1169 And Counting.....

Friday, September 07, 2007

DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS........
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

Larry Grogan, the Sinn Fein candidate for Louth constituency in the election , who is at present interned in the Curragh Camp , was referred to by Alderman Peter Moore when he said that he was proud to say Drogheda had made its contribution to the Republican Movement and they now had this man in prison that - "...the latchet of whose shoe many of those who liked to talk of all they did for Irish Freedom are not worthy to loose."

Concluding the debate , the Mayor of Drogheda , Councillor Eugene Hughes , said - " As long as there is one British soldier on Irish soil , there will be young Irishmen willing to go out and sacrifice their lives for freedom."

[END of 'DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS']
(NEXT : 'Release Prisoners' - from the same source)

Thursday, September 06, 2007

A FEW UP-COMING REPUBLICAN EVENTS...

POLITICAL STATUS PICKET -
Saturday , September 8 , 12.45pm , GPO , Dublin .

ANNUAL EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY -
Saturday , September 15 : Garden Of Remembrance , Parnell Square , 1.45pm for parade to the GPO .

ANNUAL BOBBY SANDS LECTURE -
Monday , September 24 , 7pm-9.30pm , Wynn's Hotel , Dublin . Theme : 'The Fenians And The Manchester Martyrs' .

More details to follow...

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

INTERNMENTS/LIBERATION/LEFT BEHIND.

DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS........
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

Alderman Peter Moore said he admired the stand taken by Councillor Harry Pentony and said that he , too , had his duties as an Irishman , and stated that the other Councillors were all aware of where he stood in relation to Internment - " We are the greatest nation of hypocrites in the world . The political parties in this country have perpetuated unemployment and emigration and we are worse off now than we were in 1922 ! The Republicans are the only consistent element in the country today. They stand to gain nothing and to lose all ."

Referring to the freedom movement in Occupied Ireland he said the young men involved were right and should be admired . They went out to attack the institutions of the British Government and the British Monarchy . Their ideals were the ideals of Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet and the men and women of 1916. Speaking on the internment of Irishmen without trial he said that the situation in the so-called "Free Ireland" could only be compared with that prevailing under the "Kadar Regime", in the Six Counties , and behind the 'Iron Curtain' .......
(MORE LATER).

A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

The Women's Centre in Dame Street , Dublin , opened on 'International Womens Day' in 1982 after a long fight to find funds and premises , and is struggling for its existence . Run by an ad-hoc committee it provides a meeting place for any women's group or individual woman : " We would only draw the line , " says spokesperson Ita Gannon , "...at fascists." Women meet and discuss items of interest at the Centre , which also provides typing and duplicating facilities as well as running a small cafe . There is , deliberately , no over-all policy so that all women's groups can meet here . The gap between the Women's Centre and the pampered 'Council for the Status of Women' group , in terms of their usefulness to campaigns on women's rights , is as glaring as the difference in their budgets .

Questions then must be raised in any feminist movement worthy of its name . What struggles can be interpreted as feminist ? Can issues which do not 'prioritise' women be considered as legitimate areas of concern for feminist groups ? Or alternatively , is any campaign which does 'prioritise' women a feminist campaign , irrespective of its political direction ?

Imperialism affects the lives of women in ways that may not be specific to them as women : women living in imperialist-dominated countries live in poverty , political repression and discrimination , but these are oppressions of both men and women - not of women specifically . Does this mean that they cannot then be supported ? Speaking at the Irish Women United conference in 1981 on the implications of this , Rita O' Hare, the head of the Sinn Fein Department of Women's Affairs , said : " Campaigning for women's rights under the capitalist and imperialist system is essential both in increasing awareness in women's situation and achieving whatever improvements can be wrung from the present system , and which are so urgently needed . But the capitalist system will inevitably , as in every other field of struggle , yield only the minimal reforms it can....... "
(MORE LATER).

THE LEFT BEHIND.......

Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.

On Camden Street in Dublin , Dick Spring and Ruairi Quinn talk to the street traders - and are told that business is bad . This is the first real opportunity * they have had to talk to the traders since their last election four years ago and this fact is not lost on the women of Camden Street . ('1169...' Comment - *...rather it's the first time they have bothered , and even then only because it's election time again.) It was on Ruairi Quinn's initiative that South African fruit was partially banned from Ireland , but it would appear that the level of Mr Quinn's understanding is beyond that of those who trade in the 'forbidden fruit' .

The message as to why the fruit should be banned did not get across . In response to a question , one women says - " We'll sell anything we can get a living out of." And that is the general mood on the street - apathy . People are tired of politicians , politics and promises , and many belong to the 'don't-vote-it-only-encourages-them' school of thought . This , despite the fact that many politicians are of the 'don't-vote-it-suits-us' school of thought . One street trader remarks that 'you won't see them until the next time' , and her companion replies - 'That's it' . One old man says that business is terrible and , just then , a baby is pushed past in a pram and someone asks Dick Spring if he will do the 'decent thing' and kiss the baby . " No , " says Dick , "...we're not in that league . We kiss the mothers." Then the issue of drug abuse is briefly raised.......
(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

NOT WELCOME!

