1169 And Counting.....

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

AN EXPERIMENT IN JAMES STREET : THE DEATH OF NIALL RUSH.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1984.
By Derek Dunne.

It was coming up to eight o'clock on the morning of Monday May 28th. At 23 Iona Road , John Kennedy was on the point of leaving for work , making van deliveries across the city and into the country. Shortly before he left the house he went into Niall Rush's bedroom to call him. Niall mumbled something to John , fell back to sleep.

About two hours later , he was woken up by Shay O' Brien , a friend of his who called to the house. Shay went down to boil the kettle , make some tea. Niall and Shay sat in the kitchen , had tea and toast , and discussed what they were going to do over the long weekend coming up. Shay was going to Kerry , other people in the house were thinking about going to Donegal , but Niall was undecided. He still had five days to make up his mind. The next five days he planned to spend in the 'Institute of Clinical Pharmacology' in James Street , Dublin.

Around 11.30am , the two left the house to walk into town . Niall was expecting to meet some Spanish students in Bewleys Cafe and talked about going to Burton Hall in Stillorgan , Dublin , meeting Joe Claffey in White Cross Clinic on the way back and made an arrangement to meet Shay in Bowe's Pub in Fleet Street in the city centre at about 5pm.

He then headed-off for Burton Hall in Stillorgan.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

Peter Berry was incensed by the failure of one of his former (State) Ministers , Brian Lenihan, to accept ministerial responsibility for a decision about the disposition of the Secret Service Fund which was to cause uproar in the Dail (Leinster House) in November 1968. He was also gravely disillusioned by the handling of the arms crisis, at all its stages and , finally, he was dismayed that the (State) Government failed to provide him with the recompense for his premature retirement , which he himself precipitated to ease the pressure on the Government over a kidnap plot which involved him.

Mr Berry's stature as a public servant is not in doubt. (State) President de Valera once referred to him as "an outstandingly fine person". Desmond O'Malley, when (State) Minister for Justice , repeatedly expressed his and the (State) Government's admiration and appreciation for his contribution to the State. In the Dail (Leinster House) on May 9th , 1970, Jack Lynch paid public tribute to his service. His original intention was to retire in January 1970 but he was prevailed upon to continue in office . He made known his fixed intention to retire in July 1970 and reiterated this when the kidnap plot was uncovered in November 1970 but, even then, Jack Lynch attempted to prevail on him not to go but Berry's disillusionment by then had run too deep.

While the narrative on the arms crisis is done in chronological order, his papers on his earlier career are diffused. He had only begun to work on this part of his life story when he died suddenly of a heart attack on December 14th, 1978.......
(MORE LATER).

'LANDLORD' ISSUE TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY PRICES IN 26-COUNTY STATE ?

The main supplier of electricity to houses and business premises in this State , the 'ESB', may soon be increasing its prices - apart from this already-announced 1st October 2010 increase - due to its own administrative incompetence in relation to where its approximate 50,000 substations are built.

Most , if not all, of those substations are built on land not 'owned' by the ESB - five such parcels of land with ESB substations on them are 'owned' by a firm of Dublin solicitors who recently found themselves in the State Circuit Court to answer a case brought against them regarding rent issues by the ESB .

As far as this blog understands ,the ESB took the case in order to , as it thought , 'clear the air' regarding it having to pay rent to the 'owners' for the land or , if instructed by those 'owners' to do so , that it would not be legally obliged to remove its equipment from that parcel of land - if the ESB had got a 'ruling' to that affect it could have used same as a precedent in case any of the 'owners' of the other approximate 50,000 parcels of land got 'uppity' re not having the use of , or proper access to , 'their' land.

The ESB , a semi-State organisation, attempted, we believe, to use 'the Landlords and Tenants Act' to obtain a ruling that it did not 'owe rent' for the land and that it could not be placed under an obligation to remove the substation structure/building if told by the 'owners' to do so - but it lost the case.

The State Court decided that the ESB substation should be classed as 'machinery' which was , in this instance, (stored/kept/housed ?) on land on which rent could be charged , if the 'owners' so decided or , again, depending on the 'owners' - land which could be cleared of that which presently occupies it. The owners of that parcel of land have since begun legal cases in relation to the other ESB substation-landparcels it also 'owns'.

This blog believes that the ESB has appealed to the State High Court in relation to that State Circuit Court decision and we have been told by a 'Legal Eagle' friend of ours that the 'landowners' ".....appear to be on safe ground.." (pardon the pun!) re any 'pay rent/vacate the site' instruction from the 'landowners' : if our friend is correct , and the State High Court supports the decision made by the State Circuit Court , then the ESB will either have to pay rent (and 'back money' ?) on possibly all fifty-odd thousand sites or move its equipment - either way , it's more than likely that the expense incurred by either option will not be paid for out of whatever savings or profits it has ; instead , that cost will be borne by its customers.

If we hear more - before or after your next ESB bill arrives in the post - we'll let you know.......

AND FINALLY.......

.......two Republican events taking place this Sunday , 12th September 2010 ,and one postponed event.....

a 1798 Remembrance Day will be held at the Fordtown Memorial Site in County Meath ; those attending are asked to assemble in Fordtown at 3pm. More information regarding this Commemoration can be had by 'phoning 086-7326922.

Republican Sinn Féin in Dublin will be holding one of these in a Dublin hotel - over 600 tickets have been sold already , and about 50 more will be sold between now and Sunday 12th September next.

Due to a double-booking in the 79'r Pub in Ballyfermot , Dublin , the advertised Ballad Session which was to be held on Saturday 25th September 2010 has been postponed untill Saturday 16th October 2010 ; other than the change of date , all details are as were ie group , admission price , raffle etc.

