1169 And Counting.....

Saturday, April 07, 2007

1916 EASTER RISING COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN , 2007 .

The Fool
by Padraic Pearse (Patrick Henry Pearse [Padraic Mac Piarais]).

"O wise men, riddle me this: what if the dream come true?
What if the dream come true? and if millions unborn shall dwell
In the house that I shaped in my heart, the noble house of my thought?
Lord, I have staked my soul, I have staked the lives of my kin
On the truth of Thy dreadful word. Do not remember my failures,
But remember this my faith
And so I speak.
Yea, ere my hot youth pass, I speak to my people and say:
Ye shall be foolish as I; ye shall scatter, not save;
Ye shall venture your all, lest ye lose what is more than all;
Ye shall call for a miracle, taking Christ at His word.
And for this I will answer, O people, answer here and hereafter,
O people that I have loved, shall we not answer together?"

A Commemoration to honour the men and women of 1916 will be held this Easter Monday (9th April) in Dublin : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
Organised by the Republican Movement. Details of other Republican Easter 1916 Commemorations can be found here.
All Welcome!

Friday, April 06, 2007

WHICH WAY FORWARD IN THE FREE STATE....... ?

In the wake of Sinn Fein successs in the North , republicans are increasingly having to confront the problem of building a realistic strategy for the very different political situation that exists in the 26 Counties . In this controversial analysis , Sinn Fein ard comhairle ('National Executive') member Paddy Bolger , argues that the Sinn Fein concept of an 'Economic Resistance Movement' , put forward in 1971 and expanded eight years later , is seriously over-optimistic , and that the national question remains the central revolutionary issue on which Free State workers can be mobilised in a painstaking and gradualist approach .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .

Unemployment in the 12 month period up to August 1983 increased by 36,000 to a total of 192,000 , yet despite this increase the most notable feature is the high turnover on the register . For example , from December 1982 to April 1983 , while 66,000 went on to the unemployment register , 48,000 came off it . Currently , only 46,000 (or approximately 25 per cent of those on the register) have been receiving unemployment benefits for longer than 15 months .

This figure represents roughly 5 per cent of the total potential workforce and actually compares favourably with the 7 per cent to 8 per cent level of long-term unemployment which was the norm during the 1960's .

In the supposedly explosive Dublin area there are currently 18,000 recent school leavers on the dole - yet they are concentrated in relatively few areas of the city , such as Finglas and Ballyfermot , which have traditionally experienced high levels of deprivation . Outside of Dublin , the scattered nature of the Industrial Development Authority - sponsored industrial base means that with few exceptions (e.g. Dunlop , and potentially Ford's at Cork) no great concentrations of industrial workers exist in any one area which could provide a strong impetus for anti-unemployment action . This is despite the harsh reality that more industrial workers are currently unemployed than are in work , and that traditionally major sources of jobs - such as the construction industry - are in collapse.......
(MORE LATER).

A SEGREGATED JAIL .......
Formerly Sinn Fein's national organiser , 28-year-old Belfast republican Jim Gibney has been imprisoned on remand since last January , one of many who have been held solely on the word of an RUC informer . Most of this period on remand has been spent in Belfast's Crumlin Road Jail.
In this article , smuggled out of Crumlin Road , Gibney outlines the daily routine in the jail , in which segregation between republican and loyalist prisoners -one of the hunger-strikers' five demands- plays a central , if 'officially' unrecognised , role .
From 'IRIS' magazine ,November 1982 .
By Jim Gibney .

All prisoners are locked up from 12.30pm to 2pm ; then , at 2pm , loyalists have an opportunity for exercise , following which they have their tea in the canteen . Again all prisoners are locked up between 4.15pm and 5pm . Republican prisoners get two hours' association starting at 5pm , one hour of which is spent in the yard and the second hour in the canteen . On alternate days , this procedure is reversed and operated in the loyalists' favour .

As can be seen , the routine is a cumbersome one to operate , especially when between 100-200 prisoners are in each wing . It could not be worked without the full co-operation of the prison administration but the 'official' acceptance - at the prison administration level - of the need for segregation , does not stop at the day-to-day running of the prison only . At the weekly remand courts on Tuesdays and Fridays , republicans and loyalists are segregated , and even in the area of education classes in Crumlin Road Jail, segregation has been implemented - a development which was unheard of prior to the hunger-strike .

As recently as September last (1982) , during discussions between the Board of Visitors and republican representatives , the Board agreed that segregation did exist and that they would argue for improvements within this established procedure . Republicans , however , regard the Board of Visitors as a toothless animal.......
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983.......
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From 'GRALTON' magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible 'footprint' .)

LEFT ALTERNATIVE: An alliance between the Communist Party Of Ireland, Official Sinn Fein and the Liaison Committee of the Labour Left. Formed in 1975 , it produced two economic manifestos and operated quietly in various areas but collapsed in 1976 because the participants had other priorities .