"Republicans throughout Ireland are strongly opposed to the impending visit by British Queen Elizabeth, who is also the British head of State, and will protest at this extravagant display of pomp and wealth.

But not alone for these reasons. Queen Elizabeth saw fit to award an OBE to Colonel Derek Wilford, Officer Commanding the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday in Derry when they shot dead 14 unarmed civilians. Not exactly an inspiring role model for women? It matters not a whit that some of those armed forces are leaving Irish soil because their place will be taken by MI5 who are deeply embedded here.

There remains one huge obstacle to reconciliation between us and Britain and that obstacle is Partition. Part of the process of putting the past behind us and moving forward would be the removal of the illegal and unjust border that divides our country and our people. Have the courage Elizabeth Windsor and begin the process of handing back what has never belonged to you - the Six northeastern Counties. That would indeed be called a 'historic event'.

It has nothing to do with maturity on our part that we should welcome the Queen of England to our shores, rather it is the same slavish attitude that has always existed in Ireland. Being an occupied and colonised people for so long can make us willing participants in our own domination.

We reject the fraudulent claims of the English Queen to be 'Queen of Northern Ireland' ".
-statement from Cathleen Knowles McGuirk, Vice-President Republican Sinn Féin
June 26, 2007.
The Dublin Executive of Republican Sinn Fein intends to protest the visit of this English queen by holding a peaceful picket in Dublin on the day of her visit. This protest will take place at the GPO in O'Connell Street, and not on O'Connell Bridge as previously stated. Full details will be announced at a later stage. All welcome!
"There is always more brass than brains in an aristocracy."
- Oscar Wilde.

Monday, September 03, 2007

INTERNMENT/LIBERATION/LEFT BEHIND.

DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

The internment behind barbed wire fences in the Curragh Camp , of young men suspected of having been associated with the activities of freedom fighters in the Occupied territory of Ireland was the subject of strong protests at the December (1957) meeting of Drogheda Corporation .

The debate emanated from the reading of a letter from the Sinn Fein Publicity Committee protesting against the internment of the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle * ('1169...' Comment * - On 6 July, 1957 the fortnightly meeting of the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle was being held at the party’s Ard Oifig (Head Office) at 31 Wicklow Street in Dublin. The meeting was raided by the Garda Special Branch and seven members of the Ard Chomhairle were arrested and detained. This signalled the imposition of internment without trial by Éamon de Valera’s Fianna Fáil administration.
Among those arrested and interned were the President of Sinn Féin , Patrick MacLogan, the Vice-President Tom Doyle and the National Secretary Michael Traynor). Alderman Peter Moore and Councillor Harry Pentony spoke strongly against the 26-County government's policy in introducing the Offences Against the State Acts.

Councillor Harry Pentony said they had a right to protest against internment without trial , not only of the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle , but also of all the young men held in custody behind the barbed-wire fences of the Curragh Camp . None were safe under the present laws , he said , and even he could be interned for what he stood up and said there that night . " Is this freedom ? " , he asked.......
(MORE LATER).

A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

Irish Republicans aside , in the 26 Counties the women's movement is trying to re-organise following the collapse of the 'Irish Women United' group: most of those formerly involved in the IWU and the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group' were involved recently in campaigning against the 'abortion amendment' to the Free State constitution . Sinn Fein , too , although not involved in the campaign which implicitly recognised the 'legitimacy' of that 'constitution' , which republicans of course do not , condemned the hypocrisy of the amendment which was a piece of opportunist political gimmickry that will make no difference to the tragedy of thousands of Irish women forced to have secret abortions in England .

The Free State government-funded 'Council For The Status Of Women' perhaps points up best of all the relative failure and inconsequence of the women's movement in the South of Ireland . With a plush office in Dublin's fashionable Merrion Square and a budget of £90,000 , its brief is supposed to be to make recommendations to the Leinster House administration about women's rights , about the need to promote women in positions of authority , and to press for Irish women's demands , but its origins and nature prevents this .

Run exclusively by middle-class women ('1169...' Comment - so much so that it became known as 'The Council For Women With Status'!) whose outlook is at best reformist , it sees its limited demands being met by getting women elected to Leinster House . The total inadequacy of this is exemplified by the fact that it is , after all , a woman - Fine Gael Leinster House member Gemma Hussey - who has implemented education cuts affecting so many 26-County school children . Yet another Fine Gael Leinster House member , Nuala Fennell, was a member of the Irish Women's Liberation Group but has made no representation about women's rights while in Leinster House ! The 'Council For The Status Of Women' put thousands of advertisements in the newspapers during the last elections , calling on women to 'Vote for a Woman' but making no reference to the actual politics of the women candidates.......
(MORE LATER).

THE LEFT BEHIND.......

Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.

