1169 And Counting.....

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....

" And yet , on the international scene, there have been some positive developments and hopeful signs over the past year. The demise of 'Reaganism' renders the wounded Thatcher regime weaker than it has been at any time in the past decade. Thatcherite economics have failed even in the case of the well-heeled pockets of privilege and segments of greed which the Tory marketing people have targetted in order to maintain power on the minority vote that can achieve office under the illiberal , unjust and undemocratic system of elections that prevails in Britain.

The price, inevitably , is being paid by the poorer sections of the British public itself including many Irish people from all parts of this island who have been denied a job and decent standards of living in their own country by the overall domination of neo-colonial consumerist economics.

On the Eastern front of the world power-blocs there have been even more dramatic developments . We welcome the triumph of the Solidarity ideal in Poland with the same sense of enthusiam that we condemn the suppression of the quest by China's youth to push forward towards reform and real democracy , 40 years after the establishment of the 'People's Republic' in that huge country......."
(MORE LATER).

BETRAYAL.......
The (State) Gardaí used John Corcoran (pictured) as a (P)IRA informer. They allowed him to be killed by another (P)IRA informer, and have since refused to investigate his murder*.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, Christmas Annual 1997.
By Ursula Halligan and Vincent Browne.
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)

John Corcoran never made it to the works quiz. He never made it home. It was totally out of character for the 45-year-old warehouse manager. That night , his wife waited for his return. She remembers drifting in and out of a fitful sleep and hearing a disembodied voice in a dream warning her that 'life is all an illusion' .

She awoke at 6.30 a.m. on Wednesday morning , 20th March 1985 , to find that John had still not returned home. She was to spend the next three days searching the city for him with neighbours and friends. Her first concern was to shield her eight children , ranging in age from 16 years to six months, from the trauma. She did not contact the gardaí . John was an epileptic , and she thought he might have suffered a fit and had an accident. But she had other reasons for not contacting them , too.

She knew John was involved in the IRA . Although he was a low-level activist , his involvement had always been a bone of contention between them . She wanted nothing to do with the IRA , and when the couple got married they reached an agreement ; he would not discuss or expose their children , if they had children, to that side of his life. By Friday , 22nd March 1985 , Eileen Corcoran was panicking. Eventually , she went to the gardaí and reported her husband missing . She also rang the newspapers to make a public appeal for his whereabouts.......
(MORE LATER).

TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.......
From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.

Matt Merrigan, Irish district secretary of the second largest union - the ATGWU - of which the late Bobby Sands MP, was a member , has appeared on numerous platforms since 1979 in support of the prisoners.

Other notable trade union supporters include Philip Flynn of the LGPSU, Seamus De Paor, general secretary of the Irish Post Office Engineering Union, which is the largest and most militant blue-collar union in the twenty-six counties' civil service , and Seán Redmond, general secretary of the Marine , Port and General Workers' Union, the largest dockers' union in the twenty-six counties . Also , dozens of other members of trade union national executives , local branch officials and hundreds of shop stewards and union section representatives have showed their support as well .

All of this initial support was built on to the stage where , presently, the annual conference of the following unions have unanimously adopted positions of sympathy towards the republican prisoners : LGPSU , ITGWU , MPGWU and IPOEU . Plus , the majority of branches of other unions have endorsed the prisoners' demands.......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, March 20, 2010

A picket will be held in Dublin on Saturday 27th March 2010 in support of Irish Republican prisoners : this picket will be held near the spot where Irish patriot Robert Emmet - himself a political prisoner - was executed in 1803.....

From "A FENIAN BALLAD" [aka "Sweet Iveleary"]
By JEREMIAH O’DONOVAN ROSSA (pictured above) :

".. I joined the Redcoats then – mo lein! – what would my father say?
And I was sent in one short year on service to Bombay.

I thought to be a pauper was the greatest human curse
But fighting in a robber’s cause I felt it ten times worse!
I helped to plunder and enslave those tribes of India’s sons
And we spent many a sultry day blowing sepoys from our guns.

I told these sins to Father Ned, the murder and the booty.
These were no sins for me, he said, I only did my “duty” ...

No sin to kill for English greed in some far foreign clime
How can it be that patriot love in Ireland is a crime?
How can it be, by God’s decree, I’m cursed, outlawed and banned?
Because I swore one day to free my trampled native land."

....the picket in support of those who have been "...cursed , outlawed and banned.." will , as stated , be held on Saturday 27th March 2010 outside St Catherine's Church in Thomas Street , Dublin , between 12 Noon and 2pm. These prisoners have been jailed because they fought against a 'robbers cause' , and deserve our support.
ALL WELCOME !
Thanks!
Sharon.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!
We wish all our readers an Irish Blessing....

Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....

" Not only did Leinster House fail to as much as raise a flag to honour the coming into being of that democratic Irish National Assembly , which re-declared the sovereign Irish Republic proclaimed in arms by the men and women of 1916 , but they totally ignored the suppression of that parliament by the British in September 1919.

If ever there was a case in history of the imperial overlord seeking to ignore the verdict of the people and to change the goalposts in the ballot-box business as soon as it became clear that the results did not suit them , this was it.