....AND one event to be held on Monday 13th September 2010 -

The Annual Bobby Sands Lecture will be held on that Monday at 7pm in Wynns Hotel , Abbey Street , in Dublin , at which the main address will be delivered by Republican Sinn Féin Poblachtach President , Des Dalton. All Welcome , no admission charge.
Thanks!
Sharon.

Thursday, September 02, 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 coming year we must present to the whole Irish people our framework of a federation of the four provinces of Ireland - in a post British withdrawal situation - with maximum devolution of power and decision-making to local level , with the complete separation of church and state and the building of a pluralist society and with neutrality and non-alignment in foreign affairs as the best hope for all the people of this island.

This requires massive political and structural change on both sides of the Border in order that all of us may escape from the political strait-jacket North and South designed for us in the Westminster parliament and imposed on us by the English ruling class to our detriment. Such a solution remains our only hope of growing and developing naturally as a people and enjoying our cultural heritage. God speed the day !

Having set ourselves these tasks we should remember that the noblest ideals of each generation shall prevail. Let us move forward to the future and let us not demean the noble sacrifices of the past and present for the cause of 'long-down trodden man'. Sinn Fein Abú ! "

[END of 'Presidential Address'.]
(NEXT : 'An Experiment In James Street - The Death Of Niall Rush' , from 1984.)

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS. The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

Peter Berry was one of the State's most outstanding civil servants. He served in the (State) Department of Justice for 44 years , ten of them as Secretary and all but the first 8 years as co-ordinator of the State's security operations.

His memory was prodigious - he had a capacity for instant recall of incidents and precedents of decades previously. Both because of his remarkable memory and the critical nature of the role he performed for such a long period , Mr Berry's memoirs are of exceptional interest.

He wrote these papers mostly during his retirement , typing all of them himself and relying on his diaries and personal notes which he had assembled over the years. He intended initially that these would be published during his lifetime but later on he decided to leave his papers for posterity. His sharp sense of propriety was offended by the treatment he suffered in his last years in the civil service and by the failure of the (State) Government to meet a promise it made to him on his retirement.......
(MORE LATER).

WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE......

Like all career politicians - whether serving time in Leinster House 'till their pension for life comes through or living in Dublin and 'travelling' to work (sic) from Cork - Provisional Sinn Féin are no better or worse than the rest of them.
In May last year , Adams and Mcguinness had a friendly 'meet and greet' meeting with the UK Israeli Ambassador , Ron Prosor, at which , between pleasantries , 'trade matters' were discussed......

....whilst , at the same time , PSF members and supporters were condemning Israel for their continuing slaughter of the Palestinians.

Israel's Zion Evrony asked Adams to condemn his own Party , PSF , for holding protests re his visit to a town in County Monaghan - Adams refused, but this is the same Party leader who had morally contorted himself to 'meet and greet' one Israeli Ambassador and then he, and his Party , went on to compare another Israeli Ambassador to Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister - then , apparently forgetting that he had already met and shook hands with one representative of the Israeli Government , Adams called for another such representative to be expelled - "Ireland needs to send out a clear message to the Israeli government. This behaviour is unacceptable. Summoning the ambassador to talks is not enough. We asked the Government that he be expelled from Ireland."

As we said , Provisional Sinn Féin are no better or worse at this political chichancery than their colleagues in , amongst other such 'establishment' institutions , Leinster House but , unlike their colleagues, they are still trying to 'trade' as the 'outsiders/rebels' of the Irish political field: they're not. They are career-driven opportunists, willing to jump ship if they think a different 'vessel' can offer them a quicker voyage to a full-time political career.

PSF are the same as any other pro-establishment political party , as far as republicanism is concerned , and deserve to be treated with the same contempt.

Wednesday, August 25, 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.....

" To help prosecute the case of the frame-ups of the Birmingham Six by the British injustice system would call into question his (Charles Haughey) political extradition policy to that same system and , despite long meetings with the British, he will accept plastic bullets not alone for the RUC but also for the UDR because he is tied into the same system of oppression.

He has also stood over the collusion by these forces with loyalist death squads, who have killed over 700 Catholics in the past 20 years , by his handing over of security files that find their way as a matter of British policy into loyalist hands.

It is up to Republicans to dismantle the Dublin administration and SDLP scenario of a reformable RUC and a reformable Six County state. Their attempts to construct such a scenario are doomed but the longer they persist in this delusion the more they contribute to the toll of suffering and death......"

(MORE LATER).

MURDERER* , LIAR , OR BOTH.......?
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)
From 'MAGILL' magazine, December 1997. By Ursula Halligan.

Before he handed himself over to the British police in 1988 , Seán O'Callaghan gave an interview to 'The Kerryman' newspaper, where he revealed his role in Corcoran's murder* .

He was charged with the murder* of the two RUC men in the North of Ireland and sentenced to a jail sentence of over 500 (five-hundred) years in total , but was released just eight years later and has since been feted as an anti-IRA 'hero' by 'The Sunday Times' , 'The Sunday Independent' and Conor Cruise O'Brien.

Since his emergence as an anti-IRA propagandist , he has repeatedly sought to disguise his part in the murder* of John Corcoran , at a time when he was allegedly engaged in a covert campaign to prevent the IRA from killing people.

He recently participated in a 'Friends Of The Union' conference , organised by the Tory 'peer' Viscount Cranborne and attended by leading unionist politicians, including David Trimble and the 'Rev' Ian Paisley.