Dick Spring provides as many photo opportunities as he can think of , to give him the chance to be seen to do as many different things as possible . Except he won't be doing anything at all ; he'll just be posing . His first stop of the day is at Guinness's Brewery in Dublin, where he poses with what looks like a suspended wheel in his hand : he has no idea what the function of this wheel is , but neither does anybody else . The newspaper people tell him where to walk , how to talk . The badge on his lapel says 'People Matter Most' . The really strange thing about all of this is that Dick Spring never once gets embarrassed about the carry on . Other people might want a break for a minute , but not Dick - he signs the visitors' book 'click-click-click-click-click' goes the cameras .

All of the above was very early in the day . Later , voters would tell Dick how fed-up with politics and politicians they really were . People have lost faith in Fine Gael, in Labour and the other parties that have been playing musical seats for the past seventy years . Dick is taken downstairs to see small engines that were used to transport Guinness in years gone by . He says they're "Fantastic" . It is then time to go on to Camden Street and tie-in with Ruairi Quinn, which is where the day got hi-jacked .

Just before the Labour Party bus reached Camden Street , a road worker did a cut-throat sign towards Dick Spring , twice , but Dick never noticed . Later on in the day , a driver gave him a single digit sign , which Dick noticed , and responded to in kind . At Camden Street , Dick is told to wait until everyone is out of the bus before he steps onto the street , as this will provide really good shots of Dick getting off a bus . When Comrade Quinn and Comrade Spring meet each other there is great hugging and kissing , in the Russian fashion , as if the two had not met in years . The Labour Party Office in Camden Street is a dump and looks like a bad squat . There are large bare rooms , some of which are in the process of being painted . Ruairi and Dick head off down Camden Street , and a handler attempts to introduce Dick to the public . An old woman brushes past , saying - " No . I'm not interested in meeting him......."
(MORE LATER).

Sunday, September 02, 2007

" IF FROM THE PATH YOU CHANCE TO STRAY..."

" I met the bravest of the brave this morning..."
Tom Williams , 12 May 1924 –2 September 1942.

“Williams was one of six IRA volunteers sentenced to death by hanging in 1942. A group of eight, including two women, had mounted a diversionary operation to take away attention from three republican parades held in Belfast to celebrate the 1916 Easter Rising. All such parades had been banned under the Stormont regime since the partition of Ireland and the introduction of the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act of 1922. A police patrol managed to capture the group but not before an exchange of shots which resulted in the death of RUC constable Patrick Murphy. Although only 18 years old, Tom Williams was in charge of the unit and in a controversial statement to the police he assumed full responsibility for the shooting. Following a remarkable international reprieve campaign, the colonial Governor of Northern Ireland commuted five of the six death sentences to terms of penal servitude. But the British had decided that Tom Williams should hang....”
(From here)

'Time goes by as years roll onwards
But in my memory fresh I'll keep
Of a night in Belfast Prison
Unshamefully I saw men weep

For the time was fast approaching
A lad lay sentenced for to die
And on the second of September
He goes to meet his god on high

Now he's walking to the scaffold
Head erect he shows no fear
For on his proud and gallant shoulders
Ireland's cross he holds so dear

Now the cruel blow has fallen
For Ireland he has fought and died
And we the countrymen who bore him
Will love and honour him with pride

Brave Tom Williams we salute you
And we never will forget
Those who planned your cruel murder
We vow to make them all regret

So come all you Irish rebels
If from the path you chance to stray
Bear in memory of the morn, when Irelands cross was proudly borne
By a lad who lay within these prison walls.'
(From here)
For Tom , and all the other brave men and women .

Saturday, September 01, 2007

VICTIM OF POLITICALLY-INSPIRED FORGERY.

LEST WE FORGET THIS IRISH HERO....

ROGER CASEMENT : born September 1, 1864, Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland , put to death August 3, 1916, London, England .

Roger Casement.
by William Butler Yeats.

I SAY that Roger Casement
Did what he had to do.
He died upon the gallows,
But that is nothing new.

Afraid they might be beaten
Before the bench of Time,
They turned a trick by forgery
And blackened his good name.

A perjurer stood ready
To prove their forgery true;
They gave it out to all the world,
And that is something new;

For Spring Rice had to whisper it,
Being their Ambassador,
And then the speakers got it
And writers by the score.

Come Tom and Dick, come all the troop
That cried it far and wide,
Come from the forger and his desk,
Desert the perjurer's side;

Come speak your bit in public
That some amends be made
To this most gallant gentleman
That is in quicklime laid.
(From here)

Roger Casement rarely receives a mention when it comes to the writers and poets of 1916 and yet his reports from the Putumayo and from the Congo show a writer of great talent. His descriptions of the horrendous brutality inflicted on innocent and perfectly peaceful native inhabitants was enough to force a change of policy with regard to the treatment of workers and slaves on the rubber plantations. Casement wrote in 1911 that "The robbery of Ireland since the Union has been so colossal, carried out on such a scale, that if the true account current between the two countries were ever submitted to any impartial tribunal England would be clapped in jail." Besides his obvious wit he managed to write some serious and emotive rhyme including his poem Parnell:

" Of unmatched skill to lead by pathways rife

With danger and dark doubt, where slander's knife

Gleamed ever bare to wound, yet over all

He pressed triumphant on- lo, thus to fall."
(From here)

We Irish have long memories - we need to have , with , so far, over eight centuries of recorded history to pass on to future generations...
The '1169...' Team .

