UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
DAVID LAFFIN of Belfast , sent to Borstal in March 1976 for possession of sub-machine gun and 760 rounds of ammunition in suspicious circumstances . The gun had been stolen from Portadown UDR armoury in 1973 .
NEIL LATTIMER , WILLIAM ROLESTON , DAVID IAN McMULLAN , JAMES HEGAN , WINSTON ALLEN , NOEL BELL and COLIN WARTON , charged in December 1983 with murder of Adrian Carroll . All based at Drumadd Barracks .
THOMAS LEONARD of County Tyrone , sentenced to life in October 1975 for machine-gun murder of James and Mary Devlin at Edenork in 1974 . He was later given concurrent sentences for a series of other offences . LEONARD , who was 'born again' while on remand , refused 'Special Category' status .
ALISTER ROGER LOCKHART of Armagh , jailed for 10 years in May 1975 for a car bombing in Armagh , illegal possession of firearms and other offences . A known member of the UVF .
SAMUEL JAMES LOGAN , appears to have been the first UDR man to appear on a charge in a court . From Derry , he was convicted in September 1971 for illegal possession of a pistol . Arrested by a UDR patrol while returning from a trip to Donegal .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The by-election in Longford was to be contested by Sinn Fein candidate Joe MacGuinness , at the time a prisoner serving penal servitude in Lewes Prison . His name went before the electorate with the simple slogan ' Put him in to get him out' . MacGuinness , incidentally , had no wish to let his name go forward as he felt that to do so would compromise the traditional Republican attitude of contempt for 'parliamentary methods' ; the IRB , mindful of the need to retain a Republican influence over the new political movement , ignored MacGuinness's reservations , with the result that , after a recount , he won by thirty eight votes over the Redmond candidate .
Redmond could clearly no longer afford to consider partition on any terms - the prevailing mood in the country was determinedly against it . He rejected partition but agreed with Lloyd George to an 'Irish Convention' , a device clearly suited to British needs , not least because of American pressure , insofar as it 'passed the buck' from the British government to the Irish unionist and nationalist 'factions' .
While this appeared plausible in British terms , it was of course completely impractical and doomed to failure ; Sinn Fein declared its intention to boycott the proceedings and before the 'Convention' could get down to its deliberations , another Sinn Fein candidate , Eamonn De Valera , was returned as MP for East Clare with a majority of 2,975 over the Redmonite candidate , a popular local man named Lynch . By now released Republican prisoners were being greeted on their return to Ireland by enthusiastic crowds .
Against this background the re-organisation of the IRA continued with predictable counter-measures by the British government , who continued to ignore the open military organisation of the UVF in the North .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
John O' Grady had escaped from the kidnap gang and was hiding in the garden of a house on Kilkiernan Road in Cabra , Dublin : he heard the sounds of two men coming into the garden , and thought they were gang members . In fact they were two Detectives who had pursued O' Grady who they suspected was a member of the kidnap gang - from their conversation , John O' Grady realised that they were gardai , and raised his bandaged hands in the air and said " I am John O' Grady ! "
THE TIPPERARY ESCAPE .
Back at 260 Carnlough Road someone had called an ambulance for Detective Martin O' Connor - he was on the ground calling for his wife Rosy and praying ; he thought he was dying . Gerry Wright had gone into the house and got a blanket to cover O' Connor and had remained standing over him . Detective Sergeant Henry Spring had hoped to telephone for support in the house he had broken into , but there was no telephone . He made his way to 260 Carnlough Road to find his colleague Martin O' Connor on the ground with gunshot wounds , and turned to Gerry Wright who was standing close by and said to him - " You bastard , you walked us into this . "
John O' Grady was put into a garda car - he had read in the newspapers that his family had taken rooms in the Blackrock Clinic in anticipation of his release and he asked the gardai to take him there . The news of his release was broadcast on RTE radio within minutes ; Dessie O' Hare was en route to Cork to supervise the payment of the ransom - O' Hare was listening to the radio and , according to a passenger in the car who later made a statement to the gardai , he beat his fists on the dashboard in rage .
Meanwhile , the kidnap gang had escaped the gardai for a second time - Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal abandoned the Corporation lorry in Blackhorse Avenue and ordered a woman to drive them to Clondalkin , in Dublin South-West - there they called into a house owned by Una Dermody who was having coffee with a friend , Maria Hennessy : they demanded a change of clothes . One of the women cleaned the graze on Fergal Toal's leg , and the gang then took the Saab car belonging to Una Dermody and the two women were taken as hostages - they headed for Limerick , using back roads .
On the way Hogan talked about art and paintings , and conversed with Fergal Toal in Irish ; the two women let them out at Mount St. Laurence cemetery , just outside Limerick - the women then reported what had happened to the first garda they met .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, October 24, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
THOMAS IRVINE of Belfast , jailed for five years in February 1976 for illegal possession of a firearm . Known member of the UDA .
ALEXANDER IRWIN of Armagh , jailed for three years in November 1975 for possession of bomb-making equipment . Known member of the UVF .
GLYNN JONES of Belfast , sentenced to six months in February 1973 for illegal possession of ammunition .
DEREK KENNEDY of Armagh , jailed for 18 months (suspended) in November 1976 for setting fire to a Catholic school and a Methodist church .
WILLIAM FREDERICK KENNEDY of Belfast , fined £50 in January 1977 for being drunk in charge of a loaded pistol . He had wounded a companion while toying with the weapon in a pub .
DEREK HUGH KINKAID of Belfast , jailed for eight years in December 1974 for armed robbery of post office . Known to have UDA connections .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
After he won the February 1917 North Roscommon by-election for Sinn Fein , Count Plunkett declared that he had been considering whether or not to represent the people of Roscommon in "...a foreign parliament .. " but had decided that his place was beside his own people in their own country , "...for it is in Ireland that the battle of Irish Liberty is to be fought .. " .
While the press speculated that the writing was on the wall for John Redmond's party , there was still no proper organisation to oppose him . In an effort to remedy this , ten days after Easter 1917 , over 1,200 delegates attended an 'Irish Assembly' , convened in Dublin's Mansion House by Count Plunkett . Sixty eight public bodies were represented and forty one Sinn Fein cumainn . The only practical step agreed upon was that an organising committee be formed to establish some form of organisation for the next general election .
At the same time there was an affirmation proclaiming Ireland a separate nation and asserting her right to freedom from all foreign control and denying the ' authority' of any foreign parliament in Ireland . The acceptance of such an affirmation was evidence of the continuing hardening of Nationalist thinking which was now taking its national demand far beyond the Home Rule Act on the statute book .
At the same time Count Plunkett had declared that a policy of abstention from Westminster was an indispensable committment for all members of such a new organisation as might form his committee , which , with another by-election pending at Longford , now had the opportunity of a further electoral test .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
In the confusion caused by the shoot-out , John O' Grady had decided to make a run for it . All it needed was for one garda patrol car to arrive from the other end of Carnlough Road and the gang's escape route was blocked . One of the kidnappers , Tony McNeill , hi-jacked a car at gunpoint and calmy drove up Carnlough Road and turned left out of sight .
Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal also hi-jacked a car about fifty yards up the road ; they were just getting into the car when the second patrol car , manned by Detective Gardai Dick Fahey and Brian Coade appeared - there was an exchange of gunfire . Hogan and Toal reversed the car back up towards Kilkiernan Road and immediately crashed into a bus . The two of them got out and proceeded up Kilkiernan Road on foot . They retreated military style , one giving covering fire while the other ran a few yards and vice versa .
Detectives Fahey and Coade returned fire , and Fergal Toal was hit on the knee - Hogan and the injured Toal then hi-jacked a Dublin Corporation roadsweeper van . The two Detectives , Fahey and Coade , had by now been joined by two more colleagues . Once again the gardai on foot were powerless to do anything ; they commandeered a civilian car but by then the kidnap gang had disappeared .
21. " I AM JOHN O' GRADY . "
John O' Grady had followed the same route as the kidnappers . He had removed his blacked-out glasses and ran up Carnlough Road to the junction where it meets Kilkiernan Road - at the corner he saw a man and a woman at a hall door , and asked them if he could come in but the couple closed the door in his face , so he ran down Kilkiernan Road . He saw a house with a plywood gate at the side , and jumped over the gate . The garden was overgrown . He got down on his hands and knees and climbed into a space in the middle of a patch of brambles . A few minutes later he heard two men come into the garden .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
THOMAS IRVINE of Belfast , jailed for five years in February 1976 for illegal possession of a firearm . Known member of the UDA .
ALEXANDER IRWIN of Armagh , jailed for three years in November 1975 for possession of bomb-making equipment . Known member of the UVF .
GLYNN JONES of Belfast , sentenced to six months in February 1973 for illegal possession of ammunition .
DEREK KENNEDY of Armagh , jailed for 18 months (suspended) in November 1976 for setting fire to a Catholic school and a Methodist church .
WILLIAM FREDERICK KENNEDY of Belfast , fined £50 in January 1977 for being drunk in charge of a loaded pistol . He had wounded a companion while toying with the weapon in a pub .
DEREK HUGH KINKAID of Belfast , jailed for eight years in December 1974 for armed robbery of post office . Known to have UDA connections .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
After he won the February 1917 North Roscommon by-election for Sinn Fein , Count Plunkett declared that he had been considering whether or not to represent the people of Roscommon in "...a foreign parliament .. " but had decided that his place was beside his own people in their own country , "...for it is in Ireland that the battle of Irish Liberty is to be fought .. " .
While the press speculated that the writing was on the wall for John Redmond's party , there was still no proper organisation to oppose him . In an effort to remedy this , ten days after Easter 1917 , over 1,200 delegates attended an 'Irish Assembly' , convened in Dublin's Mansion House by Count Plunkett . Sixty eight public bodies were represented and forty one Sinn Fein cumainn . The only practical step agreed upon was that an organising committee be formed to establish some form of organisation for the next general election .
At the same time there was an affirmation proclaiming Ireland a separate nation and asserting her right to freedom from all foreign control and denying the ' authority' of any foreign parliament in Ireland . The acceptance of such an affirmation was evidence of the continuing hardening of Nationalist thinking which was now taking its national demand far beyond the Home Rule Act on the statute book .
At the same time Count Plunkett had declared that a policy of abstention from Westminster was an indispensable committment for all members of such a new organisation as might form his committee , which , with another by-election pending at Longford , now had the opportunity of a further electoral test .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
In the confusion caused by the shoot-out , John O' Grady had decided to make a run for it . All it needed was for one garda patrol car to arrive from the other end of Carnlough Road and the gang's escape route was blocked . One of the kidnappers , Tony McNeill , hi-jacked a car at gunpoint and calmy drove up Carnlough Road and turned left out of sight .
Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal also hi-jacked a car about fifty yards up the road ; they were just getting into the car when the second patrol car , manned by Detective Gardai Dick Fahey and Brian Coade appeared - there was an exchange of gunfire . Hogan and Toal reversed the car back up towards Kilkiernan Road and immediately crashed into a bus . The two of them got out and proceeded up Kilkiernan Road on foot . They retreated military style , one giving covering fire while the other ran a few yards and vice versa .
Detectives Fahey and Coade returned fire , and Fergal Toal was hit on the knee - Hogan and the injured Toal then hi-jacked a Dublin Corporation roadsweeper van . The two Detectives , Fahey and Coade , had by now been joined by two more colleagues . Once again the gardai on foot were powerless to do anything ; they commandeered a civilian car but by then the kidnap gang had disappeared .
21. " I AM JOHN O' GRADY . "
John O' Grady had followed the same route as the kidnappers . He had removed his blacked-out glasses and ran up Carnlough Road to the junction where it meets Kilkiernan Road - at the corner he saw a man and a woman at a hall door , and asked them if he could come in but the couple closed the door in his face , so he ran down Kilkiernan Road . He saw a house with a plywood gate at the side , and jumped over the gate . The garden was overgrown . He got down on his hands and knees and climbed into a space in the middle of a patch of brambles . A few minutes later he heard two men come into the garden .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, October 21, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
JOHN GAW of Greenisland , County Antrim , sentenced to 10 years in March 1977 for possession of arms and training UVF East Antrim members . Involved in 76-day UVF trial which ended in 27 men receiving a total of 700 years plus eight "Lifes" for UVF activity .
RONALD GIBSON , MARK MAM and KENNETH SPENCE , all of Newtonabbey , fined £50 each in February 1979 for breaking into local 'Star of the Sea' Roman Catholic Church and shitting on the altar .
JAMES GILLIES of Belfast , jailed for four years in May 1975 for illegal possession of firearm .