At a time when the same issue of allowing the voice of the overwhelming majority of people in South Africa to determine the Government is in the news again , and when Mr. Haughey and company see no harm in shadow-boxing with the British about certain issues over which they know they will get no satisfaction , this substitution of cheese and wine parties for serious discussion about either the French , the Irish or even the Russian revolution , is a sad reflection on the Ireland that has evolved twenty years after the Battle of the Bogside ......."
(MORE LATER).

BETRAYAL.......
The (State) Gardaí used John Corcoran (pictured) as a (P)IRA informer. They allowed him to be killed by another (P)IRA informer, and have since refused to investigate his murder*.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, Christmas Annual 1997.
By Ursula Halligan and Vincent Browne.
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)

The gardaí advised John Corcoran's family not to talk to the media. But 'Magill' interviewed them : when John Corcoran was murdered* he left a wife , Eileen , and eight children . One daughter , Ursula , has since committed suicide. The family saw hope in April this year (1997) when Fianna Fáil's John O'Donoghue promised to have the case fully investigated if his party was returned to power after the State general election. Six months on , they're still waiting .

"We're not looking for revenge. We're looking for answers."

The weekend before John Corcoran was murdered* was one of the happiest in his 16-year-old marriage to his wife , Eileen . St Patricks Day was on a Sunday that year , and John Corcoran had taken the three youngest of their eight children into Cork City to see the parade. Monday was a Bank Holiday , and he spent the day pottering around the house doing odd jobs for Eileen and playing with the children . He seemed relaxed and contented.

On Tuesday , 19 March 1985 , John Corcoran was getting ready to go to work in the local branch of Musgraves, where he had worked for 20 years. Before he left the house , he shouted in to his wife that he would need his dinner early and his green pullover ready when he got home that night , because he was going on to a work quiz in a local hotel after he got home. Those were the last words that Eileen Corcoran heard her husband say.......
(MORE LATER).

TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.......
From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.

The 'Trade Union Campaign Against Repression'(T.U.C.A.R.) Group organised the first industrial action for many years against British repression when, in protest against the killing of Brian Maguire, it led thousands of workers from West Belfast in the first anti-British repression demonstration in the city's centre since 1969.

T.U.C.A.R. lobbied extensively , in Ireland and Britain , until it was eventually absorbed in 1979 into the National H-Block/Armagh Committee campaign - of which it was a genuinely broadly-based industrial predecessor .

Following the 'Green Briar' Belfast conference of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee , in June 1979 , at which the five demands of the prisoners were launched , a number of notable trade unionists rallied to the campaign . Michael Mullen, general secretary of the largest trade union in Ireland - the ITGWU- himself an ex-political prisoner from the 1940's , headed an eminent list.......
(MORE LATER).

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Fianna Fáil cowboy 'steers' self into border bust-up....

- DALLAS NOT IN IRELAND ! -

Fianna Fail councillor Tom Allen , who supplements his cotton-pickin' income by being a cowboy on stage , as well , needed a new van recently to transport his stage gear from gig to gig. So he looked around locally - or, perhaps , one of his pardners did -but the poor folk were left disappointed. Yessiree.

So Mr Dallas decided he was a-gonna take some down time and head off to hills near and far to see what was on offer. He ended up in Armagh , a tough-talkin' town across Britains illegal and unwanted 'border' , which purports to separate one 'part' of Ireland from another. And Mr Dallas purchased a high-roofed Ford Transit van. With yellow number plates , as are sold in that part of the terrority. A journalist was made aware that this Fianna Fáil councillor's yellow-plated van was being driven around the badlands of Westmeath , bedecked in the green , white and orange Fianna Fail colours , complete with slogans - 'VOTE NO. 1 TOM ALLEN : WORKING FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME!'
The journalist contacted the Cowboy himself and asked him why he didn't buy a vehicle locally , thus helping , financially , the local economy , which Fianna Fail themselves are on record for asking the rest of us to do , to which that member of 'Fianna Fail The Republican Party' replied -
" We would have friends in high and low places in the car industry. The people want me politically and they want me musically and that's all I care about. We get it serviced here and we buy diesel here. My wife has a car she bought in Ireland. I was looking for a particular type of van with an extra high roof but I couldn't get one in Ireland so I came on this one and said 'Hallelujah! This is what I wanted'. It's just because I am a politician and there was a sign (on the van)..."

So there you have it , readers - Armagh is not in Ireland. According to that particular Fianna Fáil cowboy , anyway.
YEE-HAW!
(Sourced here, just in case ya thought I was speakin' hog-wash or pullin' yer leg....)
Thanks!
Sharon.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....

" The reactions of others to these events and commemorations are also revealing because , if considered in detailed context, they give us some idea of which are the really progressive forces at work in the world , and which are sham distortions that require normally intelligent people to stand on their heads concerning former opinions or to ignore huge gaps of factual history and political realities in order to maintain their position in current fashionable power-circles.

Sinn Féin Poblachtach have , ever since the Treaty sell-out of 1921 , the Fianna Fáil sell-out of 1926-27 , the Stickie sell-out of 1969-70 and the Super-Stickie betrayal of Irish Republican principles in the 1980's , continued to stick to basics that are so painful in their clarity that no effort is spared by some very strange bed-fellows to keep the younger generation in the dark about the basic historical facts.