Friday, August 31, 2007

A MANIFESTO/LIBERATION/LEFT BEHIND.

A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

One founder member of the 'Irish Women United'(IWU)group recalls -

" Young angry women in IWU only had to look at the position of women in Dublin , Belfast , Cork or Kerry to see that nothing had been gained for women through fighting beside men . Republicans had been as guilty as imperialists in their eyes . Now seemed the time for women to fight on their own , undistracted by calls for support from anti-imperialist but essentially male struggles . Ultimately though , the damage done by the non-discussion of the North led to the break-up of the IWU ."

For their part , republican women raised the question of women's rights formally for the first time at the 1979 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis . Both Northern and Southern women spoke , convinced that Sinn Fein had to take up seriously the oppression of women , and that it was not enough to say - as some argued - that women in the Republican Movement were not discriminated against within the Movement . Whether that were true or not , our concern had to be for the people of Ireland , for all the women who were not just second-class citizens but , as James Connolly said , "...the slaves of slaves.." .

Out of that Ard Fheis intervention came the Sinn Fein Department of Women's Affairs which submitted a policy document - 'Women In The New Ireland' - to the 1980 Ard Fheis . It had the backing of the Ard Comhairle (ruling body) of Sinn Fein and was passed almost unanimously . Since then , 'women's affairs' officers have been appointed in most Sinn Fein cumann and comhairli ceantair , and the 'Women's Affairs' Head of Department is automatically co-opted to the Ard Comhairle : that Department , focussed mainly on Belfast , Dublin and Derry , is still in a formative stage but it has been responsible for some important initiatives as well as heightening generally the republican consciousness concerning women's rights.......

(MORE LATER).

THE LEFT BEHIND.

Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.

Nobody noticed how Ruairi Quinn hi-jacked Dick Spring's itinerary that day . The plan that had been laid out for Dick in advance included a visit to Ruairi , but when everybody arrived Ruairi had an alternative sheet prepared which he gave to journalists . Other than to have a stand-up row about it , there was really no choice but to go along with the new plan , which included a fair amount of publicity for Ruairi himself , who may not be returned in this election . There was even talk that he might have found himself 'a job' in the event of being made redundant by the electorate .

It's hardly a month since Dick Spring sat at the cabinet table, but in the minds of the Labour Party ministers they have distanced themselves from those awful days . Nowadays , posters of Dick show the man with an open shirt - a 'Good Man Of The People'- : his moustache is trimmed , to give it a tamer if sharper look . On the posters at least , the working class hero has finally come home to roost .

The day is dark and cold when the bus leaves Labour Party Headquarters ; Dick Spring steps out - 'People of Ireland , I love you...' On the bus , the RTE cameras start to roll as the vehicle makes its way down Dorset Street . Passers-by look with amazement as they see James Connolly's successor (!) answering questions , facing into a camera , in a bus moving through the early morning traffic . Dick has own reservations about touring in buses , and what effect it has on people but , since the other parties do it , Labour would not seem to have a choice . It is a travelling circus.......
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, August 30, 2007

THE DOGS OF FIONN...

" It was a time of trouble-executions,
Death, searches, nightly firing, balked escapes –
And I sat silent while my cellmate figured
Ruy Lopez' Gambit from the 'Praxis'. Silence
Best fitted our mood: we seldom spoke.
'I have a thought,' he said, tilting his stool.
'We prisoners are so many pieces taken,
Swept from the chessboard, only used again
When a new game is started.' 'There's that hope,'
I said, 'the hope of being used again.
Some day of strength, when ploughs are out in March,
The dogs of Fionn will slip their iron chains
And, heedless of torn wounds and failing wind,
Will run the old grey wolf to death at last'.
He smiled, 'I like your image. My fat kings,
And painted Queens, and purple-cassocked Bishops
Are tame, indeed, beside your angry dogs! "
(....taken from here.)

- Written by Joseph Campbell, interned in the Curragh, 1923-24.

Read the above , follow the links and read what they offer . Then , read this link and see if you can help.......
Go raibh máith agat , from the '1169...' Crew .

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES.......

This Manifesto was posted throughout Occupied Ireland during the week beginning December 6 , 1957 , and ending on December 12 .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

" The Protestants of Occupied Ireland are thinking for themselves . They know that Irish Republicanism was born among them 167 years ago . They know that Protestant Ireland - and Protestant Ulster especially - has given some of her best sons to the cause of Irish Republicanism . They know that only in a truly Republican Ireland will equal rights and equal opportunities for all our citizens be assured , the memory of all past dissentions be abolished , and the common name of Irishman be substituted in place of the designations 'Protestant , Catholic and Dissenter' .