[END of 'MURDERER , LIAR , OR BOTH?'.]
(Next - 'The Peter Berry Papers' , from 1980.)

"TO SHOCK AND STUN THE CIVILIAN POPULATION...."
Internment - indefinite imprisonment without trial - was reintroduced into the North of Ireland on August 9 1971 at 4am. Three hundred and forty people were dragged out of their houses across the Greater Ballymurphy area of west Belfast, many of whom would not be released for years. Hundreds of homes were wrecked in the process and the entire community was effectively terrorised by the British Army.

Later that day, as the full horror of what had just taken place began to sink in, loyalists from the neighbouring Springmartin estate began to form into a crowd to taunt their nationalist neighbours across the road in Springfield Park, shouting slogans such as "Where's your daddy?"

John Teggart, the son of Belfast local Danny Teggart , picks up the story : "The crowd in Springmartin, as the night went on, grew to maybe 400. They had been stoning the houses that back onto Springfield Park and a lot of anxiety was building up," he explains.

"At the top end, most of the houses were getting wrecked and stoned, so people had moved out down to the lower end of the park. A man named Bobby Clarke suggested moving out of the area altogether and started to evacuate the youngest first. He went out on his own across the field with an 18-month-old baby and brought her over to Moyard Park. As he was returning a soldier from the Parachute Regiment shot him in the back. Friar Hugh Mullen then phoned the army and told them there was a wounded man on the field and asked their soldiers to stop shooting. He then left the house and, waving a white cloth, went out onto the field to issue the last rites to Bobby. Bobby said he wasn't dying, so Friar Mullen went back towards his house to phone the ambulance, still waving the white cloth. That was when he was shot.

A young man named Frank Quinn then ran onto the field to help and met a barrage of bullets. He did a heroic act helping his neighbours and he was shot in the back of the head.
At the same time as this was going on, my daddy and several other people were down the road near the army barracks.
All of a sudden the paratroopers came out of the main gates of the barracks and started firing at anybody, anybody at all. A young man called Noel Philips was wounded, fell and screamed out. A woman named Mrs Connolly went to help but when she got to him she was shot in the face. The whole left-hand side of her face was taken off with the force of the bullet.

My daddy was wounded in the leg initially according to eyewitness accounts. He was then shot 14 times whilst he lay out in the open, from a distance of less than 50 yards. They also shot an 11-year-old boy in the groin.

The soldiers then came out of the barracks in a Saracen (armoured truck) and two soldiers got out, one with an SLR, one with a handgun. The one with the handgun walked up to Noel Philips, who was lying on the field wounded, and executed him with a bullet behind each ear.

I can say these things with confidence because we have seen the autopsy and there was a 9mm bullet in him from a Browning pistol. This is from experts. And our eyewitness accounts back this up.

Then there was Joan Connolly. One of the soldiers went round the side of the house and claimed later that he found a woman who was obviously dead. It was later found out that she hadn't been shot once, but four times - in the belly, in the shoulder and the thigh, as well as in the face. The other soldier grabbed a man called Gerald Russell from where he was injured behind a pillar and just started shooting him at point-blank range with the rifle. He was shot four times. Then they started piling the bodies into the Saracen, both dead and wounded.

Joseph Murphy, who had been shot in the leg, was taken in and repeatedly beaten. He died a week later. Because the injuries he received during the beating were so bad, he couldn't be operated on. He died from gangrene. The whole of his body was completely black from where he was bruised and he told his wife on his death bed that they shot rubber bullets into his wound as well.

Davy Callaghan, an ex-navy man, was also taken out of the Saracen. There was a gauntlet of paratroopers waiting for him. He was taken out and held on the ground whilst they took it in turns to kick him severely between his legs. He ended up in hospital with a cage round his lower body.

Gerald Russell was taken into a room, where he was beaten repeatedly and hit with rifle butts. They actually put the rifle muzzle into one of his wounds and picked him up with it. They then jumped off the bed repeatedly onto him. This was a man wounded four times. He said while he was there, there was a naked man, thrown onto the floor beside him. He says this man was obviously dead or dying. We believe it was Danny Teggart, my daddy. He said what they did to him, bouncing off the beds, they did to my daddy as well. The dead and the wounded were both beaten.

Six people in the space of around half an hour or an hour were murdered by the paratroopers."

In the two days that followed, another five were killed or were later to die from their wounds - four after being shot and one from a massive heart attack after being subjected to a mock execution.

None of the deaths was ever properly investigated. British Military police interviewed their colleagues in the days that followed and those statements were taken at face value by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Those killed were all said to be gunmen.

"From their interviews there are total discrepancies," says Teggart, "they said that Mrs Connolly (a 45-year-old mother of eight) was a superwoman, that after dropping her gun she jumped over their heads with a submachine gun and starting firing again. They said she used at least two firearms to shoot them."

In a pattern starting to become depressingly familiar, those reports were then reported as fact in the media. Nor has the official story of events been changed to this day. "The only way it's going to change is through the likes of what we're doing with the campaign. Our goal is an independent international investigation, independent of the state. The evidence is there that this was murder, this was a war crime. There were 14 people killed less than six months later in Bloody Sunday by the same soldiers, the same regiment - 1 Para. If Ballymurphy had been dealt with, Bloody Sunday could never have happened."

The campaign has made progress in recent months and now has the full support of both nationalist parties as well as the foreign minister of the Dail (sic) . They are also due to meet the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (sic) next month. But perhaps most importantly, the campaign has received important new evidence from the Catholic church.

