RTE , and Paddy Prendiville , now with the 'Phoenix Magazine'.

'The Sunday Tribune's celebrated rows are not entirely due to its editor's abrasive manner : most of the journalists are young to middle-aged , with CV's that might have made Special Branch files at some point in the last two decades.......
(MORE LATER).

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THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE .
These files are now coming under the scrutiny of the 'authorities' . Heads will role . But whose ?
From 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 .

Last August , Lt Col John Morgan of G2 (Security) Section of Irish (Free State) Military Intelligence obtained a file listing detailed allegations about the co-operation of members of the State security forces with dirty tricks carried out in the Irish Republic (sic - the 26 county State/Free State) - the dossier named three serving detectives in the Garda Siochana , an assortment of British military and civilian intelligence men , and a Garda officer who claimed : " We (the gardai who were co-operating with British intelligence) are more afraid of our own politicians . They're the ones you can't trust . "

Last week , six months after the allegations that named individuals who had conspired in murder , kidnaps and probably committed treason , not one of them had been interviewed about the claims which came from Captain Fred Holroyd and Captain Colin Wallace , two former intelligence men in the North of Ireland . The names of four men alleged to be behind the Dublin bombings of 1974 and the RUC detective sergeant who co-operated with them were also in the file obtained by G2 . None of these had been interviewed by last week , yet the then (Free State) Justice Minister , Fine Gael's Alan Dukes , had dismissed the Wallace/Holroyd claims .

Now an investigation has been ordered by (Free State) Taoiseach Charles Haughey (Fianna Fail) : its purpose - to find out who stopped the investigation last August , and why the Wallace/Holroyd claims have been dismissed in State ministerial briefings despite the failure to investigate . There is a distinct fear in some security circles in Dublin that when the riddle of the Wallace/Holroyd File is solved , more than one head will role and that some detectives could end up behind bars.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Few of those cases ever make the headlines : what happened to Grainne and Ciara Walsh (scroll to post #18) was an exception .

The two sisters were walking up Grafton Street in Dublin with friends in the early hours of 25 April 1998 when an unmarked Garda car reversed towards them ; in an attempt to alert the gardai , one of the sisters , Grainne , a fashion designer from Castleknock in Dublin , banged on the boot of the car . She was arrested and thrown into the back of a Garda van and , when her sister objected , she , too , was arrested . On the journey to Pearse Street Garda Barracks , Grainne Walsh claimed she was held by her hair , while a garda knelt on her back . She claimed the garda continuously moved her , shook her , lifted her up by the hair and banged her down again .

She claimed that when the van stopped , the garda put one hand on her head and , as the door opened , pushed her head forward suddenly as he let go of her wrists , ensuring that she had no chance of using her feet to step down from the van . She alleged that she fell head-first to the ground and landed on her chin . She also claimed that she was then pulled by the arms through the doorway to the garda station , that she was on her knees and that she ripped her trousers as she was pulled . Friends of the sisters , who had witnessed the incident, immediately went to Pearse Street Garda Barracks to complain . One was offered a lift to the garda station by a sympathetic garda .

In the station , the sisters were put in the same cell by a garda sergeant , who apologised to them , and assured them that no charges would be brought : a doctor was called to look at Grainne Walsh's injuries . The duo were released after a few hours . But that was not the end of the matter as far as the Gardai were concerned.......
(MORE LATER).




VINCENT BROWNE : PILLARS OF SOCIETY .......
Vincent Browne is the nearest thing to Robert Maxwell that Ireland has got - in style , if not in scale .
From 'PHOENIX' magazine , 1985.

Vincent Browne's biggest scoop came in the celebrated interview with Dominic McGlinchey over a year ago : that particular exclusive was on his desk some days before Browne conducted his own interview with McGlinchey , and came from a journalist who had interviewed the INLA boss earlier in the month . But the editor disapproved of the interview or , more particularly , he did not like the byline on the piece - it was not his own !

'Mad Dog' Browne wanted to face 'Mad Dog' McGlinchey himself : in the event , McGlinchey and friends were incensed with the piece which , although relatively flattering , was regarded as felon setting . Then , fearing that Vincent Browne might be subpoena'd to give evidence in Dublin's Special Criminal Court if Dominic McGlinchey was acquitted in the North of Ireland , the IRSP denied that the interview ever took place . The INLA went further and telephoned Browne , advising him that an appearance in court , North or South , would be positively unhealthy .

Those journalists who do enjoy Browne's approval are guaranteed maximum coverage in the newspaper as well as a 23-hours-a-day workload : others have been shunned and either have left out of disillusionment or have rotted away at their desks. The restaurant cleavage in the staff has left the editor surrounded with a few acolytes and the rest who either fear or dislike him . Only the regular and dramatic confrontations with the NUJ chapel unite the editorial staff ! The 'top tier' in the newspaper did not escape , either.......
(MORE LATER).