Thus while academics and summer schools , not to mention the establishment media , rushed to celebrate the French Revolution with considerations of food-fads and fashions , they nearly all ignored the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the First Dáil Éireann by the Republican Sinn Féin members who had won a mandate for the establishment of an all-Ireland Parliament in the British-run general election at the end of 1918......."
(MORE LATER).

TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.......
From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.

The presently dominant elements on the ICTU executive ignore their own body's precedents , and because of their political orientation try to obscure the real issue at hand , which is in line with their own policy because of their entrenched opposition to the Republican Movement and, by extension , to the prisoners.

Fortunately , the above-explained situation is not at all typical of the actual reality of wide support for the hunger-strikers demands which exists within the trade union movement in Ireland and abroad.

Since 1977 , trade unionists have been active , in a co-ordinated fashion , in support of the H-Block and Armagh prisoners . Much of the initial work was done by the 'Trade Union Campaign Against Repression' (TUCAR) group, which was a Dublin-based thirty-two county organisation composed of representative trade unionists and shop stewards.......
(MORE LATER).

Friday, March 05, 2010

Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....

" A welcome if belated development in Ireland has been the increasing willingness of Church bodies and spokespersons to speak out on behalf of the poor , as they have done in Latin America and elsewhere in the Third World. Some of them have joined with us in calling for the unemployed and young people of Ireland to refuse to emigrate and to fight for a decent future in their own country.

The past year has seen a remarkable series of anniversaries in different countries connected with major historical developments , some of them more remote than others , but all relevant in their own way for this organisation and for the Republican Movement. Our hallmark always has been , despite the detractors, the lies and the clever propaganda , the pursuit of a genuine developed democratic system , based on national sovereignty and international respect for the rights of all members of the family of nations.

Nineteen eighty-nine has also seen some remarkable developments in current liberation struggles and in the efforts of those pushing for reforms , some good, some bad, some radical and revolutionary , some unexpected , many unbelievable even to the members of this organisation whose basic tenet - core value if you will ! - has always been that the Irish people are capable of practically anything in the pursuit of their august destiny as long as they believe in their own strength and their inalienable right to self-determination....... "
(MORE LATER).

TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.......
From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.

Uniquely amongst the general trade union movement , the executive of the ICTU is exceptionally anti-nationalist and adhers loyally to the confused and stumbling politics* it has borrowed , on the 'national question' , from the State 'Labour Party' . (*'1169...' Comment - whilst others were quite happy in 1998, to 'borrow' from the anti-republican agenda of Leinster House , Stormont and Westminster.) Dominated by Labour Party supporters - members of a party which never turns down the opportunity to coalesce with the ultra-conservative Fine Gael - the ICTU leadership conjures up many spurious arguments to justify its otherwise inexcusable immobility on what is now a major national and international issue .

The spectre of a loyalist backlash , within the trade unions in the Six Counties , is a figment of the ICTU's imaginatiom . In fact the Belfast Trades Council - which is loyalist dominated - has a long-standing policy of sympathy with three of the hunger-strikers' demands , and an implied desire to see the hunger-strike ended by the British moving towards full concessions to the protestors.

Even the Rev. Martin Smyth, 'Grand Master' of the Orange Order - to which many loyalist workers belong - has pointed out that the conceding of political status poses no great problems for his organisation. In fact , the hunger-strike is not the question which could seriously divide the organised trade union movement.......
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, March 04, 2010

GREEN ISLE FOODS DISPUTE RESOLVED : 15-day hunger-strike ends.

A "confidential agreement" was secured today in the dispute between Green Isle Foods and those in dispute with the company , thus bringing to an end a 3-man hunger-strike in protest about the manner in which the company had attempted to railroad its employees. The trade union involved issued the following statement today , Thursday 4th March 2010 -
"Joint statement on behalf of Green Isle Foods Limited and the TEEU.
Re: Industrial Relations Dispute :
Green Isle Foods Limited, a major employer in Co Kildare, and the TEEU (Technical Engineering and Electrical Union) are pleased to confirm that the mediation process to resolve the industrial dispute at the company's manufacturing site in Naas has been concluded, with both parties agreeing to be bound by the proposals put forward by the independent mediators.
The agreement will be implemented, and accordingly, all forms of industrial action and other activity will cease with immediate effect. Both parties will be bound by confidentiality under the terms of the mediation agreement.
Both parties acknowledge the efforts and assistance of all involved in reaching agreement, and in particular pay tribute to Mr Bernard Durkan TD and Mr Jack Wall TD who facilitated the independent mediation process."
(From here.)

'The Irish Times' newspaper has a more detailed article here in relation to this dispute. For our part , we would like to congratulate those workers who took a stand against the ever-prevalent and on-going bully-boy tactics that is present today in most firms , it being - as we are repeatedly told by both management and trade union sources - 'an employers market' (ie translates as "Aren't you lucky to have a job at all....?"). We hope the workers involved received a just and fair settlement , and we also hope that the overall trade union movement will , at least and at last , take heart from the fact that the workers involved were prepared to take on the bosses rather than just cave-in to them - the easy option , and the favoured option of the trade union representatives of workers like those men. And hopefully , too , other workers will once again begin to stand-up to their management and bosses and instruct their trade union reps to grow a backbone and lead from the front in the war that has been declared on ordinary workers and the unemployed. Hopefully.....?
Sharon.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

HUNGER-STRIKING GREEN ISLE FOODS WORKER TOLD BY STATE REPRESENTATIVE TO 'GET OUT OF THE COUNTRY...'