"They came up with some archives that hadn't been seen before - including a report and witness statements," says Teggart, "one of those reports says that you could indict the paratroopers in Springmartin for shooting dead Frank Quinn."

The Saville inquiry has also boosted the families' confidence and actually recommended that the Ballymurphy killings be investigated.

"You have to remember that Bloody Sunday wasn't an isolated incident. They had already killed 11 people in Ballymurphy before going on to kill 14 in Derry. They then went on to kill five people - three teenagers, the father of the boy shot in the field the previous year and another Catholic priest. This was in May, less than a year later, in the same area just yards from where John McKerr was murdered near the church.

You would think that every murder should be investigated. But if your loved ones are murdered by the state it's an uphill struggle. You have to almost prove what happened before you even get any investigation, and that's the struggle we're involved in at the moment."
(From here.)

...and 'that's the struggle that Irish Republicans are involved in at the moment' , too : in order to ensure that no more 'Ballymurphy Massacre' and/or 'Bloody Sunday' atrocities are visited on us , we are determined to seek the only guaranteed solution - that of a complete British military and political withdrawal from Ireland and , unlike others , we will not compromise on that objective.

Wednesday, August 18, 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 20 years since 1969 the Dublin administration has been drawn into the British war machine to the position since the 1985 Hillsborough Security Pact where it is now the main pillar of support for British rule in Ireland.

Two separate events within the last few months demonstrate where the politics of collaboration have led Mr Haughey: first , he refused last March to support the case being taken by the Birmingham Six to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg , then, in August , there was a deafening silence from him when 15-year-old Séamus Duffy was killed on the streets of Belfast by a plastic-bullet wielding terrorist in an RUC uniform.

To collaborate with British rule means accepting responsibility for its actions , and for Mr. Haughey apparently there is no limit to the amount of humiliation and suffering he will turn his back on , as long as it is suffered by other people, in their own country....."
(MORE LATER).

MURDERER* , LIAR , OR BOTH.......?
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)
From 'MAGILL' magazine, December 1997. By Ursula Halligan.

From IRA killer to friend of the 'union' : Seán O'Callaghan , from Tralee , County Kerry, joined the IRA in the early 1970's and was on active service in the North , where he took part in the murder* of two RUC members. In 1975, he became disillusioned with the IRA and left to live in England , but rejoined the IRA in 1979, this time as an undercover garda informer , allegedly determined to destroy the IRA from within.

Over the following six years, he leaked information that led to the capture of the IRA gun-running ship, the 'Marita Ann' , to the frustration of an alleged IRA attempt in 1983 to kill British 'Prince' Charles and 'Princess' Diana , and to the kidnapped Don Tidey. He either personally shot dead John Corcoran in 1985 or played a major part in his murder*.

Shortly afterwards , O'Callaghan left the IRA again and then , in 1988 , he handed himself over to the British police.......
(MORE LATER).

SOME UP-COMING REPUBLICAN EVENTS :

29TH ANNUAL HUNGER-STRIKE COMMEMORATION , BUNDORAN , COUNTY DONEGAL , 3 PM ,SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST 2010.
Speakers:
Des Dalton, RSF President,
Leo Martin, Belfast,
Bob Loughman, Emerald Society Police Band.

Chairperson:
Brendan Casey, Ballyshannon.

Bands:
Pride of Eirn,Portadown.
Glens of Antrim Accordion Band.
New York Emerald Society Police Band.
Glens of Antrim Pipe and Drum Band.
Kevin Lynch Flute Band, Dungiven.
Piper from the Glen.

Functions:
Friday 27th 9:00pm Upstairs in the Emerald Bar Bundoran,
music by Póg Mo Thóin, Derry.

Saturday 28th 9:00pm Upstairs in the Emerald Bar, Bundoran,
music by Olta,Lurgan.

Raffle: Saturday 28th at the Function ; prizes on offer -
1st Bronze H-Block Martyrs Plaque,
2nd H-Block Martyrs Mirror.
3rd H-Block Martyrs Bodhron.
4th Irish Turf Celtic Cross.

PICKET FOR POLITICAL STATUS:
This will be held at the GPO in Dublin on Saturday 11th September 2010 from 12.45PM to 1.45PM.

1798 REMEMBRANCE DAY:
This will be held at the Fordtown Memorial Site in County Meath on Sunday 12th September 2010 - assemble in Fordtown at 3PM. For details 'phone 086-7326922.

ANNUAL BOBBY SANDS LECTURE:
This will be held on Monday 13th September 2010 at 7PM in Wynns Hotel in Abbey Street , Dublin. Free Admission, all welcome!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

It was put to Seán O' Callaghan that a senior garda source had said that they were unable to contact him and that he was not making himself available for questioning , but he denied that was the case , saying that there was no question about his availability to gardaí and that he was unaware of any attempt by them to talk to him - " If the gardaí want to talk to me , it's not a state secret. Any amount of people have my mobile-phone number," he said.

O'Callaghan has travelled from being an IRA killer to friend of the 'union'.......
(MORE LATER).

In the 12th in the 10 , the 34th will be held on the 25th...
(An explanation will be posted here in the near future...)

Thursday, August 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.....

" In the Leinster House election at the same time we stated in a leafletting blitz throughout the 26 counties that it was a failed institution that was not going to deliver any solutions to Ireland's problems. The first step towards revbuilding this country is the total withdrawal of British forces and administration from Ireland and a 32-county election for one national parliament. That remains our alternative to the Leinster House cul-de-sac.