THOMAS GRUERS of Magherafelt , fined £50 in February 1981 for firing shots from a Walther pistol during the fracas - apparently between Nationalists and Loyalists - in Portrush .
LOUIS HATHAWAY of Gilford , County Down , fined £100 in August 1979 for possession of a loaded pistol while drunk during anti-internment protest .
RAYMOND HIGGINS of Belfast , jailed for two years in March 1981 for illegal possession of a firearm and attempted rape .
HENRY WILLIAM HUTCHINS of Limavady , jailed for five years in March 1975 for armed robbery . A known member of the UDA .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Among the ranks of Sinn Fein was a mixture of IRA Volunteers who had gone out at Easter 1916 , IRB men who were committed to an Irish Republic at all costs , and many exponents of the orthodox constitutional Sinn Fein doctrine of pre-war days as preached by Arthur Griffith . While a new mood was sweeping the country , Sinn Fein had virtually no organisation at all and nothing like a coherent political organisation needed to co-ordinate the new mood .
However , with the death of J.J. O' Kelly , the MP for Roscommon and a by-election in that constituency scheduled for February 1917 , Sinn Fein had its first opportunity to oppose Redmond's Party : Count Plunkett , father of Joseph Mary Plunkett and of two other imprisoned sons , stood against Redmond's man . Plunkett faced a number of practical disadvantages - his opponent was a well known local man , and Plunkett's 'election machine' was inexperienced . Much of the constituency was snow-bound and Plunkett himself remained in England , where he had been deported , ill , until a few days before polling .
On top of that he remained ambiguous on whether he would take his seat at Westminster if elected . Furthermore , Sinn Fein had contested and badly lost a North Leitrim by-election in 1908 , though it fought that election on Arthur Griffith's dual-monarchy policy .
Now , however , the bulk of 'dissident' Nationalist voters were concerned about one thing only - that was , voting for a candidate who would not accept partition of Ireland in any form and against a party which had shown itself too easy or too willing to be duped into doing so . Count Plunkett won the election for Sinn Fein with a majority of almost twice as many votes as Redmond's man .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Detective Martin O' Connor , dazed from the beating , stood up and gang member Eddie Hogan used his gun to wave him towards a wall ; O' Connor put his hands on his face which was sore - he could feel blood . He was now about two feet from the barrel of Hogan's gun . He was so uncomfortably close he could make out green masking tape around the stock of the gun - Hogan fired : the shot blew a hole the size of a fist in O' Connor's stomach . His bowel was peppered with gunshot pellets . He felt the tear in his stomach and a severe burning sensation - he staggered backwards , but refused to fall down . Instead , he pulled out his own gun and fired at one of the gang . Hogan shot him again , in the shoulder , shattering his collarbone . O' Connor fell to the ground and crouched in a ball clutching his stomach . Eddie Hogan advanced on O' Connor .
The wounded Detective asked that Hogan not shoot him again ; Hogan kicked him in the side and said " Give me your gun , you pig . " Hogan held O' Connor's gun aloft , head high .
At first it was almost an action replay of Midleton : a Hi-Ace van came down Carnlough Road and was stopped at gunpoint - John O' Grady was pulled by one of the kidnap gang over towards the passenger door . At that moment the first of the patrol cars which had responded to the call was arriving . Detective Garda Gregory Sheehan had been in Phibsboro when he heard the call on the radio . He approached from the same direction in which the Hi-Ace van was travelling . Detective Sheehan got out of the car and shouted - " Armed gardai . Halt ! " Immediately he heard the sounds of bullets whizzing over his head - he fired back : six shots from his Smith and Wesson . The gang member who had been ushering John O' Grady into the Hi-Ace van dived for cover . O' Grady took his one chance . He ran .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
JOHN GAW of Greenisland , County Antrim , sentenced to 10 years in March 1977 for possession of arms and training UVF East Antrim members . Involved in 76-day UVF trial which ended in 27 men receiving a total of 700 years plus eight "Lifes" for UVF activity .
RONALD GIBSON , MARK MAM and KENNETH SPENCE , all of Newtonabbey , fined £50 each in February 1979 for breaking into local 'Star of the Sea' Roman Catholic Church and shitting on the altar .
JAMES GILLIES of Belfast , jailed for four years in May 1975 for illegal possession of firearm .
THOMAS GRUERS of Magherafelt , fined £50 in February 1981 for firing shots from a Walther pistol during the fracas - apparently between Nationalists and Loyalists - in Portrush .
LOUIS HATHAWAY of Gilford , County Down , fined £100 in August 1979 for possession of a loaded pistol while drunk during anti-internment protest .
RAYMOND HIGGINS of Belfast , jailed for two years in March 1981 for illegal possession of a firearm and attempted rape .
HENRY WILLIAM HUTCHINS of Limavady , jailed for five years in March 1975 for armed robbery . A known member of the UDA .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Among the ranks of Sinn Fein was a mixture of IRA Volunteers who had gone out at Easter 1916 , IRB men who were committed to an Irish Republic at all costs , and many exponents of the orthodox constitutional Sinn Fein doctrine of pre-war days as preached by Arthur Griffith . While a new mood was sweeping the country , Sinn Fein had virtually no organisation at all and nothing like a coherent political organisation needed to co-ordinate the new mood .
However , with the death of J.J. O' Kelly , the MP for Roscommon and a by-election in that constituency scheduled for February 1917 , Sinn Fein had its first opportunity to oppose Redmond's Party : Count Plunkett , father of Joseph Mary Plunkett and of two other imprisoned sons , stood against Redmond's man . Plunkett faced a number of practical disadvantages - his opponent was a well known local man , and Plunkett's 'election machine' was inexperienced . Much of the constituency was snow-bound and Plunkett himself remained in England , where he had been deported , ill , until a few days before polling .
On top of that he remained ambiguous on whether he would take his seat at Westminster if elected . Furthermore , Sinn Fein had contested and badly lost a North Leitrim by-election in 1908 , though it fought that election on Arthur Griffith's dual-monarchy policy .
Now , however , the bulk of 'dissident' Nationalist voters were concerned about one thing only - that was , voting for a candidate who would not accept partition of Ireland in any form and against a party which had shown itself too easy or too willing to be duped into doing so . Count Plunkett won the election for Sinn Fein with a majority of almost twice as many votes as Redmond's man .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Detective Martin O' Connor , dazed from the beating , stood up and gang member Eddie Hogan used his gun to wave him towards a wall ; O' Connor put his hands on his face which was sore - he could feel blood . He was now about two feet from the barrel of Hogan's gun . He was so uncomfortably close he could make out green masking tape around the stock of the gun - Hogan fired : the shot blew a hole the size of a fist in O' Connor's stomach . His bowel was peppered with gunshot pellets . He felt the tear in his stomach and a severe burning sensation - he staggered backwards , but refused to fall down . Instead , he pulled out his own gun and fired at one of the gang . Hogan shot him again , in the shoulder , shattering his collarbone . O' Connor fell to the ground and crouched in a ball clutching his stomach . Eddie Hogan advanced on O' Connor .
The wounded Detective asked that Hogan not shoot him again ; Hogan kicked him in the side and said " Give me your gun , you pig . " Hogan held O' Connor's gun aloft , head high .
At first it was almost an action replay of Midleton : a Hi-Ace van came down Carnlough Road and was stopped at gunpoint - John O' Grady was pulled by one of the kidnap gang over towards the passenger door . At that moment the first of the patrol cars which had responded to the call was arriving . Detective Garda Gregory Sheehan had been in Phibsboro when he heard the call on the radio . He approached from the same direction in which the Hi-Ace van was travelling . Detective Sheehan got out of the car and shouted - " Armed gardai . Halt ! " Immediately he heard the sounds of bullets whizzing over his head - he fired back : six shots from his Smith and Wesson . The gang member who had been ushering John O' Grady into the Hi-Ace van dived for cover . O' Grady took his one chance . He ran .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, October 20, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
GEOFFREY EDWARDS of Armagh , charged in December 1983 with the murder of Sinn Fein election worker Peter Corrigan , plus four attempted murders including that of Seamus Grew (subsequently shot dead by the RUC) .
MERVYN JOSEPH FALOON of Tandragree , sentenced to five years in February 1978 for shooting into Catholic Obins Street enclave in Portadown on the 'Twelvth' in 1977 .
SAMUEL FARRELL of Enniskillen , sentenced to 18 months in November 1977 for bombing a dance hall in Donegal in 1974 .
WILLIAM FERRIS of Belfast , suspended sentence in February 1974 for possessing a shotgun and ammunition in suspicious circumstances .
JAMES GALLAGHER of Belfast , six months suspended in February 1974 for possession of firearms in suspicious circumstances .
WILLIAM GALLAGHER of Belfast , sentenced to 10 years in April 1979 for five armed robberies . Known to be also a member of the UVF .
ROBERT JOSEPH GAMBLE of Belfast , sentenced to five years in February 1972 for bombing Lisburn Council offices . Fellow bomber killed in the operation . Known to be also a member of the UVF .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Republican intervention in the British electoral process in this century dates back to February 1917 ; a year had passed since the proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 , and many of the internees released before Christmas 1916 were back in Ireland . While they and other Republicans had differing political attitudes on future policy , the political climate during the eight months of their imprisonment had changed dramatically ; a number of factors had contributed to this change .
Foremost of these were the executions by the British government of the leaders of the Easter Rising and the loss of credibility by John Redmond's Irish Parliamentary Party among Nationalists . In 1914 a Home Rule Act for all Ireland , without any mention of a separate treatment for any Ulster county , had been passed by the British parliament and signed by the English King . That Act had then been suspended for 12 months or for the duration of the war , a war in which at the behest of John Redmond , many Irishmen had fought on the British side "...for the independence of small nations.. "
Now , with the war over , the British government's only response to such a sacrifice was to amend the Home Rule Act to exclude six of the Ulster Counties and to repudiate the basic nationalist idea of an undivided Ireland . In this climate , the actions of those who had gone out in the 1916 Rising , and the subsequent murders of their leaders was seen in sharp contrast to the collaborationist policies of the Irish Parliamentary Party , especially as such collaboration had achieved far less than had been promised .
Sinn Fein itself had changed ; while still without a coherent policy on social and economic matters and with no clear idea of how it could achieve independence , it at least had rejected partition .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
John O' Grady heard strange voices conversing outside in the living room - the gardai were in the house , but he did'nt know it . Detective Martin O' Connor , the barber Gerry Wright and (gang member) Tony McNeill went downstairs to the living room where Detective Sergeant Henry Spring and (gang member) Fergal Toal were talking . The two Detectives , Spring and O' Connor , exchanged glances ; they did'nt need to say anything . O' Connor turned to Gerry Wright and asked what was going on - how it was that he was able to have lads lying around doing nothing in the middle of the day . Detective O' Connor then left the house to go to the patrol car ; Gerry Wright followed him . O' Connor asked Wright if he was paying tax on the money he got for rent from the lads in the house .
O' Connor sat sideways into the patrol car with his legs on the street , radioed base and asked for urgent plainclothes back-up at 260 Carnlough Road . Gerry Wright ran back into the house , shouting - " He's calling for reinforcements ! " Gang member Tony McNeill was standing with his back to Detective Spring : he turned around with a gun in his hand and shouted - " Get down you bastard ." Spring was forced to the ground at gunpoint ; Eddie Hogan jumped out from under the stairs . Spring was kicked repeatedly in the head and body , and was momentarily stunned . Hogan dragged John O' Grady out from under the stairs , and Tony McNeill ran out after Detective O' Connor , followed closely by Fergal Toal . Detective Spring , who was unarmed , escaped out the back door of the house and jumped over a back wall .
He ran up the neighbours garden to the house but , despite pleas that he was in danger of being shot , he was refused entry , so he smashed one of the windows to get in . Meanwhile , Tony McNeill came up to Detective O' Connor , who was still at the patrol car , and put a gun to his chest .
THE SHOOTING OF DETECTIVE O' CONNOR .
O' Connor's radio call had been picked up by two or three different patrol cars , and all were now racing towards Carnlough Road . Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill were now trying to disarm Detective O' Connor - he was struggling with McNeill over the gun and Toal was punching O' Connor in the face . He put his fingers into O' Connor's mouth and began twisting his lips and head . An ESB meter reader saw O' Connor's head bobbing up and down and approached the car - he was told " Fuck off and mind your own business . This man is trying to steal our car . " Eddie Hogan emerged out of the house with John O' Grady , and told McNeill and Toal to back off so that he could shoot O' Connor in the knees .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
GEOFFREY EDWARDS of Armagh , charged in December 1983 with the murder of Sinn Fein election worker Peter Corrigan , plus four attempted murders including that of Seamus Grew (subsequently shot dead by the RUC) .