Statement released today , Wednesday 3rd March 2010 by SIPTU:

History of Green Isle Foods dispute.
Workers in Green Isle Foods have embarked on a course of action not seen in Ireland for many years. Members of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) have been left on the picket line for six months by their employer and the parent company, Northern Foods in Britain.

"The basic facts.
In December 2008, a TEEU member opened a new icon on his computer entitled Boardroom. He assumed it was an information bulletin. In fact it had been sent to him by mistake instead of a senior member of management with a similar name. He did not pay much attention to the contents until a file appeared on the site in March 2009 containing restructuring proposals that involved making six TEEU members redundant.
The engineer showed his manager the file and shared the information with a number of fellow employees. When the company realised its error it insisted that all employees who may have accessed the Boardroom folder sign a document confirming that they had done so and accepting it was a serious disciplinary offence for which they faced dismissal.

The members asked their union for advice. When the TEEU sought to represent them the company refused to entertain the union. The men were suspended on full pay, while Green Isle Foods applied to the High Court for an order seeking full disclosure from the employees along with exemplary damages for breach of contract, confidentiality, interfering with the company's business and all legal costs - including interest.

The TEEU represented the men in court and after hearing the evidence Judge Mary Laffoy recommended that the parties agree a mutually acceptable process for resolving the problem. An agreement was reached by which all suspensions were lifted, the men returned to work and they agreed to co-operate with the company investigation.
The investigation dragged on from early April until mid June 2009. Eamon Devoy, General Secretary Designate of the TEEU, eventually wrote to the company on June 17th, asking that the inquiry into 'Boardroom' be wound up because of the stress it was causing employees.

Instead, the company said it had begun what it claimed was a second investigation, wholly unrelated to the first, on the previous day, June 16th, into the storage of inappropriate emails on PCs. On June 18th it also issued the findings of its first investigation. This found the company IT systems were not secure or properly monitored. There was no evidence to suggest information from the Boardroom folder had been given to anyone outside the company.
Meanwhile, the company pursued its second investigation without any involvement from the TEEU, whose members refused to engage in the new process without union representation. The same individuals were investigated as in the Boardroom inquiry and, while it remains unclear if this investigation was ever concluded, the men were dismissed at the end of what had proven a very secretive process on July 10th,2009.
Their appeals were rejected on July 31st. The company rejected an offer by the Labour Relations Commission to intervene.

Having failed to find some means of resolving the dispute through negotiation, mediation and dialogue, the TEEU served strike notice on Green Isle Foods. The response of the company was to bring in strike breakers, who were in place even before pickets were mounted at the end of August 2009.

Meanwhile the other TEEU members, whose positions had been identified as redundant in the Boardroom file, received satisfactory redundancy settlements. The crucial difference was that they were employees of ESS, a subcontractor on the Green Isle Foods site which recognises unions.
Green Isle Foods has sought to portray the dispute as one involving the downloading of pornographic from the internet, but in fact the Green Isle Foods system does not allow employees access to the internet, let alone the ability to download material. In the case of two TEEU members who were dismissed, they opened unsolicited emails which had nothing to suggest the material was inappropriate. In one case the man was dismissed for failing to delete the email subsequently from his in-box although he did not show it to anyone else. The source of the unsolicited emails has never been identified by the company.

The third employee was dismissed because he brought a memory stick to work with film and video game material on it which was not pornographic images, but which the company claimed could breach copyright law if used on its equipment.
After being on the picket line for over four months the TEEU referred the dispute to the Labour Court. The Court heard the case on December 4th, 2009. The company refused to attend, saying it did not recognise unions and therefore the Labour Court was an appropriate forum to resolve the dispute. Nevertheless it was represented at the hearing by IBEC.
The Court issued a recommendation on December 8th, 2009, stating it was satisfied the dismissals were unjustified, that there should be an immediate return to work, full reinstatement of the men and compensation for loss of earnings. In the event that this was not acceptable to the two sides the Court recommended that they should agree, through a third party if necessary, on a compensation package for the men.

When the company rejected this proposal the Court recommended, on January 5th, 2010, that the sacked men receive €40,000, €60,000 and €80,000 respectively, reflecting their lengths of service (seven, 10 and 16 years), if they were not reinstated as previously recommended.
When the company continued to ignore the Labour Court recommendations, the shop stewards, Jim Wyse and Declan Shannon, requested meetings with the company locally to resolve the dispute through direct talks. They even offered to negotiate on the Labour Court terms. Management met them briefly for a few minutes on three occasions over four weeks but did not even bother to make a note of the men's proposals before rejecting them.
It was after this final rebuff that the workers decided to adopt a hunger strike strategy. They had spent six months on the picket line during the worst winter weather for 40 years and their families were experiencing extreme economic hardship. They felt it was the last means available to bring pressure to bear on a company that was impervious to all the normal rules of industrial relations or common decency.
Jim Wyse became the first hunger striker on February 17th. He volunteered to go first because it was his suggestion. John Guinan joined him on February 24th.