LEFT REVOLUTIONARY GROUP: Formed in 1976 as a breakaway from People's Democracy on the basis of stronger support for the military struggle and an analysis of the Loyalists as fascist . Changed its name to the Red Republican Party.

LIAISON COMMITTEE OF THE LABOUR LEFT: Formed in 1971 to re-group those left-wingers in the Labour Party who had not defected to the Socialist Labour Alliance. The 'Committee' collapsed in 1977 when the majority of leading members participated in the events which led to the formation of the Socialist Labour Party.
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, April 05, 2007

EASTER MONDAY COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN , 2007 :

" The people were tired of the RIC and their overbearing , strutting tyranny . The 'Law' and the 'Force' . Yes , and the Crowbar and the Battering Ram . The Torch and the Buckshot . The Bayonet and the Bullet and the Baton . These tools had been always associated with the 'Law' . The 'Force' was the eyes and the ears and the power behind the 'Law' . This is how my mother taught me the English alphabet :
A for the Army that covers the ground ,
B for the Buckshot we're getting all round .
C for the Crowbar of cruel ill-fame ,
D for Davitt , a right glorious name...... "

...an extract from Micheal O'Suilleabhain's book , 'Where Mountainy Men Have Sown', (Anvil Books , 1965).

It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Monday Commemoration (9April 2007) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
All Welcome!

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

WHICH WAY FORWARD IN THE FREE STATE....... ?

In the wake of Sinn Fein successs in the North , republicans are increasingly having to confront the problem of building a realistic strategy for the very different political situation that exists in the 26 Counties . In this controversial analysis , Sinn Fein ard comhairle ('National Executive') member Paddy Bolger , argues that the Sinn Fein concept of an 'Economic Resistance Movement' , put forward in 1971 and expanded eight years later , is seriously over-optimistic , and that the national question remains the central revolutionary issue on which Free State workers can be mobilised in a painstaking and gradualist approach .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .

Just as the Republican Movement can , with hindsight , be accused of naivity in the early 1970's in its confident assertions that each coming year would be 'Freedom Year' , it may well be that we are now assuming naively that the Free State establishment faces a politically insoluble economic crisis , and that all that is needed to spark the crisis is the touch-paper of republicanism's socialist ideology .

Let us begin by accepting honestly that we are not currently a major political force in the Free State - except in the reflective context of events in the North - and look briefly at the areas of unemployment (of youth in particular) , the trade unions , women's rights and EEC withdrawal as issues on which we can potentially mobilise :

Unemployment .
One frequent assertion by republicans is that the effect of the seemingly endless rise of unemployment will be to alienate the working class , and the young in particular , from the capitalist system. By the beginning of 1984 - most observers agree - the toll of jobless in the Free State will top 200,000 , or about 22 per cent of the working population - but where is the expected bubbling ferment of disillusioned youth ? A look at the annul live register goes some way to providing an answer........
(MORE LATER).

A SEGREGATED JAIL .......
Formerly Sinn Fein's national organiser , 28-year-old Belfast republican Jim Gibney has been imprisoned on remand since last January , one of many who have been held solely on the word of an RUC informer . Most of this period on remand has been spent in Belfast's Crumlin Road Jail.
In this article , smuggled out of Crumlin Road , Gibney outlines the daily routine in the jail , in which segregation between republican and loyalist prisoners -one of the hunger-strikers' five demands- plays a central , if 'officially' unrecognised , role .
From 'IRIS' magazine ,November 1982 .
By Jim Gibney .

Those in charge of prison policy at the 'NIO, such as 'Lord' Gowrie, know and accept that a system of segregation is being operated : their 'official' denial of such a reality , in typical British double-talk , claiming that it is the prisoners themselves who work this set-up and not the administration , is theoretically right but in actual practice is far removed from the truth . A look at an ordinary working day in Crumlin Road Jail shows clearly that peace exists because the prison administration operates a limited system of segregation -

- the day begins at 7.30 am when prison warders arrive on the landings . Prisoners awaken to a shout from a senior prison warder to the effect that either the 'RC's' (republicans) or 'Prods' (loyalists) are in the canteen for their breakfast . If it's the republicans , we will then eat our breakfast in the canteen while the warders supervise the 'slopping out' of those prisoners remaining in their cells . Then , when the republicans return from the canteen , we 'slop out' while the loyalists are washing and showering . At 9am exercise begins for the non-political prisoners , who are now located in 'B' wing : this , in itself - keeping non-political prisoners in a separate wing - is further evidence of the administration voluntarily operating a form of segregation .

The exercise session for the non-political prisoners ends at 10am and is followed by republicans exercising from 10am to 11.15am and , while we are exercising , loyalists continue to wash and 'slop out' . They then collect their dinner from the canteen and eat it in their cells , while republicans eat in the canteen . 'Lock Ups' are next on the agenda.......
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983.......
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From 'GRALTON' magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible 'footprint' .)