MERVYN JOSEPH FALOON of Tandragree , sentenced to five years in February 1978 for shooting into Catholic Obins Street enclave in Portadown on the 'Twelvth' in 1977 .
SAMUEL FARRELL of Enniskillen , sentenced to 18 months in November 1977 for bombing a dance hall in Donegal in 1974 .
WILLIAM FERRIS of Belfast , suspended sentence in February 1974 for possessing a shotgun and ammunition in suspicious circumstances .
JAMES GALLAGHER of Belfast , six months suspended in February 1974 for possession of firearms in suspicious circumstances .
WILLIAM GALLAGHER of Belfast , sentenced to 10 years in April 1979 for five armed robberies . Known to be also a member of the UVF .
ROBERT JOSEPH GAMBLE of Belfast , sentenced to five years in February 1972 for bombing Lisburn Council offices . Fellow bomber killed in the operation . Known to be also a member of the UVF .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Republican intervention in the British electoral process in this century dates back to February 1917 ; a year had passed since the proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 , and many of the internees released before Christmas 1916 were back in Ireland . While they and other Republicans had differing political attitudes on future policy , the political climate during the eight months of their imprisonment had changed dramatically ; a number of factors had contributed to this change .
Foremost of these were the executions by the British government of the leaders of the Easter Rising and the loss of credibility by John Redmond's Irish Parliamentary Party among Nationalists . In 1914 a Home Rule Act for all Ireland , without any mention of a separate treatment for any Ulster county , had been passed by the British parliament and signed by the English King . That Act had then been suspended for 12 months or for the duration of the war , a war in which at the behest of John Redmond , many Irishmen had fought on the British side "...for the independence of small nations.. "
Now , with the war over , the British government's only response to such a sacrifice was to amend the Home Rule Act to exclude six of the Ulster Counties and to repudiate the basic nationalist idea of an undivided Ireland . In this climate , the actions of those who had gone out in the 1916 Rising , and the subsequent murders of their leaders was seen in sharp contrast to the collaborationist policies of the Irish Parliamentary Party , especially as such collaboration had achieved far less than had been promised .
Sinn Fein itself had changed ; while still without a coherent policy on social and economic matters and with no clear idea of how it could achieve independence , it at least had rejected partition .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
John O' Grady heard strange voices conversing outside in the living room - the gardai were in the house , but he did'nt know it . Detective Martin O' Connor , the barber Gerry Wright and (gang member) Tony McNeill went downstairs to the living room where Detective Sergeant Henry Spring and (gang member) Fergal Toal were talking . The two Detectives , Spring and O' Connor , exchanged glances ; they did'nt need to say anything . O' Connor turned to Gerry Wright and asked what was going on - how it was that he was able to have lads lying around doing nothing in the middle of the day . Detective O' Connor then left the house to go to the patrol car ; Gerry Wright followed him . O' Connor asked Wright if he was paying tax on the money he got for rent from the lads in the house .
O' Connor sat sideways into the patrol car with his legs on the street , radioed base and asked for urgent plainclothes back-up at 260 Carnlough Road . Gerry Wright ran back into the house , shouting - " He's calling for reinforcements ! " Gang member Tony McNeill was standing with his back to Detective Spring : he turned around with a gun in his hand and shouted - " Get down you bastard ." Spring was forced to the ground at gunpoint ; Eddie Hogan jumped out from under the stairs . Spring was kicked repeatedly in the head and body , and was momentarily stunned . Hogan dragged John O' Grady out from under the stairs , and Tony McNeill ran out after Detective O' Connor , followed closely by Fergal Toal . Detective Spring , who was unarmed , escaped out the back door of the house and jumped over a back wall .
He ran up the neighbours garden to the house but , despite pleas that he was in danger of being shot , he was refused entry , so he smashed one of the windows to get in . Meanwhile , Tony McNeill came up to Detective O' Connor , who was still at the patrol car , and put a gun to his chest .
THE SHOOTING OF DETECTIVE O' CONNOR .
O' Connor's radio call had been picked up by two or three different patrol cars , and all were now racing towards Carnlough Road . Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill were now trying to disarm Detective O' Connor - he was struggling with McNeill over the gun and Toal was punching O' Connor in the face . He put his fingers into O' Connor's mouth and began twisting his lips and head . An ESB meter reader saw O' Connor's head bobbing up and down and approached the car - he was told " Fuck off and mind your own business . This man is trying to steal our car . " Eddie Hogan emerged out of the house with John O' Grady , and told McNeill and Toal to back off so that he could shoot O' Connor in the knees .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North . But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ? We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
SAMUEL COOKEY of Belfast , sentenced to life in March 1977 for possession of home-made machine gun , sawn-off shotgun , 10 short-arms , a SLR and 3,089 rounds of ammunition . Member of UVF .
BASIL CORBETT of Fermanagh , sentenced to two years in March 1983 for 15 sectarian offences including issuing death threats to local Catholics .
GEORGE HENDERSON CORRY of Portadown , fined £50 in June 1975 for being drunk in charge of a gun .
TREVOR CRAIG of Antrim , suspended sentence in June 1978 for attempted armed robbery .
RAYMOND CRAINEY of Armagh , jailed for six months in March 1973 for illegal possession of a pistol and firing it while drunk .
THOMAS CROSSEY of The Maze area , jailed for 18 months in June 1973 for possessing a loaded pistol in suspicious circumstances .
IVAN DALGLEISH and THOMAS CANAVAN of Belfast , each jailed for nine years in March 1974 for bombing a Catholic pub in County Down .
MICHAEL DOHERTY of Belfast , sentenced to four years in February 1984 for illegal possession of three rifles , a silencer , six magazines and 101 rounds of ammunition .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months . Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more . From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Essentially , Charles Stewart Parnell was not a Republican . That such opposite positions governed the land agitation issue and that the entire Fenian leadership was not in agreement on the land issue is a key to the national question and speaks volumes on how it was possible for such a compromise to be forced upon the radical Republican activists .
The inevitable result was the integration of many ex-Fenians into conventional Parnellism . Involvement with constitutionalism had badly divided the IRB and when Parnell's party itself split in 1887 , the IRB split too . Up to this time regardless of the official IRB attitude there had been a considerable Fenian involvement in constitutional politics - in fact , 21 out of 83 listed Parnellite MP's are believed to have been Fenians , 4 were believed to be Fenian supporters and 2 were regarded as ex-Fenians .
The conditions for a withdrawal from Westminster of Irish MP's to set up an Irish Parliament with massive 'peasant' support had been removed when Gladstone defused the land movement with his 'Land Act' , which had detached a sufficient number of Land Leagues to make the project impossible and anyway Charles Stewart Parnell had never embraced such a policy .
For many prominent Fenians the failure of even partial 'New Departure' policies was taken as an endorsement of their total reliance on a purely physical force strategy - there had been a number of significant physical force actions during the period covered here - and left the Fenians facing yet another bout of Irish/American factionalism as well as on-going problems about finances and war materials . But , as stated earlier , the whole period was to serve as a school of sedition for the next generation .
Republican intervention in the British electoral process in this century dates back to February 1917 .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ....... The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers . First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 . By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O' Hare had made it abundantly clear to Dr. Austin Darragh that John O' Grady would suffer further if Darragh informed the gardai about the ransom demand ; now it was all over the front page of 'The Irish Independent' newspaper .
Back in the patrol car the two Detectives made small talk with Gerry Wright about boxing and scuba diving , both sports in which Wright had a passionate interest . Gerry Wright was hoping against hope that the gang would have left when they reached his house .
19 . "HE'S CALLING FOR REINFORCEMENTS ... "
At the house , Gerry Wright made a point of rattling the keys in the lock when opening the door ; as he had walked from the patrol car to the house Wright started to change the original story he had given to the gardai in Parkgate Street - he told them there were a couple of people staying in the house but they would be out on an AnCO course . The rattling of the keys gave the gang the briefest of notice of the gardai arriving . They were forewarned and forearmed .
Eddie Hogan grabbed his shotgun and ran in under the stairs beside John O' Grady ; Tony McNeill ran upstairs and jumped into bed , fully clothed . Fergal Toal went to the rear of the house . Gerry Wright led the Detectives into the living room , spread his hands out and said - "See , there is nothing here ." The Detectives looked around the room - there was a two-bar electric fire on as well as a fire in the grate , and the television was on . On one of the chairs there was what looked like a walkie-talkie .
At that moment Fergal Toal walked into the room .
Gerry Wright told him the two men with him were Detectives , who were looking around , and asked him why he was'nt at his AnCO course . At this point , Detective Martin O' Connor went upstairs with Wright ; Detective Henry Spring asked Fergal Toal what AnCO course he was doing - "Labouring , " , came the reply . Detective O' Connor found Tony McNeill in bed , and asked Wright who he was while shaking the bed . "This is one of the lads from AnCO . He must not have gone to school ." O' Connor asked Tony McNeill to get up . He noticed that McNeill was fully clothed - he felt the bed and noted there was no heat from the bedclothes .
John O' Grady was still unaware the gardai were in the house - immediately after the rattling of the door Eddie Hogan had landed in beside him . Hogan was armed and was breathing heavily .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North . But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ? We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
SAMUEL COOKEY of Belfast , sentenced to life in March 1977 for possession of home-made machine gun , sawn-off shotgun , 10 short-arms , a SLR and 3,089 rounds of ammunition . Member of UVF .
BASIL CORBETT of Fermanagh , sentenced to two years in March 1983 for 15 sectarian offences including issuing death threats to local Catholics .
GEORGE HENDERSON CORRY of Portadown , fined £50 in June 1975 for being drunk in charge of a gun .
TREVOR CRAIG of Antrim , suspended sentence in June 1978 for attempted armed robbery .
RAYMOND CRAINEY of Armagh , jailed for six months in March 1973 for illegal possession of a pistol and firing it while drunk .
THOMAS CROSSEY of The Maze area , jailed for 18 months in June 1973 for possessing a loaded pistol in suspicious circumstances .
IVAN DALGLEISH and THOMAS CANAVAN of Belfast , each jailed for nine years in March 1974 for bombing a Catholic pub in County Down .
MICHAEL DOHERTY of Belfast , sentenced to four years in February 1984 for illegal possession of three rifles , a silencer , six magazines and 101 rounds of ammunition .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months . Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more . From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Essentially , Charles Stewart Parnell was not a Republican . That such opposite positions governed the land agitation issue and that the entire Fenian leadership was not in agreement on the land issue is a key to the national question and speaks volumes on how it was possible for such a compromise to be forced upon the radical Republican activists .
The inevitable result was the integration of many ex-Fenians into conventional Parnellism . Involvement with constitutionalism had badly divided the IRB and when Parnell's party itself split in 1887 , the IRB split too . Up to this time regardless of the official IRB attitude there had been a considerable Fenian involvement in constitutional politics - in fact , 21 out of 83 listed Parnellite MP's are believed to have been Fenians , 4 were believed to be Fenian supporters and 2 were regarded as ex-Fenians .
The conditions for a withdrawal from Westminster of Irish MP's to set up an Irish Parliament with massive 'peasant' support had been removed when Gladstone defused the land movement with his 'Land Act' , which had detached a sufficient number of Land Leagues to make the project impossible and anyway Charles Stewart Parnell had never embraced such a policy .
For many prominent Fenians the failure of even partial 'New Departure' policies was taken as an endorsement of their total reliance on a purely physical force strategy - there had been a number of significant physical force actions during the period covered here - and left the Fenians facing yet another bout of Irish/American factionalism as well as on-going problems about finances and war materials . But , as stated earlier , the whole period was to serve as a school of sedition for the next generation .
Republican intervention in the British electoral process in this century dates back to February 1917 .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ....... The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers . First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 . By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O' Hare had made it abundantly clear to Dr. Austin Darragh that John O' Grady would suffer further if Darragh informed the gardai about the ransom demand ; now it was all over the front page of 'The Irish Independent' newspaper .
Back in the patrol car the two Detectives made small talk with Gerry Wright about boxing and scuba diving , both sports in which Wright had a passionate interest . Gerry Wright was hoping against hope that the gang would have left when they reached his house .
19 . "HE'S CALLING FOR REINFORCEMENTS ... "
At the house , Gerry Wright made a point of rattling the keys in the lock when opening the door ; as he had walked from the patrol car to the house Wright started to change the original story he had given to the gardai in Parkgate Street - he told them there were a couple of people staying in the house but they would be out on an AnCO course . The rattling of the keys gave the gang the briefest of notice of the gardai arriving . They were forewarned and forearmed .