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Two failed , useless but wealthy politicians announced their decision to resign as party leaders today . Speculation continues that both of those political careerists were 'leaned on' by other careerists in their respective organisations to move on : 'new' failed and useless politicians wish to further enrich themselves in that particular trough .

Blair had the opportunity to make final amends for the damage he and his type have caused on this isle : his political majority in Westminster was more than enough to allow him to steer his party towards accepting the necessity to withdraw politically and militarily from Ireland , but the man lacked the courage to do so .

Harney , a Galway woman , left the west after it 'woke' and she herself stayed firmly asleep in relation to the Six County issue . She was the first woman to become auditor of TCD's 'Historical Society' , but must have slept her way through the modules which referred to Britains political interference on this isle . She will be replaced by another PD pro-'Establishment' clone , with the blessing of the 'Establishment' , and will then retire to the back-benches in Leinster House , where she will be able to sleep to her hearts content .
A disturbing feature of her press conference today was the fact that , at the end of same , the assembled media representatives rose to their feet and gave her a standing ovation . Sickening .

" High hopes were once formed of democracy ; but democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people . " - Oscar Wilde .

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MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS .......
James Keegan died in Granard Garda Station last September (1986) . Earlier this month , an inquest was held in Longford to ascertain the cause of death.
The central question - how James Keegan managed to tear a blanket and hang himself within four minutes - still remains unanswered .
DEREK DUNNE reports.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .

James Keegan's family was represented at the inquest . There was also a Garda Superintendent there who intervened from time to time . And the gardai had another solicitor : at times , the representative of the (State) Attorney General was interrupted on the grounds that his questions were considered irrelevant .

It has been said that inquests raise more questions than they answer - the inquest into the death of James Keegan would appear to be no exception , despite the attempts by the representative of the (State) Attorney General to put as broad an interpretation as possible on the rules of the inquest , to wit : who died , where did they die , when did they die and how did they die . As the jury brought in their verdict , one observer remarked " Why did'nt the guards just bring him home...?
[END of ' MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS ']
(Next - 'THE WALLACE AND HOLROYD FILE' : from 1987)


THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .......
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

As a compromise between this magazine and the 'Information Commission' (which supervises the workings of the 'Freedom of Information Act') , 'Magill' magazine was given details of two sample incidents which appeared on last year's list in return for dropping a case to the Office of the Information Commissioner , which could have taken over a year .

The first of these claims against the Gardai occurred in the Bridewell Garda Station in Dublin - the total bill to the taxpayer was almost €100,000 : the events which led to the settlement were as follows ;

" The plaintiff , while under arrest , claimed that he was pushed on the way into the Garda station and that his head went through one of the glass panels in the door . The four Garda members who witnessed the incident stated that the plaintiff lunged at the door with the intention of inflicting an injury to himself . The case was settled on the advice of senior counsel and the Office of the Attorney General ." The amount of the settlement was €57,138 and 50 cents , but legal costs brought the claim up to €99,457. No disciplinary procedures were brought against any of the gardai involved and no complaint was made to the Garda Complaints Board .

A second incident involved four gardai from the Bridewell , Store Street and Fitzgibbon Street stations . The plaintiff alleged that the gardai broke in the door where he resides with his parents and assaulted him during a raid . He also alleged that he was harassed by the gardai . The gardai explained the incident by saying officers were following up a report of a possible burglary when they noticed somebody who looked like the plaintiff leaving a house holding something in his hand . " The members requested him to stop , and when he failed to do so , they went in pursuit . One of the members chased the plaintiff into the house , which required the member to push the door open , damaging the lock . When the other occupants - the plaintiff's parents - came from the kitchen it was acknowledged that the plaintiff was not one of the people the gardai were looking for ."

In that instance , the plaintiff and his parents sued but the case never went to court ; the plaintiff settled for €31,743 and 61 cents , his parents each received half that amount , and costs in the case were €56,087 . A complaint was made to the Garda Complaints Board but was not upheld . No disciplinary proceedings were ever taken against the gardai involved.......
(MORE LATER).




VINCENT BROWNE : PILLARS OF SOCIETY .......
Vincent Browne is the nearest thing to Robert Maxwell that Ireland has got - in style , if not in scale .
From 'PHOENIX' magazine , 1985.

Vincent Browne told a shocked staff early last year that Guinness Peat Aviation boss , Tony Ryan , had threatened "...to beat the shit.." out of him at a Board meeting in the GPA boss's house !