This Republican faith is not dead among them . They will yet return to the allegiance of Tone and Emmet, Mitchel and Davis, Orr and McCracken. The lies of those who stand to gain most by the British Imperial tie will then be exposed. The Irish people will then be united for the welfare of their country and the prosperity of the nation . God speed the day !

We must recover for the Irish people possession of the natural resources of our country. We must secure for the Irish people democracy , unity and sovereignty....... "
(MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS.......

Known members of the INLA were recruited to carry out a forced eviction of tenants in a Dublin house.
By Liz Walsh.
From 'MAGILL'magazine, June 1998 .

Gary Adams , from County Antrim , has one previous conviction for armed robbery in the South . Last year (1997) he gave the oration at the graveside of Johnny Morris, the young INLA man from Tallaght who was shot dead by gardai in an abortive robbery at Goldenbridge in Inchicore , Dublin .

Gary Adams and Damien Bond (31) of Doolargy Avenue , Dundalk , County Louth , were charged with INLA membership and intimidation at Oaktree Drive on August 1 , 1996 . The State later dropped the membership charge in return for both men pleading guilty to intimidation . Thomas Murray (25) of Marion Park , Dundalk , and Bart O' Connor (60) of Whitethorn Close , Beaumont , Dublin , were charged with intimidation , although the charge against Bond was later dropped .

The DPP recommended that no charge be brought against Thomas Gear.

[END of 'REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS']
(NEXT : 'The Left Behind' - from 1987)

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

SOME UP-COMING REPUBLICAN EVENTS...

POLITICAL STATUS PICKET -
Saturday , September 8 , 12.45pm , GPO , Dublin .

ANNUAL EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY -
Saturday , September 15 : Garden Of Remembrance , Parnell Square , 1.45pm for parade to the GPO .

ANNUAL BOBBY SANDS LECTURE -
Monday , September 24 , 7pm-9.30pm , Wynn's Hotel , Dublin . Theme : 'The Fenians And The Manchester Martyrs' .

More details to follow...

Monday, August 27, 2007

A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES.......

This Manifesto was posted throughout Occupied Ireland during the week beginning December 6 , 1957 , and ending on December 12 .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

" Scores of our comrades are serving long terms of imprisonment . Many more are jailed without charge or trial . But their places in the Resistance have been filled ten-fold and now on the hills , in the glens , through the towns and villages of historic Ulster the young Volunteer freedom fighters are intensifying the struggle .

The Resistance is growing stronger . It will continue until Britain takes her forces of occupation out of our country . By force of arms our country is kept divided and unfree , by force of arms our people are robbed of their rights , by force of arms the usurper maintains his rule . Only by force of arms can Ireland be restored to her rightful owners - the Irish people .

We have no quarrel with any section of the Irish people or with any Irish man or woman . The puppet Assembly at Stormont - representing the vested interests of Tory-Unionism ('1169...' Comment - ....and nationalists/ex-republicans) who are tied to the British Empire by bonds of wealth , power and privilege - in appealing to sectarian passions have attempted to misrepresent us . Stormont has failed . ('1169...' Comment : Stormont was then , and is now , set-up by Westminster to manage the illegal and immoral occupation and to put a veneer of 'democracy' on same to the outside world , preferably , from Westminster's point of view that is , with the assistance of some local 'rebel pets') The Protestants of Occupied Ireland have not ALL been blinded by the propaganda of this Ascendancy class....... "
(MORE LATER).

A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

There was little attempt by the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group' to organise or recruit working-class women , who of course were suffering most from the Free State's repressive laws and attitudes . It is especially significant that no demands on child care were ever formulated by the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group , but , however , their activities did raise the public consciousness of women's rights in the South , and it was through their agitation that , for instance , deserted wives and unmarried mothers now have the right to social welfare allowances .

A breakaway group of socialist and radical feminist women , the 'Irish Women United' group, emerged in 1976 - but the same inability to get to grips with the situation in the North remained . To those who raised the question of the war in the North of Ireland the stock objection put forward was that it did not 'prioritise' women and as such was not an issue for feminists ! The fact remains that many of those objectors had perceived no difficulty in supporting women struggling in anti-imperialist wars in other countries . Mairin de Burca, for instance , one of the most vociferous women who spoke against any support for the republican women prisoners in Armagh Jail, had been arrested at a demonstration held outside the American Embassy in Dublin against the war in Vietnam and subsequently served a sentence in Mountjoy Jail where she demanded and got privileges as a political prisoner.......!
(MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS.......

Known members of the INLA were recruited to carry out a forced eviction of tenants in a Dublin house.
By Liz Walsh.
From 'MAGILL'magazine, June 1998 .

According to Thomas Gear , Bart O' Connor said 'they'll never bother you again' , and said there would be no cost involved but if he wanted to pay a nominal expense he could do so at a later stage . Thomas Gear denied being a member of the INLA . When Bart O' Connor was arrested he admitted contacting Gary Adams 'as a favour' to Gear - " I know he (Adams) is involved ," he told detectives , " I don't want to mention he is in the INLA , but you know yourself , it's no secret."