Eddie Hogan grabbed his shotgun and ran in under the stairs beside John O' Grady ; Tony McNeill ran upstairs and jumped into bed , fully clothed . Fergal Toal went to the rear of the house . Gerry Wright led the Detectives into the living room , spread his hands out and said - "See , there is nothing here ." The Detectives looked around the room - there was a two-bar electric fire on as well as a fire in the grate , and the television was on . On one of the chairs there was what looked like a walkie-talkie .
At that moment Fergal Toal walked into the room .
Gerry Wright told him the two men with him were Detectives , who were looking around , and asked him why he was'nt at his AnCO course . At this point , Detective Martin O' Connor went upstairs with Wright ; Detective Henry Spring asked Fergal Toal what AnCO course he was doing - "Labouring , " , came the reply . Detective O' Connor found Tony McNeill in bed , and asked Wright who he was while shaking the bed . "This is one of the lads from AnCO . He must not have gone to school ." O' Connor asked Tony McNeill to get up . He noticed that McNeill was fully clothed - he felt the bed and noted there was no heat from the bedclothes .
John O' Grady was still unaware the gardai were in the house - immediately after the rattling of the door Eddie Hogan had landed in beside him . Hogan was armed and was breathing heavily .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North . But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ? We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
JOHN BEST of Belfast , sentenced to two years in in February 1978 for assembling a bomb for the UDA .
DESMOND WILLIAM BOYD of Strabane , fined £20 in April 1978 for firing off a machine-gun while drunk and off duty .
WILLIAM JOHN CAHOON of Belfast , fined £125 in December 1983 for reckless driving . Allegedly tried to run down two Ardoyne youths .
HAROLD CARDWELL of Carrickfergus , jailed for 18 months in January 1976 for illegal possession of shotgun . UVF connections .
SAMUEL CARSON of Bangor and NOEL MOORE BOYD of Belfast , jailed for 15 and 12 years respectively in October 1976 for bombing an Irish pub in Kilburn , London .
BARRY CLARKE of Fivemiletown , convicted of attempted armed robbery . Suspended sentence in February 1981 .
KENNETH JOHN COCKRANE of Magherafelt , fined £100 in August 1983 for possession of loaded firearm , drunkeness and assault .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months . Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more . From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In what is known as the Kilmainham Treaty in 1882 , Charles Stewart Parnell agreed to use his influence to restore order in Ireland while the British Government would release the prisoners , would deal with the question of 'rent' arrears in a manner satisfactory to the 'tenants' and would amend the Land Act of 1881 in certain ways , in particular by extending the benefit of its fair 'rent' clauses to leaseholders .
In fact the Land Act legalised the three 'F' 's , and while this did not ease the pressing social problems which remained especially in the West of Ireland , it was seen to be a considerabe victory .
In national terms , the power of the landlords was considerably reduced over large areas , the IRB had become increasingly involved in mass organisation of the people and in agitationary action by them together with localised armed actions . There was a partial undoing of the 'conquest' but not the progression into a nationalist war of independence with full 'peasant' backing as anticipated by many Fenians . This was based on the presumption , widespread among most quarters at that time , that the British would not concede the full demand of the land agitation . Parnell , with whom an alliance of sorts - unoffical but there all the same - was forged did not subscribe to this view .
He believed that a good measure of land reform , sufficient to end the agrarian social conflict , could be got from the British Parliament and that such reform would bring the landlords into the nationalist ranks and from there to a Home Rule Government .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers . First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 . By Michael O'Higgins .
John O'Grady's fingers had been hacked off ; the kidnappers had shown themselves to be inept and sloppy . The Guinness Bi-Centennial card left at the scene of the Midleton shoot-out was almost as good as a forwarding address - the owner of that card , Paul O' Sullivan , told the gardai he had given the card to an acquaintance , Gerry Wright , who ran a barber's shop a few doors away . Detectives Henry Spring and Martin O' Connor went down to Wright's barber shop : when they went in Gerry Wright , who was reading a newspaper , jumped up and asked " Which of you is first ?" . The Detectives introduced themselves and asked Wright about the card . He told them he had used it as an admission card to get into the Guinness leisure centre and use their swimming pool . He also told them that he had lost the card a long time ago , and could not help them in their inquiries as to how it had been found at the scene of the Midleton shoot-out .
They questioned Gerry Wright further - he told them he lived at 260 Carnlough Road . He was asked by O ' Connor was there anybody else there ; Wright replied " No , " adding " ...you can look if you like . " Detective Henry Spring said they would need a search warrant . Wright started bluffing , and told them that there was nothing or nobody in his house and the gardai were welcome to search it without the necessity of getting a search warrant - Spring , O' Connor and Wright then got into the unmarked patrol car . It was nearly twelve noon .
Fr. Brian D'Arcy had earlier called to the Bank of Ireland in Baggot Street , Dublin , to collect the £1.5 million ransom and was already on his way to the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork to make the delivery .
Dr. Austin Darragh was in Leinster House locked in a heated exchange with (FS) Justice Minister Gerry Collins (FF) ; Darragh had been critical of the media coverage of the kidnap , which he considered reckless and irresponsible .
That morning the lead story in 'The Irish Independent' newspaper broke the news that the kidnappers had increased their ransom demand . 'The Irish Times' newspaper had also got the story from garda sources but had agreed to a news blackout . 'The Irish Independent' had apparently got their information from a (FS) Department of Justice source .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North . But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ? We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
JOHN BEST of Belfast , sentenced to two years in in February 1978 for assembling a bomb for the UDA .
DESMOND WILLIAM BOYD of Strabane , fined £20 in April 1978 for firing off a machine-gun while drunk and off duty .
WILLIAM JOHN CAHOON of Belfast , fined £125 in December 1983 for reckless driving . Allegedly tried to run down two Ardoyne youths .
HAROLD CARDWELL of Carrickfergus , jailed for 18 months in January 1976 for illegal possession of shotgun . UVF connections .
SAMUEL CARSON of Bangor and NOEL MOORE BOYD of Belfast , jailed for 15 and 12 years respectively in October 1976 for bombing an Irish pub in Kilburn , London .
BARRY CLARKE of Fivemiletown , convicted of attempted armed robbery . Suspended sentence in February 1981 .
KENNETH JOHN COCKRANE of Magherafelt , fined £100 in August 1983 for possession of loaded firearm , drunkeness and assault .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months . Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more . From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In what is known as the Kilmainham Treaty in 1882 , Charles Stewart Parnell agreed to use his influence to restore order in Ireland while the British Government would release the prisoners , would deal with the question of 'rent' arrears in a manner satisfactory to the 'tenants' and would amend the Land Act of 1881 in certain ways , in particular by extending the benefit of its fair 'rent' clauses to leaseholders .
In fact the Land Act legalised the three 'F' 's , and while this did not ease the pressing social problems which remained especially in the West of Ireland , it was seen to be a considerabe victory .
In national terms , the power of the landlords was considerably reduced over large areas , the IRB had become increasingly involved in mass organisation of the people and in agitationary action by them together with localised armed actions . There was a partial undoing of the 'conquest' but not the progression into a nationalist war of independence with full 'peasant' backing as anticipated by many Fenians . This was based on the presumption , widespread among most quarters at that time , that the British would not concede the full demand of the land agitation . Parnell , with whom an alliance of sorts - unoffical but there all the same - was forged did not subscribe to this view .
He believed that a good measure of land reform , sufficient to end the agrarian social conflict , could be got from the British Parliament and that such reform would bring the landlords into the nationalist ranks and from there to a Home Rule Government .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers . First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 . By Michael O'Higgins .
John O'Grady's fingers had been hacked off ; the kidnappers had shown themselves to be inept and sloppy . The Guinness Bi-Centennial card left at the scene of the Midleton shoot-out was almost as good as a forwarding address - the owner of that card , Paul O' Sullivan , told the gardai he had given the card to an acquaintance , Gerry Wright , who ran a barber's shop a few doors away . Detectives Henry Spring and Martin O' Connor went down to Wright's barber shop : when they went in Gerry Wright , who was reading a newspaper , jumped up and asked " Which of you is first ?" . The Detectives introduced themselves and asked Wright about the card . He told them he had used it as an admission card to get into the Guinness leisure centre and use their swimming pool . He also told them that he had lost the card a long time ago , and could not help them in their inquiries as to how it had been found at the scene of the Midleton shoot-out .
They questioned Gerry Wright further - he told them he lived at 260 Carnlough Road . He was asked by O ' Connor was there anybody else there ; Wright replied " No , " adding " ...you can look if you like . " Detective Henry Spring said they would need a search warrant . Wright started bluffing , and told them that there was nothing or nobody in his house and the gardai were welcome to search it without the necessity of getting a search warrant - Spring , O' Connor and Wright then got into the unmarked patrol car . It was nearly twelve noon .
Fr. Brian D'Arcy had earlier called to the Bank of Ireland in Baggot Street , Dublin , to collect the £1.5 million ransom and was already on his way to the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork to make the delivery .
Dr. Austin Darragh was in Leinster House locked in a heated exchange with (FS) Justice Minister Gerry Collins (FF) ; Darragh had been critical of the media coverage of the kidnap , which he considered reckless and irresponsible .
That morning the lead story in 'The Irish Independent' newspaper broke the news that the kidnappers had increased their ransom demand . 'The Irish Times' newspaper had also got the story from garda sources but had agreed to a news blackout . 'The Irish Independent' had apparently got their information from a (FS) Department of Justice source .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, October 17, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North . But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ? From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
It is commonly argued from facts that the UDR is , effectively , the B Specials under another name ; this is a mistake . The B Specials was a fairly casually organised 'police' auxiliary , whereas the B Specials were armed with rifles and had access to heavier weapons and armour only * in conjunction with the RUC . ('1169...' Comment - * ...the RUC 'guarding' B Special arms ... !)
The UDR is different ; it is not a 'police' auxiliary but a British Army regiment . It has all the weaponry and equipment available to 'ordinary' British Army regiments , with the exception of helicopters and bomb disposal and undercover units . It is now the first line of military back-up for the RUC over four-fifths of the North . That is , when the RUC calls for military assistance , it is the UDR which responds in all areas except West Belfast , west of the Foyle and South Armagh .
Under the policy of 'Ulsterisation' , it is intended that this will gradually be extended to all areas . Towards this end , UDR Units were deployed for the first time in South Armagh in 1983 .
As stated here at the start of this article - We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive :
GERALD ATKINSON of Magherafelt sent to Borstal in March 1974 for attempted bombing of Catholic Church .
JOHN ALEXANDER AUGHEY of Belfast fined £100 for illegal possession of ammunition in May 1976 .
DAVID FREDERICK BECK of Belfast sentenced to five years in February 1975 for armed intimidation of Catholics during the UWC strike .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months . Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more . From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The Fenian John Devoy insisted consistently that the Land League could provide a stepping stone to separation and that the refusal of the British Government to concede the Land Leagues demands could still create the condition for a possible withdrawal from the British parliament .
In the final analysis the 'New Departure' policy was aimed at changing Fenian strategy ; it called for a combination between revolutionary and constitutional nationalists on prescribed terms aimed at breaking the union of Ireland and Britain . The agrarian struggle was one of a series of its objectives aimed at a radical land settlement the pursuance of which would further revolutionary aims and create the potential for further revolutionary action .
The Fenians were deeply involved in the Land League and in the agitation which continued from 1879 to 1881 ; those Fenians at leadership level in the Land League certainly believed that by smashing landlordism in Ireland they would also smash the British connection . At the end of the day the British Government succeeded in undermining the impetus of the agrarian struggle by reaching a compromise with Charles Stewart Parnell through the Land Act and the Arrears Act .
During the height of the agitation the British had introduced internment and a Coercion Bill .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ....... The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers . First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 . By Michael O'Higgins .
The Gardai still had not made a breakthrough in their attempts to locate the kidnappers . One of the main searches that day concentrated in the woodlands of Meath and Westmeath - those searches were instigated after somebody had seen a car with North of Ireland registration plates acting suspiciously . Nothing came out of this , however .
18. THE CLUE THE GARDAI OVERLOOKED .
On Thursday November 5 , 1987 , there was , it seemed , a light at the end of the tunnel : on October 26 the gang had left Midleton , County Cork , in a hurry . During the shoot-out the gang had stopped a Hi-Ace van with the intention of hi-jacking it , but then changed their mind and took a Renault car which came up behind the van . In the confusion a rucksack was left behind by the gang in the Hi-Ace van - it contained fifty-one items , all of which were clues in the kidnap investigation ; those clues could be neatly classified into three categories -
'Category One' comprised twenty-two items which were readily identifable as belonging to John O'Grady : the only immediate value of these to the investigation was fingerprint evidence which might be used to obtain a conviction .