Let us take the opportunity at this Ard-Fheis to publicly salute Irish Republican prisoners in Irish , British or other foreign jails. Some of them are now longer in jail than the Fenians in Victorian England , passing the fifteen-and-a-half years highwater mark endured by Tom Clarke, the 1916 signatory , in English jails. We pledge our support to you and extend solidarity greetings to all Basque , Corsican and Breton prisoners and all those imprisoned fighters for justice throughout the world.

It is proper for us also to acknowledge here the good work done in the last year by other branches of the Republican Movement : the women of Cumann na mBan, the youth of Na Fianna Éireann and the dedicated personnel of CABHAIR, the Irish Republican Prisoners' Dependants Fund. Each has a vital role to play in the Movement and all of them have a call on our time , energy and resources. There is a place for every contribution and a role for every person within our ranks....."
(MORE LATER).

MURDERER , LIAR , OR BOTH.......?
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)
From 'MAGILL' magazine, December 1997. By Ursula Halligan.

When asked why the gardaí did not intervene to save John Corcoran , Seán O' Callaghan said he never received an explanation. He said it was a "cock-up" and could have been avoided . His own theory is that the gardaí didn't take his warnings seriously , because they believed he could handle the situation on his own , as he had done previously in a similar situation involving another garda informer in Cork. He wouldn't say who that was.

" That's one explanation . The other is that they simply were not going to compromise me. The 'Marita Ann' ( a gun-running ship intercepted by gardaí in 1984) had happened and , if they rescued John Corcoran , then the finger of suspicion would point to me . I'm just guessing this . Someone , somewhere may have deemed that I was a million times more valuable , as an informer, than John Corcoran was to the gardaí..." , he said.
(MORE LATER).

CABHAIR : organising fund-raisers for the Republican prisoners and supporting them on the streets....
This weekend will , yet again, see the CABHAIR organisation hold another function for the POW's that it supports ; one of these will be held on Sunday 8th August 2010 in Dublin and , the day before that , in Belfast, a 'Political Status' march through the streets will be held , assembling at 1.30PM at Dunville Park and marching from there to Castle Street.

We on this blog are proud to be associated with such an organisation , and have met and befriended some of its many members and activists throughout this country , and from abroad. For the most part , it's an organisation that stays mostly 'off radar' , content to work away in the 'back-ground' , doing what it does best - helping to ensure that as much money as possible is available to the families of the Irish Republican prisoners which it supports.

It is maintaining the proud tradition of Irish Republicanism that it has always held , and is to commended for doing so.
Thanks!
Sharon.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

POW FUND-RAISER (and coffee!) IN THE 79'r , SAT 31st JULY 2010.

Hectic! Full house , busy , 'buzzing', noisey , sweaty , great 'craic' , great company - and a great Cause!

Practically standing-room only in the 79'r Pub in Ballyfermot , Dublin , last night , for the fund-raiser for the families of the CABHAIR-supported Irish Republican prisoners in Maghaberry and Portlaoise Prisons. Three musicians - Paddy Sweeney , Pato Cullen and Peter Kearns - kept the crowds entertained and on their feet with the Irish rebel songs which , between them , they delivered from the stage for well over three hours. The packed house was welcomed by one of the organisers at the start of the night ,and was given an update on the conditions endured by the POW's in Maghaberry : regular strip-searches, inhumane facilities re their toiletries requirements , 23-hour-a-day lock-ups , no gym or exercise yard access and constant harassment of visitors. A loud cheer was raised when it was mentioned from the stage that a protest march for the Prisoners will be held in Belfast next Saturday , 7th August 2010 (1.30pm , Dunville Park , and march to Castle Street) at which , amongst others , an ex-Blanketman will be delivering a speech. It was also mentioned that , next Sunday (8th August 2010) another CABHAIR-organised event , for which over 600 tickets have already been sold , will be held in Dublin.

Ten raffle prizes were offered , and won, on the night : a Bodhrón (pictured above) , two framed mirrors ('Bobby Sands/1981 Hunger-Strikers') three Republican books ('Between Comrades/James Connolly/Great Irish Speeches') a 16-inch by 12-inch GPO Print , 'Political Status' T-Shirt, a bottle of 'Jameson' Whiskey and - a top of the range Morphy-Richards 'Coffee Maker' machine , which was very kindly donated by Liam S.,whom,it is rumoured, used a similar liquid to keep himself awake in 1966 ;-) !

We include a few photographs of some of the crowd at this function , and the raffle prizes which ten of their number won on the night -

A section of the crowd in the 79'r Pub at the POW Fund-Raiser , Saturday 31st July 2010.

'Continuity Not Compromise' T-Shirt raffle prize.

Two of the three books won on the night , and......

....the third one.

16inch by 12inch GPO Print.

Two Irish Republican-themed mirrors.

A bottle of 'Jameson' whiskey , which should only be used in conjunction with.....

.....the Coffee Maker! This prize was donated on the night by a man who is very special to all who know of him...!

And finally -

- another view of some of those in attendance.

We had a fantastic night (and morning!) at yet another extremely well-organised CABHAIR event , at which a sizeable amount of money was raised and will be passed-on to the families of the Republican Prisoners which are supported by that organisation. Thanks to Frank , Robbie , Paddy E. , Pat and Barney and the crew for the Security work , Cathy and crew for the raffle ticket sales and to the staff and management of the Pub. And , again , to Liam S. for helping all of us - and the winner , in particular - to sober up afterwards!
Thanks!
Sharon.

Wednesday, July 28, 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.....

" We must prepare and organise in all Six Counties to oppose publicly any effort to swallow such a British oath for a future Stormont which would belittle and degrade the Republican cause. Likewise we must oppose any attempt to participate in yet another 'New Stormont' or the Westminster Parliament itself, in the name of Ireland and Irish Republicanism. This is our Republican duty and we must fulfill it at all costs.