John Recto, joined the Green Isle Foods hunger strike today (Wednesday March 3rd).
Some hours before he joined Jim Wyse and John Guinan on hunger strike, John Recto was asked call into Naas Garda Station, where he was informed that his work visa has been revoked. He was told he has until March 8th to leave the country. He is from the Philippines and has been working at Green Isle Foods for the past three years.
His wife and three children, aged six, seven and one year old, are living with him in Naas. His youngest child was born in Ireland."

To a certain extent , this is the fault of those that work for a wage and the overall Trade Union movement. All involved with this blog work outside (and inside) the home , for a wage , and are union members : in recent years we have been financially victimised by been forced to pay higher direct and indirect ('stealth') taxes , have seen our terms and conditions in the workplace suffer and most of us have had our take-home pay reduced by between €25 and €50 per week , with some workers losing even more per week than that top figure. And we are still expected to work the same number of hours (39 , in our case) that we worked before those deductions were forced on us at source. All this because the greedy , incompetent and useless bastards in Leinster House need billions of Euro to bail-out their business , banking and property-speculating colleagues , who are equally just as greedy , incompetent and useless.
It is as much the fault of the Trade Union movement because they have become 'soft' and over-friendly with both groups of useless bastards mentioned above : in truth , the Trade Union leadership have more in common - and not only in relation to the money they 'earn' - with those two groups in that they lack the moral courage to stand-by their (stated) convictions and alleged intention - to protect that what we already have , in the workplace, and to seek to improve conditions for the working class. We , the tax-paying working class , have been sold out four times over- by ourselves , for not only not whole-heartedly fighting back but for not actually leaving blood on the streets in our attempt to do so , by (surprise,surprise) the self-serving and (pension-)time-serving millionaire politicians in this State , by (again-surprise,surprise) the business owners , bosses and management and , finally , by 'our' trade union movement.
We should be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves.
Sharon.

Friday, February 26, 2010

IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS AND HUNGER-STRIKING WORKERS...

UPDATE : Press statement by TEEU, Sunday February 28th, 2010 -
"A number of media outlets persist in describing the dispute between the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union and Green Isle Foods in Naas as being about inappropriate emails.
This is not the case.
The dispute is over the unfair dismissal of three workers and union recognition.
The Labour Court, which has adjudicated on the dispute and which heard evidence from the TEEU and from IBEC on behalf of Green Isle Foods, found that the dismissals were unjustified. It recommended the immediate return to work of the TEEU members, no victimisation and compensation for the three dismissed men totalling €180,000 if the company was not prepared to re-employ them.
The persistent misrepresentation of the dispute is extremely damaging to the TEEU members on strike and particularly distressing to the hunger strikers, who did not access inappropriate material." END.

The monthly Dublin picket to enforce the fact that , despite what the Free State regime may claim , Irish Republican prisoners are not 'criminals', will be held at the GPO , O'Connell Street, on Saturday February 27th 2010 , from 12.30pm to 2pm. The on-going struggle to remove the British political and military presence from Ireland is not a 'criminal conspiracy' , but a political campaign : those involved in that campaign are political activists and must be viewed as such by , amongst others , the political criminals in Leinster House.
Please show your support by holding a banner or placard at the GPO in Dublin on Saturday February 27th between 12.30pm and 2pm.

"Some of the family and lads are worried at the rate I'm losing weight....I've lost nearly a stone...."
- James Wyse, hunger-striking worker , from here.

"On November 1st, 1913, IT&GWU Branch Secretary James Byrne became the first trade unionist to die on hunger strike in twentieth century Ireland. On 17th February (2010), James Wyse of the TEEU became the first man in the twenty-first century to go on hunger strike in the course of an industrial dispute in Ireland. The issue that led both men to take this momentous decision was their belief that workers have a right to be members of a trade union and to be represented by that trade union in their workplace.
A second Green Isle Foods worker, John Guinan, who was a member of the Offaly team that won the Sam Maguire in 1982, joined James Wyse on hunger strike on Wednesday (24th February) outside the Green Isle Foods plant in Naas. Another colleague will join the hunger strike on Wednesday next (3rd March) if the dispute is not resolved.
On Saturday, 27th February, the Kildare Council of Trade Unions is holding a rally in support of the Green Isle Foods workers, assembling at the Storm Cinema car park in Naas at 12 noon. This will be followed by a march to the Green Isle Foods plant. I am asking every member who can attend to participate and show your solidarity with the men on strike.
They have been out for six months and it is only since James Wyse began his hunger strike that the company entered talks on a resolution to the dispute. Before that it not only refused to talk to the TEEU but rebuffed interventions by the Labour Relations Commission, the National Implementation Body and the Labour Court.

The dispute is over the dismissal of three TEEU members through an internal disciplinary procedure that denied them any representation by their union. Eventually the union referred the case to the Labour Court, which found the men had indeed been unfairly dismissed and should be fully reinstated or paid €160,000 in compensation. The company said it did not recognise unions and the Labour Court was not an appropriate forum to deal with the issue.

The shop stewards made a final effort to meet management and discuss terms for a return to work in January only to be rebuffed again. It was at that point that James Wyse advocated the hunger strike tactic and, as its proposer, insisted on being the first volunteer.