'Category Two' contained 26 sundry items , among them a copy of 'The Sunday World' newspaper , a length of chain , a map of Cork and Kerry , a pair of socks with the label 'Trackers' , a hacksaw and a leaflet on combination locks . These , too , might yield fingerprint evidence but were unlikely in themselves to add anything of substance to the investigation .
'Category Three' was by far the most important : it contained just three items - a letter to a Mr. B. Jennings , a bank deposit book with an address on the northside of Dublin and a Guinness Bi-Centennial pass card made out in the name of Paul O' Suillivan , 'Traffic Department Staff Number 23726 ' . It might have been expected that the gardai would check out these items immediately . On Friday October 30 , 1987 , however , all fifty-one items in the rucksack were still in Midleton Garda Station . They were collected by Detective Sergeant Tom Foley of the Fingerprint Section and taken back to Dublin for examination .
On November 3 , 1987 , there was a conference held in Dun Laoghaire Garda Station , the HQ of the kidnap operation ; Detective Sergeant Henry Spring was assigned the task of checking out the Guinness Bi-Centennial pass , which he then collected from the Fingerprint Section on November 4th . There was no difficulty checking out the identity of Paul O' Sullivan - he has worked in Guinness's for twenty-five years . On November 5th , Detective Sergeant Spring and Detective Martin O' Connor called to Guinness's Brewery to see Paul O' Sullivan , who identified the card but said he had not seen it for a number of years .
The clue the gardai were following was an obvious and vital one in the kidnap investigation , but they had not acted on it for ten days .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North . But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ? From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
It is commonly argued from facts that the UDR is , effectively , the B Specials under another name ; this is a mistake . The B Specials was a fairly casually organised 'police' auxiliary , whereas the B Specials were armed with rifles and had access to heavier weapons and armour only * in conjunction with the RUC . ('1169...' Comment - * ...the RUC 'guarding' B Special arms ... !)
The UDR is different ; it is not a 'police' auxiliary but a British Army regiment . It has all the weaponry and equipment available to 'ordinary' British Army regiments , with the exception of helicopters and bomb disposal and undercover units . It is now the first line of military back-up for the RUC over four-fifths of the North . That is , when the RUC calls for military assistance , it is the UDR which responds in all areas except West Belfast , west of the Foyle and South Armagh .
Under the policy of 'Ulsterisation' , it is intended that this will gradually be extended to all areas . Towards this end , UDR Units were deployed for the first time in South Armagh in 1983 .
As stated here at the start of this article - We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive :
GERALD ATKINSON of Magherafelt sent to Borstal in March 1974 for attempted bombing of Catholic Church .
JOHN ALEXANDER AUGHEY of Belfast fined £100 for illegal possession of ammunition in May 1976 .
DAVID FREDERICK BECK of Belfast sentenced to five years in February 1975 for armed intimidation of Catholics during the UWC strike .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months . Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more . From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The Fenian John Devoy insisted consistently that the Land League could provide a stepping stone to separation and that the refusal of the British Government to concede the Land Leagues demands could still create the condition for a possible withdrawal from the British parliament .
In the final analysis the 'New Departure' policy was aimed at changing Fenian strategy ; it called for a combination between revolutionary and constitutional nationalists on prescribed terms aimed at breaking the union of Ireland and Britain . The agrarian struggle was one of a series of its objectives aimed at a radical land settlement the pursuance of which would further revolutionary aims and create the potential for further revolutionary action .
The Fenians were deeply involved in the Land League and in the agitation which continued from 1879 to 1881 ; those Fenians at leadership level in the Land League certainly believed that by smashing landlordism in Ireland they would also smash the British connection . At the end of the day the British Government succeeded in undermining the impetus of the agrarian struggle by reaching a compromise with Charles Stewart Parnell through the Land Act and the Arrears Act .
During the height of the agitation the British had introduced internment and a Coercion Bill .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ....... The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers . First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 . By Michael O'Higgins .
The Gardai still had not made a breakthrough in their attempts to locate the kidnappers . One of the main searches that day concentrated in the woodlands of Meath and Westmeath - those searches were instigated after somebody had seen a car with North of Ireland registration plates acting suspiciously . Nothing came out of this , however .
18. THE CLUE THE GARDAI OVERLOOKED .
On Thursday November 5 , 1987 , there was , it seemed , a light at the end of the tunnel : on October 26 the gang had left Midleton , County Cork , in a hurry . During the shoot-out the gang had stopped a Hi-Ace van with the intention of hi-jacking it , but then changed their mind and took a Renault car which came up behind the van . In the confusion a rucksack was left behind by the gang in the Hi-Ace van - it contained fifty-one items , all of which were clues in the kidnap investigation ; those clues could be neatly classified into three categories -
'Category One' comprised twenty-two items which were readily identifable as belonging to John O'Grady : the only immediate value of these to the investigation was fingerprint evidence which might be used to obtain a conviction .
'Category Two' contained 26 sundry items , among them a copy of 'The Sunday World' newspaper , a length of chain , a map of Cork and Kerry , a pair of socks with the label 'Trackers' , a hacksaw and a leaflet on combination locks . These , too , might yield fingerprint evidence but were unlikely in themselves to add anything of substance to the investigation .
'Category Three' was by far the most important : it contained just three items - a letter to a Mr. B. Jennings , a bank deposit book with an address on the northside of Dublin and a Guinness Bi-Centennial pass card made out in the name of Paul O' Suillivan , 'Traffic Department Staff Number 23726 ' . It might have been expected that the gardai would check out these items immediately . On Friday October 30 , 1987 , however , all fifty-one items in the rucksack were still in Midleton Garda Station . They were collected by Detective Sergeant Tom Foley of the Fingerprint Section and taken back to Dublin for examination .
On November 3 , 1987 , there was a conference held in Dun Laoghaire Garda Station , the HQ of the kidnap operation ; Detective Sergeant Henry Spring was assigned the task of checking out the Guinness Bi-Centennial pass , which he then collected from the Fingerprint Section on November 4th . There was no difficulty checking out the identity of Paul O' Sullivan - he has worked in Guinness's for twenty-five years . On November 5th , Detective Sergeant Spring and Detective Martin O' Connor called to Guinness's Brewery to see Paul O' Sullivan , who identified the card but said he had not seen it for a number of years .
The clue the gardai were following was an obvious and vital one in the kidnap investigation , but they had not acted on it for ten days .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, October 14, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES....... Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North . But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ? From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
A random check of some of the names on a list of imprisoned UDA members ( published in the October 1976 issue of the UDA's 'COMBAT' magazine) suggests that membership of the British 'security forces' was mentioned in as few as a third of the court cases which led to their convictions . However , to complicate matters further , it is almost certainly the case that some of the UDA prisoners listed joined the UDA after being charged in order , spuriously , to claim political motivation , and therefore political status .
The list is based on files of Dublin publications , particularly of 'Hibernia' and 'The Irish Times' ; many cases not reported in these publications , either for reasons of space or because they did not appear mewsworthy at the time , are therefore omitted . Some additional material has been supplied from his personal files by Larry Kildea of 'The Irish Press' newspaper .
Excluded is a substantial number of lesser cases invoving UDR personnel in sex offences , minor larcenies , fraud , driving offences and run-of-the-mill blackguardism . Other cases have been missed because the fact of defendants' UDR membership did not emerge . A final qualifying point is that the list includes , of course , only UDR personnel who were caught , and whom the North's DPP then considered it proper to prosecute , and who therefore were convicted in the courts . It is commonly argued from facts like these that the UDR is , effectively , the B Specials under another name . This is a mistake .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months . Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more . From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In recognition of the economic crisis in Irish agriculture , the Fenian John Devoy modified his ideas while maintaining his political position : instead of the type of movement outlined in the 'New Departure' proposals he accepted a purely agrarian one as advocated by Michael Davitt and was later to claim that he and Davitt "...speaking for large bodies of Fenians , although not official representatives .. " reached an agreement with Charles Stewart Parnell in 1879 - Parnell consistently denied such an agreement , which had four main points :
1. In the conduct of the public movement , as far as Parnell and Davitt were able to influence it , there should not be anything said or done to impair the vitality of the Fenian Movement or to discredit its ideal of complete national independence to be secured by the eventual use of physical force .
2. The demand for self government should not for the present be publicly defined , but nothing short of a national parliament with power over all vital national interests and an executive responsible to it should be accepted .
3. The settlement of the land question to be demanded should be the establishment of a peasant proprietory to be reached by compulsory purchase .
4. The Irish members of parliament elected through the public movement should form an absolutely independent party , asking and accepting no places , salaried or honorary , under the British government , either for themselves , their constituents or anyone else . (' 1169...' Comment - Compare those principle's with those of others who claim to be following the Fenian tradition .)
This policy was something of a gamble for John Devoy who , while admitting that the Movement could be sidetracked * into mere reformism , strongly insisted that "...the demands of the Land League will not be granted by a Parliament of British Landlords ... " ('1169...' Comment - * which has now happened to the 'others' mentioned above . )
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ....... The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers . First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 . By Michael O'Higgins .
17. ENTER FR. BRIAN D'ARCY . Dr. Austin Darragh had dispatched his chauffeur back to Limerick Cathedral ; the chauffeur lifted the statue right up off its wooden plinth and discovered the note underneath . Taken together , the ranson notes instructed that a courier go to the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork an one o'clock the following day , November 5 , 1987 ; the car driving there was to be equipped with a car phone . At the hotel reception the courier would get a call for a 'Mr Pat Murray' - on taking this call there would be further instructions .
The notes also gave the standard warning about contacting the gardai . The O'Grady family were resigned to paying the ransom and spent the day raising the money ; this presented difficulties in itself . Though Dr. Darragh is a person of considerable means , he did not have that kind of money in cash . But by now they realised that Dessie O'Hare was not bluffing . The gardai were fully aware of the family's intentions .
That evening there was a meeting of the State Cabinet sub-committee on Security to discuss the situation - the meeting was attended by (FS) Taoiseach Charles Haughey , Tanaiste Brian Lenihan , Justice Minister Gerry Collins , Defence Minister Michael Noonan , Garda Commissioner Laurence Wren and senior civil servants and advisors . The sub-committee was concerned about the decision by the O'Grady family to pay the ransom but , in view of Dessie O'Hare's well-proven capacity for mutilation , they found their position understandable . The meeting decided that the best course of action was a 'hands-off' approach .
The Silver Springs Hotel was to be staked-out by the Special Branch but no effort would be made to intercept payment . It was hoped to trail whoever picked up the money covertly and later , after John O'Grady was released , arrest the recipient . Fr. Brian D'Arcy was chosen by the O'Grady family to act as their courier .......
(MORE LATER).
A random check of some of the names on a list of imprisoned UDA members ( published in the October 1976 issue of the UDA's 'COMBAT' magazine) suggests that membership of the British 'security forces' was mentioned in as few as a third of the court cases which led to their convictions . However , to complicate matters further , it is almost certainly the case that some of the UDA prisoners listed joined the UDA after being charged in order , spuriously , to claim political motivation , and therefore political status .
The list is based on files of Dublin publications , particularly of 'Hibernia' and 'The Irish Times' ; many cases not reported in these publications , either for reasons of space or because they did not appear mewsworthy at the time , are therefore omitted . Some additional material has been supplied from his personal files by Larry Kildea of 'The Irish Press' newspaper .
Excluded is a substantial number of lesser cases invoving UDR personnel in sex offences , minor larcenies , fraud , driving offences and run-of-the-mill blackguardism . Other cases have been missed because the fact of defendants' UDR membership did not emerge . A final qualifying point is that the list includes , of course , only UDR personnel who were caught , and whom the North's DPP then considered it proper to prosecute , and who therefore were convicted in the courts . It is commonly argued from facts like these that the UDR is , effectively , the B Specials under another name . This is a mistake .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months . Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more . From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In recognition of the economic crisis in Irish agriculture , the Fenian John Devoy modified his ideas while maintaining his political position : instead of the type of movement outlined in the 'New Departure' proposals he accepted a purely agrarian one as advocated by Michael Davitt and was later to claim that he and Davitt "...speaking for large bodies of Fenians , although not official representatives .. " reached an agreement with Charles Stewart Parnell in 1879 - Parnell consistently denied such an agreement , which had four main points :
1. In the conduct of the public movement , as far as Parnell and Davitt were able to influence it , there should not be anything said or done to impair the vitality of the Fenian Movement or to discredit its ideal of complete national independence to be secured by the eventual use of physical force .