In the European election in June last we took a vigorous stand on the undemocratic nature of the emerging superpower that has not only impoverished our people since 1972, as admitted most recently by the 'National Economic and Social Council' report , but is also imposing extradition and other edicts from Brussels and is sucking us into the political wing of NATO. The only proper protest was to refuse to vote for any candidate and thereby say no to a European Imperialist Superpower......."

(MORE LATER).

MURDERER , LIAR , OR BOTH.......?
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)
From 'MAGILL' magazine, December 1997. By Ursula Halligan.

Sean O'Callaghan said that, to the best of his knowledge, John Corcoran did leave a message for his family on the tape used by the IRA to record his confession and that he said he loved his family. O'Callaghan said he gave instructions for this tape to be sent to Mrs Corcoran and was told it had been sent , and that he can't understand why she never received it.

Asked if Mrs Corcoran deserved a better response to her questions , O'Callaghan said - "The description of how he [John Corcoran] was killed is true in most of the specifics. I'm just not confirming or denying that it was me that murdered* him. But , what I'm absolutely sure about is that I did absolutely everything I could do to save his life."

O'Callaghan insisted that he warned his garda handler several times that John Corcoran's life was in danger and pleaded for an intervention by them. He said he contacted his handler on several occasions and even gave him the exact location where Corcoran was being held. He said the response was : "Okay , okay, we're working on it. We'll handle it." After the murder* , he said that he was unhappy and upset with his handler and that their relationship was never the same. He said the handler told him to "...put these things out of his mind.."
(MORE LATER).

Renowned political right-winger and the man ultimately responsible for the 2006 'Love Ulster' Loyalist/ UVF / Combat 18 Dublin riots, Michael McDowell (pictured) has, once again, shown his true colours : he has called for an 'Official Holiday' to be held each year on July 12th , the main 'Marching Day' of his politically like-minded colleagues in the 'Orange Order' !

Mr McDowell would appear to be in some 'I-Love-The-Brits-More-Than-You-Do' - competition or other with this 'Irish Royal' (pictured with UDA leader , Jackie McDonald) who has recently called for praise to be heaped on the occupying forces in the North-East of Ireland....

Those two people are mere representations of many in Ireland who would happily deny their own nationhood and its values for a place at, or under, the 'establishment' - any 'establishment' - table , from where those they admire can sneeringly point at them and declare them to be 'our type' of preferred 'subject'.

This wee , insignificant blog takes this opportunity to those of our readers who mistakingly believe that the above actions are common to all Irish people - that is most certainly not the case : that despicable and disgusting point-of-view is only held here by those who have always been morally lost and politically bankrupt and should not be mistaken for 'the voice of the Irish'. We am embarrassed and ashamed for them.

AND FINALLY....

- I'm off now to organise a trip to the hairdressers , so as I can get my hair done in order that I can 'let it down' for this!
If you can make it - I would appreciate if you didn't comment , publicly (!) , on the state of my hair. Or on the state of the rest of me...!
Thanks!
Sharon.

Wednesday, July 21, 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 event our 23 candidates in ten local government districts were refused nomination and debarred from standing , thus disenfranchising thousands of voters. Many symbolically burned their papers on the steps of Council buildings and called on Republicans not to vote in a sham election.

We pointed out then , and I repeat here today , that elected councillors in the Six Counties who in 1985 declared their "undivided allegiance" to the Irish Republic of 1916 and 1919, in 1989 publicly repudiated the Republican Movement and accepted the criminalisation of the freedom struggle by taking the political test oath.

Sinn Féin Poblachtach succeeded in getting the support of Newry and Mourne District Council in opposing the oath , and we conducted a Six County-wide leafletting drive to explain our position to Nationalist and Republican voters and the widespread withdrawal of support for those who swallowed the political test oath in the polls on May 18th , particularly in areas West of the Bann , indicated that our advice not to vote was taken by thousands of Republicans....... "
(MORE LATER).

MURDERER , LIAR , OR BOTH.......?
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)
From 'MAGILL' magazine, December 1997. By Ursula Halligan.

Seán O'Callaghan said that John Corcoran was shot at approximately 5pm on Friday 22nd March 1995 , in a field outside a farmhouse in Milltown , County Kerry , where he had been brought the night before.

He would not confirm his previous stories that he was present at the time of the murder*. All he would say was that he spoke to John Corcoran on the day he died and that Corcoran was very calm. He also said that he had nothing to do with the dumping of the body and that this was handled by two local IRA men . He sais Mrs Corcoran could be sure of a number of things -

" What she knows for sure is that the IRA murdered* her husband (and) that I would have been in a position to know 95 per-cent of the facts surrounding the entire business. If she wants to talk to me in May when the book comes out , I will be pleased to talk to her......."
(MORE LATER).

ON SATURDAY , 7th AUGUST 2010 , A MARCH FOR POLITICAL STATUS FOR IRISH REPUBLICAN PRISONERS WILL BE HELD IN BELFAST. Those attending are asked to assemble at Dunville Park
at 1.30pm , from where the parade will leave for Castle Street. Amongst those who will address the gathering will be POW's who spent time on the Blanket Protest.
ALL WELCOME!

LIDL SUPERMARKET CHAIN - TEN YEARS WHERE...?