These men are defending a basic civil liberty to be represented in their workplace by a trade union if they so wish. It is a right recognised in virtually every other EU member state. These men not only deserve your support but it is in your interest as much as theirs that they win this struggle. Therefore I am asking each and every one of you who can to attend the rally in Naas on Saturday to do so and I am also asking you to sign the petition at www.teeu.ie on their behalf, if you have no already done so."
(By Jack O'Connor, SIPTU)

RSF President , Des Dalton , has spoken in support of the Green Isle Food workers : "The workers at Green Isle have fought a lengthy battle to save jobs and to uphold the basic principles of justice in the workplace. Green Isle have refused to engage with the workers or their union the TEEU or accept the recommendation of the Labour Court that the workers they dismissed be reinstated without loss of pay. Instead they have used scab labour in an attempt to break the will of the workers and their union.
The Green Isle workers have been forced to take the grave decision to embark on a hunger strike and it is the duty of all workers to rally to their support. Green Isle products should be boycotted and the general workforce at the plant must now come out in support of their fellow workers and bring this dispute to a head. No right won by working people has been gifted from above but has only come as a result of organised struggle. A class war is being waged on the working people of Ireland and it is time to fight back."
(From here.)

Please give a few hours of your time on Saturday 27th February 2010 to support the Green Isle Food workers (Storm Cinema car park in Naas at 12 noon) and/or Irish political prisoners (GPO Dublin 12.30pm) : the corrupt millionaire political barons in Leinster House have declared both groups to be their 'enemies' - whose side are you on?
Thanks!
Sharon.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....

" In the Tuam area of County Galway , emigration is running at three times the national average with the loss of 400 people in the last year alone. That reality and those images are not shown by the media here because of the inescapable conclusion it would present to the people - that both States in Ireland are a failure and are judged a failure by those forced to vote with their feet.

The fate of 34% of the population living in poverty within Ireland is no better : with record levels of unemployment , ameliorated only by the even higher levels of emigration , fifty thousand people on hospital waiting lists, the marginalised one third of the population see that an estimated 1,800 million pounds is owed in taxes in the 26 Counties alone , predominantly by well-healed tax dodgers. Many of these people are increasingly investing in foreign takeovers without any obligation on them to plough back their profits in Ireland.

Irish Republicans must fight to expose this two-tier society that has recently seen a national asset like Carysfort College being handed over to private interests while the people of Dún Laoghaire badly need a Regional Technical College......."
(MORE LATER).

TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.......
From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.

This position of support by the ICTU leadership , for political prisoners protesting against an established 'Irish government' , contrasts significantly with its attitude to the hunger-strike in Long Kesh prison : in 1980 , during the first phase of the hunger-strike led by Brendan Hughes, the ICTU executive not only refused to support the prisoners but also , without qualification, called upon the prisoners to unilaterally end their fast.

More recently, the ICTU refused to meet with relatives of the hunger-strikers , saying - " It would be unproductive to do so..." , while suggesting that to support the republican prisoners would alienate loyalist workers and lend succour to the overall IRA campaign.

The original 'concession' of political status for IRA prisoners was made in 1920 by the British government . Thomas Ashe died on hunger-strike during that prison struggle , and central to a victory for the IRA prisoners , at that time, was a nationwide general strike organised by the trade union movement.......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, February 20, 2010

REPUBLICAN EASTER COMMEMORATIONS , DUBLIN , 2010.

Republicans in Dublin have organised three Easter Commemorations for 2010 - Saturday 3rd April , Sunday 4th April and Monday 5th April.

Republican Sinn Féin in Dublin will be holding three Easter Commemorations this year :
Easter Saturday , 3rd April 2010 - 2pm on the bridge in Balbriggan (last year's Balbriggan Commemoration can be viewed here) ;

Easter Sunday , 4th April 2010 , 1pm at the Cemetery gates in Deansgrange (last year's Deansgrange Commemoration can be viewed here) ;

Easter Monday , 5th April 2010 - Garden of Remembrance , Dublin City Centre at 1.45pm : the parade will leave at that time to arrive at the GPO for 2pm (last year's GPO Commemoration can be viewed here) .

If you're in Dublin at the time, please show your support for the Irish republican tradition by supporting the Republican Movement at one or more of the 1916
Easter Commemorations listed above. And remember - the Movement is not only active on the streets of Dublin and elsewhere at Easter time : they have a constant presence on the streets throughout the year , and have had since they were formed in 1905. You are most welcome to come along on any or all of the three dates mentioned above and pay your respects , in the company of true Irish Republicans , to the men and women of 1916.
Thanks!
Sharon.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....

" Becoming part and parcel of the British war machine in Ireland means growth of 'National Security' policies as in Third World oppressive regimes to cope with economic bankkruptcy and popular unrest.

More resources are given to the so-called 'security forces' as the economic and social cutbacks imposed on the poor become more severe. The spate of huge new Garda Barracks being built throughout the 26 counties is one sign of this , the re-arming of the Free State Army is another.

The manipulation and censorship of the media , so that it operates solely in the interest of the status quo is a crucial factor in all of this. To illustrate this point we can simply point to the numerous media reports of those people leaving East Germany during the last year while we search in vain for probing television investigations into the emigration crisis from the island of Ireland throughout the 1980's - 300,000 of our people , young people predominantly , from North and South , forced out of their homeland to become stateless persons in New York or London...."
(MORE LATER).