2. The demand for self government should not for the present be publicly defined , but nothing short of a national parliament with power over all vital national interests and an executive responsible to it should be accepted .
3. The settlement of the land question to be demanded should be the establishment of a peasant proprietory to be reached by compulsory purchase .
4. The Irish members of parliament elected through the public movement should form an absolutely independent party , asking and accepting no places , salaried or honorary , under the British government , either for themselves , their constituents or anyone else . (' 1169...' Comment - Compare those principle's with those of others who claim to be following the Fenian tradition .)
This policy was something of a gamble for John Devoy who , while admitting that the Movement could be sidetracked * into mere reformism , strongly insisted that "...the demands of the Land League will not be granted by a Parliament of British Landlords ... " ('1169...' Comment - * which has now happened to the 'others' mentioned above . )
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ....... The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers . First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 . By Michael O'Higgins .
17. ENTER FR. BRIAN D'ARCY . Dr. Austin Darragh had dispatched his chauffeur back to Limerick Cathedral ; the chauffeur lifted the statue right up off its wooden plinth and discovered the note underneath . Taken together , the ranson notes instructed that a courier go to the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork an one o'clock the following day , November 5 , 1987 ; the car driving there was to be equipped with a car phone . At the hotel reception the courier would get a call for a 'Mr Pat Murray' - on taking this call there would be further instructions .
The notes also gave the standard warning about contacting the gardai . The O'Grady family were resigned to paying the ransom and spent the day raising the money ; this presented difficulties in itself . Though Dr. Darragh is a person of considerable means , he did not have that kind of money in cash . But by now they realised that Dessie O'Hare was not bluffing . The gardai were fully aware of the family's intentions .
That evening there was a meeting of the State Cabinet sub-committee on Security to discuss the situation - the meeting was attended by (FS) Taoiseach Charles Haughey , Tanaiste Brian Lenihan , Justice Minister Gerry Collins , Defence Minister Michael Noonan , Garda Commissioner Laurence Wren and senior civil servants and advisors . The sub-committee was concerned about the decision by the O'Grady family to pay the ransom but , in view of Dessie O'Hare's well-proven capacity for mutilation , they found their position understandable . The meeting decided that the best course of action was a 'hands-off' approach .
The Silver Springs Hotel was to be staked-out by the Special Branch but no effort would be made to intercept payment . It was hoped to trail whoever picked up the money covertly and later , after John O'Grady was released , arrest the recipient . Fr. Brian D'Arcy was chosen by the O'Grady family to act as their courier .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, October 13, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
It is standard practice for any UDR member charged with a serious offence to be required to resign from the Regiment before appearing in court . He (or , in a very tiny number of cases , she ) is therefore described in court as a "...former.. " UDR member . Or the fact of UDR membership is not mentioned at all . For example , although Roderick Shane McDowell and Thomas Crozier , convicted in October 1976 of the Miami Showband massacre , were members of the UDR and operating in UDR uniforms at the time of the murders , this was not mentioned at their initial court appearance .
And it was not until after the conviction of the 'Shankill Butchers' in February 1979 that the UDR membership of one of their number , Edward McIlwaine , was made public , and then only after SDLP spokesperson Michael Canavan put a question publicly to Northern Secretary Roy Mason .
It is also worth noting that the UDA , in the October 1976 issue of its magazine 'Combat' , published a list of 57 UDA members serving time in Long Kesh who had been members of the 'security forces' as well : 17 of them were UDR . An accompanying article claimed - " This list by no means exhausts the numbers of ex-security forces now convicted of politically-motivated offences , and at least three times this number could be added if I were to include Magilligan Prison , Crumlin Road and the men in the other Loyalist paramilitary groups . "
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The Fenian James Fintan Lalor stated , re the land question - " Let the occupiers of the soil refuse all further payment of rent to the present usurping proprietors , until the people , the true proprietors ....have in national congress....decided what rents they are to pay and to whom . " Devoy further believed that the British government's certain refusal of the full Irish demand for land reform ('peasant' proprietory was seen as more radical and far reaching a settlement that Isaac Butt's policy of the three 'F' 's *) would create the condition for a withdrawal from the British parliament . (* Fair rent , Fixity of tenure and Freedom to sell the tenant right .)
In this belief (that the demands of land agitation could not be met by the British Government ) at no time was Devoy advocating that the demand for Irish independence be suppressed in favour of agrarian agitation ; on the contrary , he argued that the land question had to be expanded to give it a nationalist character . In fact he accepted the risk of Britain undercutting the agitation by conceding compromise demands ('1169...' Comment - ...as Westminster did in 1998 with the Stormont Treaty) as a justifiable risk because " ...good work will have been done , sound principles will have been inculcated and the country aroused and agitated .. " - in other words , in the event of a failure to win complete victory , John Devoy felt that at least a step forward would have been taken in the building up of nationalist forces .
Devoy called on the Fenians to enter political life to fight , in particular on the platform of land reform , and by doing so to strengthen their organisation and 'end their isolation' . The full political programme of the 'New Departure' was never agreed upon let alone implemented ; the IRB Supreme Council rejected it at a meeting in Paris in January 1879 although individual members were left free to take part in open political activity , though not to enter parliament . Furthermore , the economic crisis of Irish agriculture in 1879 plus the commencement of the agrarian agitation in Mayo reduced to some extent the relevance of these plans .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Detective Superintendent John Murphy , from Harcourt Square , Dublin , told Superintendent McGroarty to get the package to Portlaoise Garda Station where he had already made arrangements for someone to take it to Dublin : McGroarty handed the package to Detective Frank Duggan , emphasising that he get O'Grady's severed fingers to Portlaoise as quickly as possible . The package reached Detective Superintendent Murphy at 2.00 AM ; only then , three hours after they came into the possession of the gardai , were the fingers put on ice , before being rushed to Jervis Street Hospital , Dublin .
16. PAINKILLERS AND BEER .
Wednesday , November 4, 1987 , was the gloomiest of the twenty-three days of the kidnap for the gardai , the O'Grady family and John O'Grady himself ; he had awoke around 8.30AM - after breakfast , he took more painkillers , removed the dressings and washed his fingers in a basin of lukewarm water . There was a large clot on what remained of the little finger on his right hand , which he snipped with a scissors . Eddie Hogan helped apply a second tourniquet to the finger stump on that hand . In the afternoon he noticed the clot on the finger had worsened and decided he would have to remove this clot to stop the flow of blood . Immediately there was a spurt of arterial blood , which he managed to stop by using pressure with a linen dressing in his left hand .
He realised that the finger would have to be cauterised again , otherwise he might bleed to death . Dessie O'Hare was not in the house , so he called for Eddie Hogan and told him what had to be done . They went into the kitchen . On this occasion John O'Grady and gang members worked in tandem - there was no need to tie his legs together . He was put sitting in a chair and gagged ; one of the gang held his right arm which was put on the table , another man held his left arm . O'Grady wrapped his feet around the chair . Eddie Hogan cauterised the wound five or six times with a red-hot knife : the flow from the artery was checked and blood loss reduced to a trickle . O'Grady was retured to the alcove under the stairs , and Hogan gave him more painkillers and two bottles of beer to wash them down with . O'Grady then fell asleep .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
It is standard practice for any UDR member charged with a serious offence to be required to resign from the Regiment before appearing in court . He (or , in a very tiny number of cases , she ) is therefore described in court as a "...former.. " UDR member . Or the fact of UDR membership is not mentioned at all . For example , although Roderick Shane McDowell and Thomas Crozier , convicted in October 1976 of the Miami Showband massacre , were members of the UDR and operating in UDR uniforms at the time of the murders , this was not mentioned at their initial court appearance .
And it was not until after the conviction of the 'Shankill Butchers' in February 1979 that the UDR membership of one of their number , Edward McIlwaine , was made public , and then only after SDLP spokesperson Michael Canavan put a question publicly to Northern Secretary Roy Mason .
It is also worth noting that the UDA , in the October 1976 issue of its magazine 'Combat' , published a list of 57 UDA members serving time in Long Kesh who had been members of the 'security forces' as well : 17 of them were UDR . An accompanying article claimed - " This list by no means exhausts the numbers of ex-security forces now convicted of politically-motivated offences , and at least three times this number could be added if I were to include Magilligan Prison , Crumlin Road and the men in the other Loyalist paramilitary groups . "
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The Fenian James Fintan Lalor stated , re the land question - " Let the occupiers of the soil refuse all further payment of rent to the present usurping proprietors , until the people , the true proprietors ....have in national congress....decided what rents they are to pay and to whom . " Devoy further believed that the British government's certain refusal of the full Irish demand for land reform ('peasant' proprietory was seen as more radical and far reaching a settlement that Isaac Butt's policy of the three 'F' 's *) would create the condition for a withdrawal from the British parliament . (* Fair rent , Fixity of tenure and Freedom to sell the tenant right .)
In this belief (that the demands of land agitation could not be met by the British Government ) at no time was Devoy advocating that the demand for Irish independence be suppressed in favour of agrarian agitation ; on the contrary , he argued that the land question had to be expanded to give it a nationalist character . In fact he accepted the risk of Britain undercutting the agitation by conceding compromise demands ('1169...' Comment - ...as Westminster did in 1998 with the Stormont Treaty) as a justifiable risk because " ...good work will have been done , sound principles will have been inculcated and the country aroused and agitated .. " - in other words , in the event of a failure to win complete victory , John Devoy felt that at least a step forward would have been taken in the building up of nationalist forces .
Devoy called on the Fenians to enter political life to fight , in particular on the platform of land reform , and by doing so to strengthen their organisation and 'end their isolation' . The full political programme of the 'New Departure' was never agreed upon let alone implemented ; the IRB Supreme Council rejected it at a meeting in Paris in January 1879 although individual members were left free to take part in open political activity , though not to enter parliament . Furthermore , the economic crisis of Irish agriculture in 1879 plus the commencement of the agrarian agitation in Mayo reduced to some extent the relevance of these plans .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Detective Superintendent John Murphy , from Harcourt Square , Dublin , told Superintendent McGroarty to get the package to Portlaoise Garda Station where he had already made arrangements for someone to take it to Dublin : McGroarty handed the package to Detective Frank Duggan , emphasising that he get O'Grady's severed fingers to Portlaoise as quickly as possible . The package reached Detective Superintendent Murphy at 2.00 AM ; only then , three hours after they came into the possession of the gardai , were the fingers put on ice , before being rushed to Jervis Street Hospital , Dublin .
16. PAINKILLERS AND BEER .
Wednesday , November 4, 1987 , was the gloomiest of the twenty-three days of the kidnap for the gardai , the O'Grady family and John O'Grady himself ; he had awoke around 8.30AM - after breakfast , he took more painkillers , removed the dressings and washed his fingers in a basin of lukewarm water . There was a large clot on what remained of the little finger on his right hand , which he snipped with a scissors . Eddie Hogan helped apply a second tourniquet to the finger stump on that hand . In the afternoon he noticed the clot on the finger had worsened and decided he would have to remove this clot to stop the flow of blood . Immediately there was a spurt of arterial blood , which he managed to stop by using pressure with a linen dressing in his left hand .
He realised that the finger would have to be cauterised again , otherwise he might bleed to death . Dessie O'Hare was not in the house , so he called for Eddie Hogan and told him what had to be done . They went into the kitchen . On this occasion John O'Grady and gang members worked in tandem - there was no need to tie his legs together . He was put sitting in a chair and gagged ; one of the gang held his right arm which was put on the table , another man held his left arm . O'Grady wrapped his feet around the chair . Eddie Hogan cauterised the wound five or six times with a red-hot knife : the flow from the artery was checked and blood loss reduced to a trickle . O'Grady was retured to the alcove under the stairs , and Hogan gave him more painkillers and two bottles of beer to wash them down with . O'Grady then fell asleep .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
On the weekend of January 10th/11th 1970 the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis was held ; the structural proposals were carried but the non-participation in parliament policy remained on the books .
But then Denis Cassin , a leading Civil Rights activist and IRA man , stood up to propose a vote of confidence in the Army Council of the IRA . This was routine procedure . Cassin was armed at the time and , before he could propose the vote of confidence another armed delegate , Sean MacStiofain , was up proposing a vote of confidence in the Provisional Army Council : on the following morning the Dublin journalist instrumental in making the contact between the Belfast IRA and Fianna Fail announced the split in banner headlines .