For the past week or more , Lidl Supermarket have been advertising the fact that tomorrow (Thursday 22nd July 2010) marks their tenth anniversary in this State. We here at this blog are surprised that Lidl know where they are, and we are still waiting for a reply to a query we put to them more than one year ago. And, apparently , they still don't know what country they are in although , so it seems , they know where their employees are.
Perhaps in the next ten years we'll get a reply from them....

Wednesday, July 14, 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.....

" We are not afraid of the facts. Nor are we afraid of open debate about these facts - the full story of what Sinn Féin Poblachtach stands for and stood for over the years. The very reluctance of our opponents to engage in such debate , the ongoing mis-representation and black propaganda is proof , if proof were needed , that the attempt to cloud the real issues , the core values of Irish Republicanism , is not exactly an accident. Cuirimís chuige más ea.

In the Six Counties our organisation , in line with policy decided at last year's Ard-Fheis , geared itself up early this year to contest the local elections in May . What the political test oath for candidates in that election meant was spelled out clearly by us in our Easter statement - we had no intention of disowning publicly the Irish Republican Army , Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna Éireann , neither were we going to deny the right common to all people to use armed struggle as a last resort in striving to free their country from foreign invasion , occupation , oppression and exploitation.

Our candidates pledged to expose Mrs Thatcher's restrictions on free elections and deny the British an opportunity to tell the world that 100% of candidates swallowed her politically restrictive oath. With the election slogan 'For the Voice of True Republicanism , Vote Sinn Féin Poblachtach' , our manifesto promised to work for the restoration of Irish democracy and an end to British interference....."
(MORE LATER).

MURDERER , LIAR , OR BOTH........?
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)
From 'MAGILL' magazine, December 1997. By Ursula Halligan.

Seán O' Callaghan said John Corcoran was used by the IRA for low-level activity , such as driving IRA members around Cork. He described him as a weak man who crumbled when he was interrogated by the IRA and that , within three minutes of first meeting him he knew instinctively that Corcoran was working for the gardaí -

" He was in danger for a long time. He was always looking for information. He was under pressure to come up with stuff." O'Callaghan said that, in the last weeks of his life, Corcoran had been "....monitoring his movements ..." and was trying to contact him with a "...story.." . O'Callaghan said a 'belfast guy' from the IRA , the head of internal security, was sent to Cork to carry out an investigation into a number of matters.

After meeting Corcoran , claimed O'Callaghan, the 'belfast guy' was immediately suspicious and asked O'Callaghan what was going on ? O'Callaghan said Corcoran's luck ran out shortly afterwards , when he dropped a colleague of the 'Belfast guy' at a house that was subsequently raided by the gardaí. O'Callaghan said that raid directly triggered Corcoran's abduction by the IRA , and that it was senior figures in the IRA who ordered Corcoran's execution : " I was the person given the instruction to kill him by the Chief of Staff," O'Callaghan claimed.......
(MORE LATER).

PAT CANNON COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN - SATURDAY 17th JULY 2010.

Pat Cannon (left) and Peter McElchar.

On Saturday 17th July 1976, two IRA Volunteers on active service - Patrick Cannon from Dublin and Peter McElchar from Donegal - set out in a car in which they were transporting an explosive device. They crossed the border from Donegal into Tyrone and were approaching the town of Castlederg when the device exploded prematurely. It was about 2.15pm.
Peter McElchar was killed instantly. Patrick Cannon was gravely injured and was taken to Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh. He was being transferred to hospital in Belfast when he died....

The Patrick Cannon Commemoration will be held on Saturday , 17th July 2010 , at 11.30am ; the assembly point is at the old Cemetery gates. Bus number 42 from Dublin City Centre will get you there!

POW PICKET , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 17th JULY 2010.

POLITICAL STATUS PICKET , GPO , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 17th JULY 2010, 12.45pm to 1.45pm. All Welcome!
Thanks!
Sharon.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

UPDATE re RSF Hunger-Strikers Commemoration , held in Dublin on Saturday 10th July 2010 :

The following speech was delivered on behalf of Ashleen McKenna, Lurgan, Co Armagh at the GPO in Dublin on Saturday July 10, 2010 , at the RSF Hunger-Strikers Commemoration. Ashleen, who has two brothers incarcerated in Maghaberry Jail, Co Antrim, was unable to travel to Dublin so her speech was read by Pádraig Ennis , Dublin -

"Over the past number of years republican prisoners have been subjected to physical and mental abuse at the hands of the prison wardens [screws] in Roe House, Maghaberry jail in Co Antrim which houses Republican prisoners [POWs].

The POWs have engaged in a number of protests to highlight the conditions in Maghaberry jail. The conditions in Maghaberry jail have led to a political protest, the abuses that the screws inflict on our men are political abuses and the only way to resolve this, is to take it head on in a political context. The tactics of the screws are to humiliate and criminalise the men but these efforts will fail as said by our comrade Bobby Sands “never will they label our liberation struggle as criminal” . Bobby Sands, a POW, stayed true to this statement and so will the POW’S in Maghaberry; they are not asking for much, just basic human rights as the conditions in Maghaberry are inhumane.

The screws treat the POWs with a hostile nature and on a daily basis the POWs are strip searched. This is just a tactic used by the screws to humiliate our men. Over the past year the screws have been actively violent towards the prisoners which has resulted in several POWs being assaulted. The prisoners are subjected to 23-hour lock down with only two meals a day which are served in disposable containers and slid along the floor to the prisoners.

The POWS are denied proper medical facilities; some prisoners have serious health problems and are not getting the medical treatment they need. The POWs domestic visits are stopped when they refuse to strip for the screws. The screws are also using their drug dogs to stop the POWs families from visiting.