BETRAYAL.......
The (State) Gardaí used John Corcoran (pictured) as a (P)IRA informer. They allowed him to be killed by another (P)IRA informer, and have since refused to investigate his murder*.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, Christmas Annual 1997.
By Ursula Halligan and Vincent Browne.
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)

A senior garda officer , conversant with the garda inquiries into the case , has acknowledged to this magazine that Sean O'Callaghan's "admission" of involvement in the murder* of John Corcoran was passed on to the gardai nine years ago (in 1988) by the RUC , who had interrogated O'Callaghan about his involvement in the murders* of two RUC men in the North - O'Callaghan was convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for these murders* but he was released early in 1996.

This senior garda officer was unable to explain why the gardaí had not sought to interview O'Callaghan about the Corcoran murder* while he (O'Callaghan) was in jail in the North from 1988 to 1996 . He claimed that the gardaí had been trying to contact O'Callaghan since his release from jail , in late 1996.

The senior garda officer was also unable to explain why the gardaí had not even telephoned O'Callaghan since then , apart from claiming that the gardaí did not have O'Callaghan's telephone number in Britain ! But O'Callaghan's mobile-phone number in the UK has been widely available to journalists in the last several months , and he has been readily available for newspaper , radio and television interviews since his release from jail a year ago.......
(MORE LATER).

TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.......
From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.

During the Portlaoise hunger-strike in the Free State - which ended after 47 days on Good Friday 1977 - the ICTU executive issued a statement calling upon the Fine Gael and Labour coalition administration to agree to a just settlement of the protest by conceding the prisoners their demands and the ICTU itself, through some of its executive members , was also active in pressing behind the scenes for a settlement.

The hunger-strikers had been protesting against constant harassment by warders and gardaí - including unnecessary strip-searches - and what they considered to be the authorities' efforts to claw back on original concessions made to the political prisoners when they were detained in Mountjoy prison, Dublin , in 1973. These prisoners have enjoyed the demands sought by the present H-Block hunger-strikers since 1973.......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, February 13, 2010

TWO FUNCTIONS IN DUBLIN , ONE OBJECTIVE :
TO SUPPORT , STRENGTHEN AND EXPAND IRISH REPUBLICANISM.

This weekend ,in a venue on the Dublin/Kildare border , the monthly raffle will be held , at which over 600 tickets will be sold and over €400 in prize money will be won : the profit made from this raffle , which has been held on a monthly basis since the late 1970's , will go to the CABHAIR POW support group and, as usual , no expenses and/or admin fees etc will be deducted.

Monthly raffle prizes.

Over the 20-odd years that this raffle has been held , it's not only the prize-money and amount of tickets which have been changed (both increased , incidentally!) but the method by which it is actually held ; from this -

Blank result sheets and carbon paper.....

- to this :

...the electronic version of carbon paper , as used by one of the young helpers at the monthly raffle!

The result sheets are still now duplicated and filled-in with sheets of carbon paper between them but , for the most part , laptops and mobile phones are employed to spread the news of the results , practically within seconds of each of the eight winners becoming known! Such is 'progress'(?).......

And the second fund-raiser :

Although there are other 'projects' in the pipeline , the 'Big One' in Dublin will undoubtedly be the Hunger-Striker Commemorative Function which , as shown in that link , will be held on Saturday 8th May 2010 in the 79'r pub in Ballyfermot.

Hunger-Striker Commemorative Function , Saturday 8th May 2010, Dublin.

Tickets for the May 8th function are available from the usual Republican sources and outlets , €5 each, and are selling very fast. It is a mark of the political and professional competence of those behind both of these functions (and other such Republican events) that ,despite the financial recession and State harassment ,they are not only able to organise and hold such functions but that they can make a profit for the Republican Movement , in doing so. They are to be congratulated and admired for doing so , yet all they ask in return is a date and venue for the next meeting at which future gigs will be organised. Unsung Heroes , for sure!
Thanks!
Sharon.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....

" Britain had simultaneously been found in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights for the seven-day detention powers in the 'Prevention of Terrorism Act', giving her the worst record on Human Rights in Europe with 21 violations since 1950. Pleading "a state of emergency threatening the life of the nation" , they derogated from the European Treaty as they did with internment in the Occupied Six Counties from 1971 to 1975.

Did this not influence the decision on extradition in Leinster House ? Not in the slightest , for the Dublin administration's own Emergency Provisions Act (1976) also provides for seven-day detention without trial and, as the British would not be slow in pointing out to their clients in Dublin , how can the kettle call the pot black ?

It is the legacy of two failed political entities in this partitioned island , north and south, that makes it impossible to rule in either area without continual breaches of human rights. In the 26-County state this collaboration with British rule has far-reaching effects on the lives of ordinary people....."
(MORE LATER).

BETRAYAL.......
The (State) Gardaí used John Corcoran (pictured) as a (P)IRA informer. They allowed him to be killed by another (P)IRA informer, and have since refused to investigate his murder*.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, Christmas Annual 1997.
By Ursula Halligan and Vincent Browne.
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)

When controversy arose earlier this year over Séan O' Callaghan's role in the murder* of John Corcoran and the garda failure to question O'Callaghan in connection with the incident , the then Leinster House opposition Fianna Fáil spokesman on justice , John O' Donoghue, promised to have the matter "fully investigated" on the party's return to power.