The simmering split was complete ; the Dublin Government's monies which were going North were now directed only to the Provisionals . 'The Voice Of The North' newspaper continued in existence until the end of 1970 . The rest is already public knowledge - the ministerial sackings , the eventual Arms Trial , the inquiry by the Committee of Public Accounts into the £100,000 and the continuing power struggles in Fianna Fail .
[END of ' FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION' .]
(Tomorrow - ' UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES' - from 1984 .)
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In 1878 Charles Stewart Parnell was re-elected , with Fenian help and against the wishes of Isaac Butt , as President of the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain . At this point John Devoy offered Parnell the 'New Departure' package and the support of American (Irish) nationalists on the following conditions -
1. Abandonment of the federal demand and substitution of a general declaration in favour of self government .
2. Vigorous agitation of the land question on the basis of a peasant proprietory , while accepting concessions tending to abolish arbitrary eviction .
3. Exclusion of all sectarian issues from the platform .
4. Party members to vote together on all imperial and home questions , adopt an agressive policy and energetically resist coercive legislation .
5. Advocacy of all struggling nationalities in the British Empire and elsewhere .
The Fenian John Devoy further publicly suggested that a majority of members of (the British) Parliament , secured by such an alliance , should eventually meet as an Irish legislative " ...making that declaration a signal for a war of independence (if the country) were otherwise ready .. " . In relation to the land question he advocated involvement in the Land League , started in Connaught in 1879 by Michael Davitt and a handful of Fenian allies and poor tenants .
While deeply involved in land agitation , this section of the Fenians also felt that the land question was "...the material for victory.. " in the sense that James Fintan Lalor had first advocated .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Solicitor Hilary Prentice gave Dessie O'Hare an aircell telephone number where he could speak directly to Dr. Austin Darragh : O'Hare wanted to know if there was a tap on the aircell number . Prentice said she did'nt know , to which O'Hare replied - " They must be very naive . Tell them to wake up . Tell them to contact the 'Security Risk' crowd . " He then hung up , only to ring back immediately to make more threats . Prentice emphasised that the family wanted to co-operate . O'Hare told her that the fingers were in the mortuary chapel in Carlow Cathedral .
The O'Grady family were to put the note in Limerick and the note in Carlow together and that would instruct them how and when to pay the ransom . Inside the envelope in Carlow there were three envelopes - one containing the fingers of John O'Grady , another containing photographs of John O'Grady showing his fingers severed , and the third containing a note . O'Hare rang Prentice : " Now , if they have'nt got the ransom I don't know what I wil do . I'll chop this fucking bastard up . I'm reaching the end of my tether . Don't forget to go to Kilkenny to get the other message , " he repeated - she would need both messages . O'Hare then hung up the phone .
Hilary Prentice was more nonplussed than ever : where did Kilkenny come in ? Immediately the phone rang again - it was Dessie O'Hare ; when he said Kilkenny he really meant Limerick . Prentice updated the O'Grady family on the latest developments - the gardai were also informed . Detective Chief Superintendent Murphy of the Central Detective Unit in Harcourt Square contacted Superintendent John McGroarty in Carlow Garda Station to ask him to organise a search of Carlow Cathedral . Murphy's record of the call is that he made it at 8.45 PM . McGroarty asked Detective Frank Duggan to locate Rev. Tom Dillon , the keyholder , on the basis of a phone call he received at 10.15 PM .
At 11 PM McGroarty and Duggan were let into the cathedral by Rev. Dillon ; they found the note . McGroarty returned to the station and telephoned Detective Superintendent John Murphy in Harcourt Square . Murphy told him to open the package ; wrapped in blood-stained tissue were John O'Gradys fingers . Also in the package were the photographs and note referred to earlier by Dessie O'Hare in his conversation with Hilary Prentice .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
On the weekend of January 10th/11th 1970 the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis was held ; the structural proposals were carried but the non-participation in parliament policy remained on the books .
But then Denis Cassin , a leading Civil Rights activist and IRA man , stood up to propose a vote of confidence in the Army Council of the IRA . This was routine procedure . Cassin was armed at the time and , before he could propose the vote of confidence another armed delegate , Sean MacStiofain , was up proposing a vote of confidence in the Provisional Army Council : on the following morning the Dublin journalist instrumental in making the contact between the Belfast IRA and Fianna Fail announced the split in banner headlines .
The simmering split was complete ; the Dublin Government's monies which were going North were now directed only to the Provisionals . 'The Voice Of The North' newspaper continued in existence until the end of 1970 . The rest is already public knowledge - the ministerial sackings , the eventual Arms Trial , the inquiry by the Committee of Public Accounts into the £100,000 and the continuing power struggles in Fianna Fail .
[END of ' FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION' .]
(Tomorrow - ' UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES' - from 1984 .)
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In 1878 Charles Stewart Parnell was re-elected , with Fenian help and against the wishes of Isaac Butt , as President of the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain . At this point John Devoy offered Parnell the 'New Departure' package and the support of American (Irish) nationalists on the following conditions -
1. Abandonment of the federal demand and substitution of a general declaration in favour of self government .
2. Vigorous agitation of the land question on the basis of a peasant proprietory , while accepting concessions tending to abolish arbitrary eviction .
3. Exclusion of all sectarian issues from the platform .
4. Party members to vote together on all imperial and home questions , adopt an agressive policy and energetically resist coercive legislation .
5. Advocacy of all struggling nationalities in the British Empire and elsewhere .
The Fenian John Devoy further publicly suggested that a majority of members of (the British) Parliament , secured by such an alliance , should eventually meet as an Irish legislative " ...making that declaration a signal for a war of independence (if the country) were otherwise ready .. " . In relation to the land question he advocated involvement in the Land League , started in Connaught in 1879 by Michael Davitt and a handful of Fenian allies and poor tenants .
While deeply involved in land agitation , this section of the Fenians also felt that the land question was "...the material for victory.. " in the sense that James Fintan Lalor had first advocated .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Solicitor Hilary Prentice gave Dessie O'Hare an aircell telephone number where he could speak directly to Dr. Austin Darragh : O'Hare wanted to know if there was a tap on the aircell number . Prentice said she did'nt know , to which O'Hare replied - " They must be very naive . Tell them to wake up . Tell them to contact the 'Security Risk' crowd . " He then hung up , only to ring back immediately to make more threats . Prentice emphasised that the family wanted to co-operate . O'Hare told her that the fingers were in the mortuary chapel in Carlow Cathedral .
The O'Grady family were to put the note in Limerick and the note in Carlow together and that would instruct them how and when to pay the ransom . Inside the envelope in Carlow there were three envelopes - one containing the fingers of John O'Grady , another containing photographs of John O'Grady showing his fingers severed , and the third containing a note . O'Hare rang Prentice : " Now , if they have'nt got the ransom I don't know what I wil do . I'll chop this fucking bastard up . I'm reaching the end of my tether . Don't forget to go to Kilkenny to get the other message , " he repeated - she would need both messages . O'Hare then hung up the phone .
Hilary Prentice was more nonplussed than ever : where did Kilkenny come in ? Immediately the phone rang again - it was Dessie O'Hare ; when he said Kilkenny he really meant Limerick . Prentice updated the O'Grady family on the latest developments - the gardai were also informed . Detective Chief Superintendent Murphy of the Central Detective Unit in Harcourt Square contacted Superintendent John McGroarty in Carlow Garda Station to ask him to organise a search of Carlow Cathedral . Murphy's record of the call is that he made it at 8.45 PM . McGroarty asked Detective Frank Duggan to locate Rev. Tom Dillon , the keyholder , on the basis of a phone call he received at 10.15 PM .
At 11 PM McGroarty and Duggan were let into the cathedral by Rev. Dillon ; they found the note . McGroarty returned to the station and telephoned Detective Superintendent John Murphy in Harcourt Square . Murphy told him to open the package ; wrapped in blood-stained tissue were John O'Gradys fingers . Also in the package were the photographs and note referred to earlier by Dessie O'Hare in his conversation with Hilary Prentice .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
In December 1969 , the General Army Convention of the IRA was held at an old mansion-type house at Knockvicar , Boyle , County Roscommon ; this special convention was held to decide on the findings of an 'Internal Commission' which had been inquiring into the structure of the Republican Movement . Participation in parliament was also on the agenda .
Belfast was not represented at the convention because of the agreement with the 'dissidents' and the unique situation there . One delegate complained that other delegates were not collected at their pick-up points and blamed it on a move against those opposed to the proposed changes in electoral strategy .
The vote in favour of taking seats in parliament was carried by a very large majority (more than 3 to 1) and the IRA Chief Intelligence Officer up to then , Sean MacStiofain , declared that this was " ...the end of the IRA .. " : after the convention - nobody walks out of such gatherings- Ruairi O Bradaigh , Daithi O Conaill , Sean MacStiofain , John Joe McGirl and others met at O'Bradaigh's mother's house on the Battery Road , Longford .
On December 29th , 1969 , the first statement from the Provisional Army Council and signed in the name of 'P O' Neill' was published : it warned of the dangers to the abstentionist policy at the coming Sinn Fein Ard Fheis . On the weekend of January 10th/11th 1970 the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis was held .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In 1875 , Joseph Biggar , at that time a member of the IRB , which he joined while MP for County Cavan , initiated a policy of obstruction in the British House of Parliament . While this policy , aimed at delaying and frustrating the British Government from passing Irish coercion acts , outraged Isaac Butt , it was regarded with approval by even the most militant varities of Nationalist opinion , including some prominent Fenians .
Having said that , however , it should also be stressed that many Fenians , especially Kickam and O'Leary , remained totally opposed to any form of constitutionalism and the development of the IRB's attitude to the constitutionalists was an uneasy process , leading almost to the destruction of the IRB itself .
In 1877 , Joseph Biggar was joined by Charles Stewart Parnell and other Irish MP's and the policy of obstruction and filibustering undertaken by them increased their standing among militant nationalists , especially the Clann na Gael (the IRB's American ) leadership . At the same time , John Devoy was finding the relative absence of publicly expressed opposition to British rule in Ireland an impediment to enlisting foreign support for the Republican cause . The Clann na Gael leadership were already sold on the idea of an alliance of sorts with C. S. Parnell in which they hoped he would espouse separatism .
Discussions between Parnell and individual Fenians , like J.J. O' Kelly and Dr. William O'Connor , led them to believe that Parnell was committed to the principle of absolute independence , something to which he was not in fact disposed .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
Ampliclox antibiotics , Ponstan pain killers and k50 sedatives were administered to John O'Grady , who had just had two of his fingers cut off . Tony McNeill , one of the kidnap gang , had been upstairs in the house when that happened ; he came in to the room with a basin of hot water and dressings - " Jesus Christ , Jesus Christ ... " he repeated , and left . It fell to Eddie Hogan to apply the dressings , which proved inadequate . O'Grady instructed the gang to cut up a linen sheet and boil it for one hour to sterilise it , and told them to boil a scissors in the same way .
Under O'Grady's guidance , Hogan re-dressed both hands and applied a tourniquet to both fingers ; O'Grady then fell asleep holding his hands up to stop the bleeding .
15. "THERE'S TWO FINGERS LYING IN CARLOW CATHEDRAL ... "
Dessie O'Hare , meanwhile , had left Carnlough Road and was back on the telephone to Hilary Prentice ; he wanted her home telephone number so that he could ring her later to tell her where John O'Grady's fingers could be picked up . During that call it was clear to Prentice that O'Hare's temper had not improved . She began telling him that 'Auntie Bettie' had searched the area around the statue carefully - " It's just cost John two of his fingers . Now I am going to chop him up into bits and pieces and send you fresh lumps of him every fucking day if I don't get my money fast . " He told Prentice to send someone back to the cathedral and "...smash up the fucking statue if necessary .. " to get the note .
Dessie O'Hare rang Hilary Prentice at home that evening ; she told him that she had been in contact with the O'Grady family and they were anxious to co-operate - " Well they would want to now , because there's two fingers lying in Carlow Cathedral .." , replied O'Hare .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
In December 1969 , the General Army Convention of the IRA was held at an old mansion-type house at Knockvicar , Boyle , County Roscommon ; this special convention was held to decide on the findings of an 'Internal Commission' which had been inquiring into the structure of the Republican Movement . Participation in parliament was also on the agenda .
Belfast was not represented at the convention because of the agreement with the 'dissidents' and the unique situation there . One delegate complained that other delegates were not collected at their pick-up points and blamed it on a move against those opposed to the proposed changes in electoral strategy .