During questioning , Damien Bond said he had known Gary Adams for about 18 months . When asked how much he was getting for the job , he said - " I don't know . I was told it was a small job for drink money ." According to Thomas Murray's statements , the gang members were to get £100 for the job . He said he wouldn't have used the lump hammer found on him 'unless I had to.' Gary Adams refused to make a statement . The 36-year-old republican is a member of the executive of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), the alleged political wing of the INLA . According to 'security force' intelligence reports , Gary Adams is also the INLA's most senior member in the South of Ireland .

He was one of just 11 IRSP members to vote in favour of an INLA cease-fire at the IRSP Ard Fheis in Dublin last year (1997) . That vote was overwhelmingly defeated . Ironically , one of the issues he addressed at that Ard Fheis was forced evictions , caused by 'unionist-loyalist pogroms' . He condemned the evictions as 'cowardly attacks on defenceless men , women and children.......'
(MORE LATER).

Sunday, August 26, 2007

APPEAL FOR FUNDS.......

Republican Sinn Fein are embarking on a development and modernisation programme for their organisation which will include advances in recruitment , publicity , upgrading of technology and improved Office accomodation .

This will cost a considerable amount of money , which RSF haven't got , necessitating this financial appeal . All subscriptions , large or small , can be sent to the treasurer of the Republican Sinn Fein Development Fund at Head Office , 223 Parnell Street , Dublin 1 , or made payable to -

Republican Sinn Fein Development Fund ,
Allied Irish Bank ,
Capel Street ,
Dublin 1.
Account Number 15411-097.

All donations will be appreciated and acknowledged.
Go raibh máith agat !
Sharon.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

26th ANNUAL HUNGER STRIKE COMMEMORATION AND MARCH TO TAKE PLACE IN BUNDORAN...

THE 1981 Hunger Strike Committee, Bundoran/Ballyshannon, will hold the 26th annual Hunger Strike Anniversary commemoration and March in Bundoran on Saturday, August 25 at 3p.m. Assemble at East End, Bundoran.Guests of Honour will be the Hunger Strike families - Sands; Hughes; McCreesh; O'Hara; McDonnell; Hurson; Lynch; Doherty; McElwee; Devine; Gaughan; Stagg, and Ward families.
Speakers will be Cathleen Knowles McGuirk (Dublin), Vice-President, Republican Sinn Féin; Bob Loughman (USA), Emerald Society New York Police Band and Ruairí White (Newry, Co. Down); Republican Sinn Féin.

Chief Marshalls: Mick Cullen (Bundoran); Jimmy McElhinney (Omagh).
Chairman: Joe O'Neill (Bundoran).

Honorees: Don Hurley; the Hunger Strike families.

Bands: New York Police Band; The Tunnel Pipe Band (Portadown); Glens of Antrim Pipe Band; Glens of Antrim piper; Kevin Lynch Memorial Flute Band (Dungiven).

Theme: Where there is an Occupation there can never be a true peace with justice.
This is still the case in Ireland. With the nominal end of “Operation Banner” and the associated fanfare, the fact remains that 5,000 British soldiers remain permanently garrisoned in Ireland - and can be called to support the RUC/PSNI as and when required. The remainder can be returned at short notice. At a time when countries including Iraq, Chechnya and Palestine make regular news owing to the Occupation, we must remind the world that Ireland too remains an illegally Occupied country. So long as there is Occupation, there will always be Resistance.

Friday, August 24, 2007

A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES.

This Manifesto was posted throughout Occupied Ireland during the week beginning December 6 , 1957 , and ending on December 12 .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

" TO THE PEOPLE OF BRITISH OCCUPIED IRELAND :

On this , the first anniversary of the December 12 , 1956, Revolt against foreign tyranny and occupation we send you greetings on behalf of the heroic freedom fighters and the men and women of the Resistance . Your sacrifices during the past 12 months have proved to the world that the historic Irish Nation still lives ; that it has not accepted and will never accept British Imperial domination over the affairs of our country .

You have suffered in the cause of National Resistance . Your homes have been raided systematically by day and by night . Your sons have been jailed without charge or trial and when not jailed , unceasingly interrogated and intimidated . Intensified police terrorism has not broken your spirit . You have consistently stood up against this tyranny to the utmost of your power .

Be assured that the people of the 26 Counties and Irish exiles everywhere are slowly becoming aware of your sufferings for the cause of Irish liberty and unity . Be assured that victory will be ours in the end . Since this Revolt began seven of our comrades have made the supreme sacrifice. We shall not forget them . Their deaths have made us more determined to carry on the work for which they gave their lives . Their names will live on in the annals of our people while the flame of freedom burns among us......."
(MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS.......

Known members of the INLA were recruited to carry out a forced eviction of tenants in a Dublin house.
By Liz Walsh.
From 'MAGILL'magazine, June 1998 .