The row with Tony Ryan underlined most of Browne's and The Sunday Tribune's problems ; Tony Ryan was willing to fund a loss-making operation for one , two or even three years , but he wanted to know to what end his losses were being put , and so insisted , in spite of Browne's tantrums , on installing his protege , Eugene O' Neill , as Managing Director . Vincent Browne , however , had become accustomed to the multiple role of editor , managing director and financial controller . This meant that none of those functions were being carried out properly . As one journalist at the time remarked - " The 'Tribune' is like Dallas , except that Browne's editorial style is like JR , and his business acumen is closer to that of Cliff Barnes . "

Tony Ryan soon decided to cut his losses and quit , albeit with a financial stranglehold over the company's future in the form of a secured claim for half-a-million pounds : the radicals on the newspaper's staff were not happy to see their big , bad capitalist depart , as they were left with a small , bad one with no money to guarantee future jobs . Having persuaded his long-standing friend and colleague , Gordon Colleary , head of USIT travel company , to fund the paper's weekly losses for a few months , Browne got down to editing the paper . The Tribune's political and investigative features have improved markedly since then , and the paper has began to develop a definite character . But even when Vincent Browne performs journalistically , as only he can , feathers are ruffled and enemies are made.......
(MORE LATER).

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Annual Eve-Of-All-Ireland Rally -
DATE - Saturday 16th September 2006 .
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance at 2pm , for parade to the GPO .
Also , on this same Saturday (16th) , Republicans will be holding a 12-hour fast at the GPO in support of Irish Republican political prisoners .

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MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS .......
James Keegan died in Granard Garda Station last September (1986) . Earlier this month , an inquest was held in Longford to ascertain the cause of death.
The central question - how James Keegan managed to tear a blanket and hang himself within four minutes - still remains unanswered .
DEREK DUNNE reports.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .

It was self-evident to the inquest that , taking both Jack Mahon's evidence , along with that of Dr. John Harbison , at least ten minutes had elapsed between the time the tearing of the blanket took place and the time of death .

Garda John Boyle made three statements about the death : in the first he made no mention of the fact that he had taken a three-quarters of an hour break . Neither did he mention that the prisoners had been searched in his first statement . It was in his third statement that he clarified matters further by stating that he had checked the prisoners from the doorway . Garda Eugene Watters made three statements also about the death , while Garda David Martin made two statements .

The jury of three women and five men took just a few minutes to bring in a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence . They also added a rider to their verdict , which was aimed at the (State) Department of Justice , to the effect that the quality of blankets in cells could be improved to prevent further similar tragedies . The (State) Attorney General , in a highly unusual move , was represented at the inquest in order , he explained to the court , that events would be seen to proceed fairly.......
(MORE LATER).



THE HEAVY HAND OF THE LAW .
Allegations of Garda brutality only hit the headlines intermittently . But the problem may be much more widespread than most people imagine . Last year out-of-court settlements of cases involving members of the Garda cost the taxpayer over €1 million . What's going on ?
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 2003 .
By Mairead Carey.

Last year (ie 2002) the taxpayer footed a bill of over €1 million in out-of-court settlements involving members of the Garda . On the list of these cases provided to 'Magill' magazine by the (State) Department of Justice under the Freedom of Information Act , no names are mentioned , no Garda stations listed . In fact , there is more information blacked out than revealed .

In the opinion of the deciding officer in the (State) Department of Justice , there are "...no public interest factors (requirement for openness , exposure of wrongdoing/corruption , mismanagement of public funds) in favour of release which outweigh the right to privacy of the individual to whom the information relates . " Claims for assault and wrongful arrest are common , but no information is available to show whether or not the same gardai or even the same stations feature in different settlements .

Some of the largest claims apparently don't warrant any description at all . The action by 'Claimant 65' in the year 2000 cost the taxpayer £225,000 but no information is given as to why that money was paid out.......
(MORE LATER).




VINCENT BROWNE : PILLARS OF SOCIETY .
Vincent Browne is the nearest thing to Robert Maxwell that Ireland has got - in style , if not in scale .
From 'PHOENIX' magazine , 1985.

Vincent Browne's manner of handling awkward trade-unionists was best exemplified last week when he gave NUJ President-elect , Ray McGuigan , a shoulder-charge , followed up by a right hook to the body . Minutes earlier , a dismayed Sunday Tribune financial controller , Martin Dobey , had pulled Vincent Browne off Ray McGuigan , who had pleaded with Browne to re-enter negotiations on staffing-levels and back-monies promised to the paper's journalists .

But the near-hatred that Vincent Browne engenders in many of his journalists and Dublin NUJ members is matched by bottomless admiration from many in the business world . The commercial staff of 'The Sunday Tribune' , too , venerate Browne who is seen as the dynamic saviour of a perpetually threatened newspaper .

The mini-magnate of Irish publishing is either loved or loathed , with most colleagues experiencing both emotions at different times depending on Browne's vagaries or the prevailing circumstances . Guinness Peat Aviation boss , Tony Ryan , was at first enamoured of the editor's tough , independent and dynamic character , and sank almost half a million pounds into the newspaper before relations between the two deteriorated almost to the level of last week's encounter with Ray McGuigan.......
(MORE LATER).

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