The vote in favour of taking seats in parliament was carried by a very large majority (more than 3 to 1) and the IRA Chief Intelligence Officer up to then , Sean MacStiofain , declared that this was " ...the end of the IRA .. " : after the convention - nobody walks out of such gatherings- Ruairi O Bradaigh , Daithi O Conaill , Sean MacStiofain , John Joe McGirl and others met at O'Bradaigh's mother's house on the Battery Road , Longford .
On December 29th , 1969 , the first statement from the Provisional Army Council and signed in the name of 'P O' Neill' was published : it warned of the dangers to the abstentionist policy at the coming Sinn Fein Ard Fheis . On the weekend of January 10th/11th 1970 the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis was held .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In 1875 , Joseph Biggar , at that time a member of the IRB , which he joined while MP for County Cavan , initiated a policy of obstruction in the British House of Parliament . While this policy , aimed at delaying and frustrating the British Government from passing Irish coercion acts , outraged Isaac Butt , it was regarded with approval by even the most militant varities of Nationalist opinion , including some prominent Fenians .
Having said that , however , it should also be stressed that many Fenians , especially Kickam and O'Leary , remained totally opposed to any form of constitutionalism and the development of the IRB's attitude to the constitutionalists was an uneasy process , leading almost to the destruction of the IRB itself .
In 1877 , Joseph Biggar was joined by Charles Stewart Parnell and other Irish MP's and the policy of obstruction and filibustering undertaken by them increased their standing among militant nationalists , especially the Clann na Gael (the IRB's American ) leadership . At the same time , John Devoy was finding the relative absence of publicly expressed opposition to British rule in Ireland an impediment to enlisting foreign support for the Republican cause . The Clann na Gael leadership were already sold on the idea of an alliance of sorts with C. S. Parnell in which they hoped he would espouse separatism .
Discussions between Parnell and individual Fenians , like J.J. O' Kelly and Dr. William O'Connor , led them to believe that Parnell was committed to the principle of absolute independence , something to which he was not in fact disposed .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
Ampliclox antibiotics , Ponstan pain killers and k50 sedatives were administered to John O'Grady , who had just had two of his fingers cut off . Tony McNeill , one of the kidnap gang , had been upstairs in the house when that happened ; he came in to the room with a basin of hot water and dressings - " Jesus Christ , Jesus Christ ... " he repeated , and left . It fell to Eddie Hogan to apply the dressings , which proved inadequate . O'Grady instructed the gang to cut up a linen sheet and boil it for one hour to sterilise it , and told them to boil a scissors in the same way .
Under O'Grady's guidance , Hogan re-dressed both hands and applied a tourniquet to both fingers ; O'Grady then fell asleep holding his hands up to stop the bleeding .
15. "THERE'S TWO FINGERS LYING IN CARLOW CATHEDRAL ... "
Dessie O'Hare , meanwhile , had left Carnlough Road and was back on the telephone to Hilary Prentice ; he wanted her home telephone number so that he could ring her later to tell her where John O'Grady's fingers could be picked up . During that call it was clear to Prentice that O'Hare's temper had not improved . She began telling him that 'Auntie Bettie' had searched the area around the statue carefully - " It's just cost John two of his fingers . Now I am going to chop him up into bits and pieces and send you fresh lumps of him every fucking day if I don't get my money fast . " He told Prentice to send someone back to the cathedral and "...smash up the fucking statue if necessary .. " to get the note .
Dessie O'Hare rang Hilary Prentice at home that evening ; she told him that she had been in contact with the O'Grady family and they were anxious to co-operate - " Well they would want to now , because there's two fingers lying in Carlow Cathedral .." , replied O'Hare .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, October 10, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Cathal Goulding , in an attempt to rally his troops , called a meeting of all key IRA men in the country ; the meeting was held in the gymnasium beneath Billy Wright's barber shop in Parkgate Street , Dublin . It was not a decision-making body - just the IRA Chief of Staff and his Council informing the key men in the organisation what was happening around them .
The Fianna Fail proposals were outlined , the situation in Belfast explained , and it was made clear that the IRA Army Council was against accepting the Fianna Fail offer - that offer was guns and money in return for a cessation of activities south of the border and the dropping of socialist policies everywhere . Daithi O Connell ( 'Mr Barry' was his IRA code name) was very vocal at the meeting and was obviously upset with the leadership .
Ruairi O Bradaigh (IRA code name 'Oliver' ) also expressed dis-satisfaction with the arms situation but he remained quite restrained . Sean MacStiofain explained his role in August (1969) when it appeared he had disobeyed the order for a withdrawal - he had not received the order to withdraw in time . The IRA Army Council intention was to 'flush out' the 'dissidents' in the ranks , but only Daithi O Conaill was in any way drawn .
Meanwhile , (FS) Taoiseach Jack Lynch commenced expressing views in conflict with his Government's sub-committee ; on September 27th , 1969 , speaking in Tralee , County Kerry , Mr. Lynch stated that the Dublin government had no intention of using force to end partition . In October 1969 Neil Blaney , speaking at celebrations for his 21st year in Leinster House , said - " The Fianna Fail party has never taken a decision to rule out the use of force if the circumstances in the Six Counties so demand ....... " ('1169...' Comment - Republicans would consider Westminster's claim of jurisdiction , and its use of force to maintain that claim , as 'circumstances so demanding' .) .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Fenianism was the first Irish political movement to channel the energies of agricultural labourers and small farmers - hitherto expressed through 'ribbonism' and faction fighting - into the national organisation ; by involvement in agrarion agitation and by a process of linking local 'discontents' with the national question , the Fenians fostered and developed a sense of national political consciousness .
While their recourse to physical force came to little in the ill-fated and badly planned 'insurrection' of 1867 , the IRB served as a school for sedition for the next generation .
All this lies outside the scope of this article but , in passing , it is worth mentioning James Connolly's view of this period , when he observed that "...a close study of the events of that time would immensely benefit the militant socialists of all countries . It would help to demonstrate how the union of the forces of social discontent with the forces of political agitation converted the latter from a sterile Parliamentarian impotent for good into a virile force transforming the whole social system and bringing a political revolution within the grasp of the agitators . "
The failure of the insurrection in 1867 and recriminations between the Irish and Irish American leaderships left the IRB considerably weakened ; many of its members had become involved in the Home Rule Movement of the 1870's which was led by Isaac Butt , who supported a system of Home Rule within a federal framework . He enjoyed the sympathy of many Fenians because of his efforts to secure amnesty for Fenian political prisoners . Following the election of 1874 , with the backing of a parliamentary party of about sixty members , Isaac Butt embarked upon a policy of convincing , by reason and debate , the British Government of the desirability of conceding Home Rule to Ireland based on a federal solution .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The hotel to be used as a contact point was closed and the ransom note had not been found ; Dessis O' Hare lost the cool - he told solicitor Hilary Prentice - " I am going to fucking chop his fingers off . How many fucking cathedrals in Limerick are there ? " There was more conversation between O'Hare and Prentice in which the latter assured him that his instructions had been followed . In the middle of the conversation O'Hare said " Fuck this " and hung up the phone .
O'Hare then returned to 260 Carnlough Road : he turned on Eddie Hogan whom he blamed for the mix-up over the Blarney Hotel and a swearing match ensued . Next O'Hare put on a balaclava and went to talk to John O'Grady under the stairs . He dictated a new note to O'Grady , instructing the courier to go to the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork with the money , car and telephone . O'Hare returned a few minutes later - he put two pillow cases over John O'Grady's head , and led him down to the kitchen , where his legs were tied together .
He was gagged and his head was covered again , with another two pillow cases . His left hand was splayed out and a bread board inserted underneath his hand . His small finger was then hacked off with a hammer and chisel by Dessie O'Hare . The finger was then cauterised three times with a hot knife to stop the blood flowing . O'Hare then did the same to the little finger on O'Grady's right hand .
The pillow cases were removed and the blacked-out glasses were put on O'Grady ; O'Hare then took three photographs of John O'Grady using the polaroid camera . He told O'Grady to " ... think of the seasons , think of Spring .. " and to keep his hands up beside his ears . The blood was trickling down his sleeves .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Cathal Goulding , in an attempt to rally his troops , called a meeting of all key IRA men in the country ; the meeting was held in the gymnasium beneath Billy Wright's barber shop in Parkgate Street , Dublin . It was not a decision-making body - just the IRA Chief of Staff and his Council informing the key men in the organisation what was happening around them .
The Fianna Fail proposals were outlined , the situation in Belfast explained , and it was made clear that the IRA Army Council was against accepting the Fianna Fail offer - that offer was guns and money in return for a cessation of activities south of the border and the dropping of socialist policies everywhere . Daithi O Connell ( 'Mr Barry' was his IRA code name) was very vocal at the meeting and was obviously upset with the leadership .
Ruairi O Bradaigh (IRA code name 'Oliver' ) also expressed dis-satisfaction with the arms situation but he remained quite restrained . Sean MacStiofain explained his role in August (1969) when it appeared he had disobeyed the order for a withdrawal - he had not received the order to withdraw in time . The IRA Army Council intention was to 'flush out' the 'dissidents' in the ranks , but only Daithi O Conaill was in any way drawn .
Meanwhile , (FS) Taoiseach Jack Lynch commenced expressing views in conflict with his Government's sub-committee ; on September 27th , 1969 , speaking in Tralee , County Kerry , Mr. Lynch stated that the Dublin government had no intention of using force to end partition . In October 1969 Neil Blaney , speaking at celebrations for his 21st year in Leinster House , said - " The Fianna Fail party has never taken a decision to rule out the use of force if the circumstances in the Six Counties so demand ....... " ('1169...' Comment - Republicans would consider Westminster's claim of jurisdiction , and its use of force to maintain that claim , as 'circumstances so demanding' .) .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Fenianism was the first Irish political movement to channel the energies of agricultural labourers and small farmers - hitherto expressed through 'ribbonism' and faction fighting - into the national organisation ; by involvement in agrarion agitation and by a process of linking local 'discontents' with the national question , the Fenians fostered and developed a sense of national political consciousness .
While their recourse to physical force came to little in the ill-fated and badly planned 'insurrection' of 1867 , the IRB served as a school for sedition for the next generation .
All this lies outside the scope of this article but , in passing , it is worth mentioning James Connolly's view of this period , when he observed that "...a close study of the events of that time would immensely benefit the militant socialists of all countries . It would help to demonstrate how the union of the forces of social discontent with the forces of political agitation converted the latter from a sterile Parliamentarian impotent for good into a virile force transforming the whole social system and bringing a political revolution within the grasp of the agitators . "
The failure of the insurrection in 1867 and recriminations between the Irish and Irish American leaderships left the IRB considerably weakened ; many of its members had become involved in the Home Rule Movement of the 1870's which was led by Isaac Butt , who supported a system of Home Rule within a federal framework . He enjoyed the sympathy of many Fenians because of his efforts to secure amnesty for Fenian political prisoners . Following the election of 1874 , with the backing of a parliamentary party of about sixty members , Isaac Butt embarked upon a policy of convincing , by reason and debate , the British Government of the desirability of conceding Home Rule to Ireland based on a federal solution .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The hotel to be used as a contact point was closed and the ransom note had not been found ; Dessis O' Hare lost the cool - he told solicitor Hilary Prentice - " I am going to fucking chop his fingers off . How many fucking cathedrals in Limerick are there ? " There was more conversation between O'Hare and Prentice in which the latter assured him that his instructions had been followed . In the middle of the conversation O'Hare said " Fuck this " and hung up the phone .
O'Hare then returned to 260 Carnlough Road : he turned on Eddie Hogan whom he blamed for the mix-up over the Blarney Hotel and a swearing match ensued . Next O'Hare put on a balaclava and went to talk to John O'Grady under the stairs . He dictated a new note to O'Grady , instructing the courier to go to the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork with the money , car and telephone . O'Hare returned a few minutes later - he put two pillow cases over John O'Grady's head , and led him down to the kitchen , where his legs were tied together .
He was gagged and his head was covered again , with another two pillow cases . His left hand was splayed out and a bread board inserted underneath his hand . His small finger was then hacked off with a hammer and chisel by Dessie O'Hare . The finger was then cauterised three times with a hot knife to stop the blood flowing . O'Hare then did the same to the little finger on O'Grady's right hand .
The pillow cases were removed and the blacked-out glasses were put on O'Grady ; O'Hare then took three photographs of John O'Grady using the polaroid camera . He told O'Grady to " ... think of the seasons , think of Spring .. " and to keep his hands up beside his ears . The blood was trickling down his sleeves .......
(MORE LATER).
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