At 8pm , Bart O' Connor let Gary Adams , Damien Bond and Thomas Murray off at a roundabout near Oaktree Drive , Castleknock , Dublin . After threatening the lodgers inside Number 8 , the three men tried to leave the house but were immediately surrounded by armed gardai . Special Branch detectives found Saoirse Mullen inside the door with a telephone in her hand . She was crying and shaking uncontrollably .

The following day , Thomas Gear was arrested at his jeweller's shop at the Parnell Mall in the Ilac Shopping Centre in Dublin on suspicion of being a member of the INLA. When questioned about the incident at his home the previous night , he said he first met Saoirse Mullen in April 1996 when she replied to his advertisement for lodgers . She and Thomas Gear had a cordial landlord-tenant relationship until July 23 ,1996 , the night he entered her room . He admitted trying to kiss her , but said he stopped when she made it clear that she wasn't interested . He admitted going to see Bart O' Connor to see about having his lodgers removed.......
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, August 23, 2007

1981-2007 : Annual H-Block Hunger Strike Commemoration -

Bobby Sands, Belfast , 66 days, 5 May 1981.
Frank Hughes , Bellaghy (Derry) , 59 days, 12 May 1981.
Raymond McCreesh , South Armagh , 61 days, 21 May 1981.
Patsy O Hara , Derry , 61 days, 21 May 1981.
Joe McDonnell , Belfast , 61 days, 8 July 1981.
Martin Hurson , Tyrone , 46 days, 13 July 1981.
Kevin Lynch, Dungiven (Derry) ,71 days, 1 August 1981.
Kieran Doherty , Belfast , 73 days, 2 August 1981.
Tom McIlwee , Bellaghy (Derry) , 62 days, 8 August 1981.
Micky Devine , Derry , 60 days, 20 August 1981.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT...

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

STREET TALK .......
The name Tony Gregory was virtually unheard of outside Dublin before 1982 when he was elected to Leinster House as an independent in Dublin Central , a post he still holds . He made the headlines with the famous 'Gregory Deal' in the same year when , in return for his support , the Fianna Fail government pumped £76 million into the redevelopment of inner city housing .
By Sean Ó Donáile .
From 'USI NEWS' , February 1989.

Tony Gregory on the Provisional IRA :
" I think the Provisionals are irrelevant for the reason that they have no real grasp of the socio-economic realities in Ireland today . If they had carried out a military struggle against military targets ('1169...' Comment : Is Mr. Gregory not aware that campaigns were carried out against economic and military targets ?) they would have a great deal more support . Enniskillen pales in comparison to some of their atrocities committed over the last twenty years . But when you condemn the Provisionals you ignore the root causes of their existence which is the military occupation of the six counties , and a struggle is inevitable because of that ."

On Emigration - a 'safety valve' ? :
From the infamous 'coffin ships' right up to the present day the Irish have left in droves ('1169...' Comment - ...not always voluntarily..) and a 'Paddy' can be found in every corner of the globe , be it 'The National' in Kilburn, the 'Corrib' in Boston or in the West Indies where they were brought in Cromwellian times to pick crops and were called 'The White Niggers'. Tony Gregory believes that emigration has , and is , been used as a safety valve :

" The huge emigration of the 1950's was used as such . It prevented any sort of radical political development in the country , because the people worst affected left . It has made the country more inherently conservative and now , not only are people leaving , but they are being encouraged to leave by politicians and their like ."

[END of 'STREET TALK']
(Next : ' A Manifesto - Britain Must Withdraw Her Forces' , from 1958)

REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS.......

Known members of the INLA were recruited to carry out a forced eviction of tenants in a Dublin house.
By Liz Walsh.
From 'MAGILL'magazine, June 1998 .

Saoirse Mullen said she was 'so frightened by the incident' she asked her boyfriend Michael Murphy to stay in the house until she found other accommodation : " Each night I used to put the chest of drawers up against the door to avoid a repetition of this assault , " she said . Thomas Gear , the landlord , then moved out of the house and into a hotel when one of the other tenants , Marguerite Beggan , threatened to report the attack on Saoirse Mullen .

A week after the incident , Saoirse Mullen was in the house at 8.15pm , when the front door opened and three men wearing baseball caps appeared . One of them was holding a sheet of paper containing the names of the occupants - this man was later identified as Gary Adams, of Muirhevnamore Estate in Dundalk , County Louth . " Right , I've been given orders to clear this house , " he said . Turning to Saoirse Mullen , he said " Get your stuff packed , you're leaving now."

She said that she felt scared and threatened as the men were verbally aggressive . She asked for more time to get her things together , as she had furniture and belongings to remove . Warning her not to telephone anyone , Gary Adams replied - " Right . 11pm we'll be back , you better be gone by then." Unknown to the men , however , they had been 'tailed' going to the house by Special Branch detectives who received a tip-off that the INLA was planning a 'job' in Dublin that night . The Branch watched Gary Adams , Damien Bond and Thomas Murray as they drove to a house at Whitehorn Close , Beaumont , owned by Bart O' Connor , an associate of Damien Bond's . There they took baseball caps , dark jackets and a lump hammer out of the boot of Gary Adam's car . All four got into a blue van driven by Bart O' Connor and headed for Castleknock , making several 'u-turns' along the way , apparently to avoid surveillance.......
(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

1981-2007.