This protest began on Easter Sunday of this year when the POWs took control of part of the jail which lasted 48 hours. Since this time the prisoners only get an hour of the day to exercise, phone home, wash their clothes and receive a legal visit. Initially when the protest began the POWs, as part of the protest, didn’t shave or cut their hair. However, because of the lack of response from the prison authorities on improving the conditions, the POWS had no option but to escalate their protest. Because they have no toilet facilities in their cells they commenced a dirty protest to dispose of their waste.

This is an absolute disgrace to expect our POWs to live in such conditions. We need as much help as we can get from the people on the outside to try to resolve this impasse as soon as possible. The conditions are seriously affecting the health of the men; their weight loss, due to lack of proper food and nourishment, is very worrying.

Our comrade Bobby Sands said: “Everyone, Republican or otherwise, has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small; no one is too old or too young to do something” .

We the families along with Republican Sinn Féin will continue the protests on the outside which will include pickets, marches and leaflet drops until the five demands of the POWs are met:

1. Right to free association
2. End controlled movement
3. Right to full time education
4. End to strip searching
5. Adequate medical facilities

POLITICAL STATUS NOW! VICTORY TO THE POWs!"
Ashleen McKenna, Lurgan, Co Armagh, 10th July 2010.

The following speech was delivered by Shane O'Toole at the RSF Hunger-Strikers Commemoration,Dublin, on Saturday 10th July 2010 -

"A Chairde,

It’s an honour for me to address you all here today, the Republican people of Ireland. Twenty nine years ago ten Irish soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of all the people of Ireland. One by one ten young Irish volunteers embarked an agonizing hunger strike to insure basic human rights and dignity of the right to political status for Republican Prisoners of War. These young Irish soldiers were imprisoned by an illegal force of occupation. They refused to allow Britain to criminalise Ireland’s historic eight-hundred-year fight for freedom.

After five long years on the blanket and dirty protest no real gains had been made towards restoring political status and the decision was made by the prisoners to go on hunger strike. On May 5, 1981 Bobby Sands died after sixty-six days on hunger strike. One hundred thousand people attended his funeral. Marches and demonstrations were held over the world in support of the Republican prisoners. The true face of British Rule in Ireland had been exposed to the world but still the British government refused the right to political status. It took the deaths of nine more Volunteers for political status to be restored.

Twenty-nine years on and the face of British Rule in Ireland has not changed, the only difference being they are now backed by their Provo puppets, who signed away the right to political status in yet another treaty of surrender. The Provos surrendered the weapons given to them for the freedom Ireland. They have sullied the memory of the ten brave men and all those who gave their lives for Irish freedom.

These former Republicans try to give the lie that there are no longer any political prisoners in Ireland. The fact is that as long as there is any British presence in Ireland there will always be those brave Irish men and women who will resist the occupation of our country, and therefore as long as Britain occupies any part of Ireland there will always be political prisoners in Ireland.

Today the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry face the same fight for political status inside a British prison in Ireland. The conditions inside Maghaberry have been deteriorating over the past few months and just like in 1981 the prisons are being used to try and break the spirit of Republican prisoners. They did not succeed then nor will they succeed today.

The spirit of the ten brave men lives on in the Republican prisoners today. After exhausting every other avenue the Republican prisoners have been forced into embarking on a dirty protest to try and bring to an end the inhuman conditions which they are being forced to live in. 1981 saw the deaths of ten Irish soldiers before political status was restored. We must ensure that these events never have to happen again to win back the Republican prisoners right to political status.

We, the true Republican people of Ireland, pledge our full support to the prisoners and their families and will continue to fight for political status. We uphold the right of the Irish people to take up arms against an illegal force of occupation, and we salute the men and women who will give the cutting edge in the fight to finally end the illegal occupation of Ireland.

Until every last British soldier has been driven from Irish soil and the Butchers Apron flies no more the war against the Brits can and must continue until freedom has been achieved, and the responsibility for any loss of life will lie firmly at the doorstep of the British government.

There are those who have tried to undermine the Republican Movement in recent times. These so called Republicans have disgraced themselves and have no place within Republicanism. After being overwhelmingly rejected at last years’ Ard Fheis, egos of certain people have been damaged and when positions of power they so desperately wanted had not gone their way. They resorted to doing the Brits dirty work, taking cheap shots and releasing statements with unfounded rubbish.

The Republican movement has enjoyed over 100 years of unbroken continuity and we will not allow the actions of these people to derail that. The attempts to normalise British rule in Ireland is in full flow and we have seen this with the announcement by the Free State administration that they are to bring the Queen of England on an official visit to the 26 County state. Republican Sinn Féin will vigorously oppose any visit to any part of Ireland by any British royal as long as Britain remains to occupy any part of our country. She is the head of the State that has oppressed and occupied our people for more than eight-hundred years. We call on all of the people of Ireland to fall in behind us in our opposition to this visit. Let us move forward and end partition and create a New Ireland, ÉIRE NUA, for all of its people so that future generations can live free and decide then our destiny, just as the men of 1916 fought and died for.

We follow on in the footsteps of Tone, Pearse and Sands and will stay true to the cause so many before us have so bravely given their lives for. We will not betray the memory of our fallen heroes.

We send a clear message to the Brits either signal your intent to leave Ireland for good or you will be met with the full force of the Republican movement and Ireland’s sons and daughters will drive you out.

Stay true to the cause of Irish freedom!!Victory to the POWs
An Phoblacht Abu ! "
Shane O'Toole, Saturday July 10th 2010.

Both speeches were followed by loud and sustained applause by the hundreds of people present.
Sharon.