In a statement issued to 'Magill' magazine on Monday December 8th 1997 , the (State) Department of Justice stated - "Within weeks of coming into office , the minister [John O' Donoghue] sought a full report on all aspects of the O'Callaghan case from the garda authorities . As of yet he is awaiting that report . He [O'Donoghue] understands that the report is imminent."

The claim that the report into this affair is "imminent" is surprising , given that Séan O' Callaghan confirmed to 'Magill' magazine on the previous day (Sunday December 7th 1997) that he had not been interviewed by gardaí or by anybody else in connection with the murder* of John Corcoran and that no attempt had been made by the gardaí to even contact him.......
(MORE LATER).

TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.......
From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.

Brian Maguire died in RUC custody after a strenuous interrogation which his friends and family allege involved repeated semi-strangulation . The RUC attempted to suggest that Brian Maguire hanged himself from a ventilation grille in his detention cell but previous victims of the seven-day detention orders in Castlereagh observed that the grilles in question were inaccessible - being some 12ft from the floor - and anyhow, the grilles were of a size which did not permit anything being tied to them.

Most Irish people , and trade unionists in particular, believe that Brian Maguire was murdered by the RUC Special Branch ; he 'missed' his place on the conveyor belt system which leads from Castlereagh into the H-Blocks . His death gave a new urgency to the anti-repression struggle and provided fresh impetus for trade union involvement in the prison issue.......
(MORE LATER).

Sunday, February 07, 2010

TIME IS ON THE SIDE OF NA FIANNA ÉIREANN !

The NFÉ fund-raiser , held last night (and this morning!) [Sat/Sun 6th/7th Feb 2010] in the 79'r pub in Ballyfermot was more of a success than the organisers were prepared for : extra chairs had to 'borrowed' (!) from the downstairs bar (and smuggled up as best as possible - extra headache for the RSF bouncers!) and 'extra' stage entertainment had been organised , a fact which the local organising committee kept secret as they knew they had more than the fill of the place as it was, from local people and, as such , there was no point in advertising the 'extras' any further afield , as there simply wouldn't have been space available for an influx of 'outsiders'!

Chris Carney.

Pato and Paddy.

Peter Kerins and Friends.

Crowd scene-at the start of the night!

As well as the ever-brilliant Pato Cullen , Peter Kerins and Friends were on stage for about an hour , as were Bruscar , Celtic Wing , Paddy Kennedy ('The Lonesome Whistler'!) and - sly dogs that they are for keeping this one 'under wraps' - the unbelievable Chris Carney, who again stunned all in the venue and even had the bar staff out on the floor , from behind the counter, to get a better vantage point.
Actually , at one point , I thought that the inclusion of Chris was going to lead to a fist fight between the local RSF crew and those from nearby areas , as the latter were heard loudly proclaiming , in earshot of the former, that , had they known that Chris was on the bill , they would have insisted that the entrance fee be ten Euro , not five !

5 of the 12 raffle prizes.

As well as that massive line-up on stage , the organisers had secured 12 items for the raffle : 2 bodhróns , 1 framed 'Celtic Champions'-etched mirror , 1 'Seán South/Seán Glynn' wood print , 1 Mayo Hunger-Strikers CD , 1 framed 'Irish Freedom Fighters'-etched mirror , 2 republican-themed wall clocks , 1 framed Bobby Sands-etched mirror ,1 'Republican Resistance' framed wood burn , 1 'Political Status For Political Prisoners' framed wood burn and 1 bottle of 'Highland Park' whiskey. All items were won and claimed on the night , with three of them sold immediately by their 'new owner' and the money donated to Na Fianna Éireann - a surprising and wecomed extra 'gift' , gratefully received by the NFE reps present , one of whom - in full uniform - delivered a powerful and well-received statement from the stage in which he confirmed that the Na Fianna Éireann organisation would continue to do as it had done over the 101 years since its formation - '...to give its support to true and sincere republicans accepting , like them , no compromises..' .

Pics of some of the rest of the prizes on the night ...

'Bobby Sands' mirror.

'Irish Freedom Fighters' mirror.

'Continuity' wall clock.

Framed POW's Portlaoise/Maghaberry wood print.

...and finally : a few words about an up-coming gig that will be held in the 79'r pub on Saturday May 8th 2010 - a Commemorative 'Bobby Sands Ballad Session' , featuring , amongst others , The Beermats, Pato Cullen and Paddy Sweeney, to remember the sacrifice of the 22 Irish Republicans that have died on hunger-strike between 1917 and 1981 ,for the Cause of Irish Freedom , has been organised by Republican Sinn Féin Poblachtach. Doors will open at 8.30pm , admission per person will be €5 and a "Monster Raffle" will be held on the night. We will publish more details about this event between now and then -

A Commemorative Hunger-Striker Ballad Session , for all 22 Irish Republican hunger strikers who died between 1917 and 1981 , will be held in the 79'r pub in Ballyfermot , Dublin , on Saturday 8th May 2010. More details later...

- thanks for reading!
Sharon.