Bobby Sands, Belfast , 66 days, 5 May 1981.
Frank Hughes , Bellaghy (Derry) , 59 days, 12 May 1981.
Raymond McCreesh , South Armagh , 61 days, 21 May 1981.
Patsy O Hara , Derry , 61 days, 21 May 1981.
Joe McDonnell , Belfast , 61 days, 8 July 1981.
Martin Hurson , Tyrone , 46 days, 13 July 1981.
Kevin Lynch, Dungiven (Derry) ,71 days, 1 August 1981.
Kieran Doherty , Belfast , 73 days, 2 August 1981.
Tom McIlwee , Bellaghy (Derry) , 62 days, 8 August 1981.
Micky Devine , Derry , 60 days, 20 August 1981.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT...

Monday, August 20, 2007

STREET TALK .......
The name Tony Gregory was virtually unheard of outside Dublin before 1982 when he was elected to Leinster House as an independent in Dublin Central , a post he still holds . He made the headlines with the famous 'Gregory Deal' in the same year when , in return for his support , the Fianna Fail government pumped £76 million into the redevelopment of inner city housing .
By Sean Ó Donáile .
From 'USI NEWS' , February 1989.

Tony Gregory on Education :

" Most of the children in my area never even get the chance to think of what type of education they want . Its a whole different world from those who grew up in an affluent background and those two worlds never meet . There is only one way to bridge that gap and that is by building a socialist state in this country . "

We asked him how would one go about doing that - will we not all turn into 'commie bashers' or should we keep 'the Reds under the beds' as we have been so often told ? He answered : " We must create an equal society and get rid of the privileges and wealth , currently in the hands of a minority . It's a matter of consciousness to create a more equal society and everybody plays a small part . It's a very slow process and because we are such a conservative people it will be slower here than elsewhere . We've been brainwashed into believing that what was going on in the socialist states was evil and bad , whereas the opposite was the case , the U.S. being the greatest tyranny in recent years . We must progress pragmatically and in a realistic fashion , step by step ."

But where do we begin the ascent of this ladder ? I continued to pry : " The National Question has to be resolved before getting anywhere near to a socialist solution in Ireland . It would be a major step forward to get the British out of Ireland , that is one of the primary steps ......."
(MORE LATER).

A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

At the All-Ireland Women's Conference in 1978, the 'Women Against Imperialism' group organised a tour of women relatives of political prisoners throughout the South , and publicised the situation of women in the Northern ghettos facing British Army and RUC repression . Together with women in Sinn Fein they were instrumental in the early efforts to publicise the conditions of women prisoners in Armagh Jail, and eleven members of Women Against Imperialism were arrested at a picket outside Armagh Jail on International Women's Day in 1979 .

Two of those women , Margaretta D'Arcy and Liz Lagrua, eventually served short sentences in Armagh Jail themselves as a result of their refusal to pay fines arising from the arrests . However , not long after the campaign organised to highlight those arrests and the subsequent court case , the 'Women Against Imperialism' group dissolved . Some of the women involved believed that the way forward for the women's issue was to take it up directly within the main anti-imperialist grouping , the Republican Movement , and that circumstances now favoured this more than had previously been the case .

At any rate , many of the Women Against Imperialism group went on to join Sinn Fein or the IRSP and to raise the question of women there . Down South , it was perhaps even more difficult for women to take up the issue of women's liberation.......
(MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS.

Known members of the INLA were recruited to carry out a forced eviction of tenants in a Dublin house.
By Liz Walsh.
From 'MAGILL'magazine, June 1998 .

A Dublin businessman paid a leading INLA man to evict his tenants after a young female tenant spurned his sexual advances . The businessman , Thomas Gear, a middle-aged jeweller , is now facing possible civil action by his young victim , 'Magill' magazine has learned .

The alleged leader of the INLA in the South , Gary Adams, was recently jailed for twelve months for his part in the illegal evictions ; his co-accused , Thomas Murray and Damien Bond , were also sentenced for taking part . Because all three pleaded guilty in the Special Criminal Court in Dublin to unlawful intimidation , few details emerged . However , statements obtained by 'MAGILL' show that the INLA gang were recruited indirectly by Thomas Gear in July 1996 , after his lodger , Saoirse Mullen , rejected his sexual approaches .

On July 23 1996 , Saoirse Mullen was asleep in her room at 8 Oaktree Drive , Castleknock , Dublin , when Thomas Gear arrived home after playing badminton . According to M/S Mullen , he 'barged' into her room , threw himself on top of her in the bed and started to kiss her forcibly . " He kept saying he loved me . I put my hands around his neck to push him off me , " she said . " I was screaming for my friend Marguerite to come and help me to get away ." Marguerite Beggan was also lodging in the house at the time.......
(MORE LATER).

(Please Note : a brief report and some photographs of yesterdays Eamonn Ceannt Commemoration can be found here.)