LABOUR YOUTH: Formed in 1979 as the youth movement of the Labour Party. MILITANT quickly established itself as the dominant influence .

LEAGUE FOR A WORKERS' REPUBLIC: Formed in 1968 as a hard Trotskyist breakaway from the Irish Workers' Group. Affiliated to the Organising Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International (known as 'Lambertists', and then 'Fourth International', and then 'International Committee For Reconstruction'. ) The 'League' played an important role in the Young Socialists, and following the failure of the Socialist Labour Alliance re-oriented itself to the Labour Party in 1976 . Some members participated in the Socialist Labour Party in 1977-1978 .

LEAGUE FOR WORKERS' VANGUARD: Trotskyist organisation formed in 1970 as a breakaway from the League For A Workers' Republic on the basis of support for the International Committee Of The Fourth International (known as 'Healyites') . The 'Vanguard' group changed its name to Workers' League in 1971 .
(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

EASTER 1916 COMMEMORATION , MONDAY 9th APRIL 2007, Dublin .

The Mother .

" I do not grudge them : Lord , I do not grudge
my two strong sons that I have seen go out
to break their strength and die , they and a few ,
in bloody protest for a glorious thing ,
they shall be spoken of among their people ,
the generation shall remember them
and call them Blessed :

But I will speak their names to my own heart
in the long nights ;
the little names that were familiar once
round my dead hearth .

Lord , thou art hard on mothers ;
we suffer in their coming and their going :
and tho' I grudge them not , I weary , weary ,
of the long sorrow .
And yet I have my joy ; my sons were faithful , and they fought . "

- PH Pearse , written hours before his execution , May 3 , 1916 .

It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Monday Commemoration (9 April 2007) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
All Welcome!

Monday, April 02, 2007

WHICH WAY FORWARD IN THE FREE STATE....... ?

In the wake of Sinn Fein successs in the North , republicans are increasingly having to confront the problem of building a realistic strategy for the very different political situation that exists in the 26 Counties . In this controversial analysis , Sinn Fein ard comhairle ('National Executive') member Paddy Bolger , argues that the Sinn Fein concept of an 'Economic Resistance Movement' , put forward in 1971 and expanded eight years later , is seriously over-optimistic , and that the national question remains the central revolutionary issue on which Free State workers can be mobilised in a painstaking and gradualist approach .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .

The Sinn Fein 'Eire Nua' document asserted with optimism : " It remains to indicate the lines along which Sinn Fein may win the support of the majority of the Irish people for the realisation of its objectives . It is clear that resistance to the British forces of occupation in the Six Counties is alone insufficient . It will be necessary to develop the unity of the people around a programme of economic resistance to the non-military aspects of imperialist interference in Ireland .

By this means it will be possible to safeguard the livelihood of the people , to frustrate the plans for a completely export-orientated , dependent , industrial economy on the East coast , and at major sea ports , with the rest of the country a depopulated 'tourist paradise' and to build up an institutional structure which will foreshadow certain state organs of the future Republican Government . " While this aspiration - with its primary intended application obviously being in the 26 Counties , rather than the North - is undoubtedly correct , it is increasingly necessary to look critically at the short and long-term feasibility of Sinn Fein building such 'extra-constitutional' mass agitation along the lines of the 'Economic Resistance Movement'.

In so analysing , it is essential not to look through the rose-tinted spectacles * of republican enthusiasm , but in the cold and uncomfortable light of the actual political situation in the Free State....... ('1169...' Comment * : Irish Republicans never owned a pair of "rose-tinted spectacles..." between them ! They are aware , from their own history , of the uphill nature of the path they have chosen . However , as in all such Struggles , there are , equally , those who ignore their own history and , wearing said "rose-tinted spectacles" , convince themselves that they have found 'friends' amongst their adversaries .)
(MORE LATER).

A SEGREGATED JAIL .......
Formerly Sinn Fein's national organiser , 28-year-old Belfast republican Jim Gibney has been imprisoned on remand since last January , one of many who have been held solely on the word of an RUC informer . Most of this period on remand has been spent in Belfast's Crumlin Road Jail.
In this article , smuggled out of Crumlin Road , Gibney outlines the daily routine in the jail , in which segregation between republican and loyalist prisoners -one of the hunger-strikers' five demands- plays a central , if 'officially' unrecognised , role .
From 'IRIS' magazine ,November 1982 .
By Jim Gibney .

The first significant shot in this protest was fired in November 1981 , not by Irish Republicans , but by Loyalists who are also demanding segregation : they took their protest on to the roof of the top security 'A' wing of Crumlin Road jail, having systematically wrecked the wing . Following this incident , loyalist politicians have periodically called publicly for segregation , claiming that loyalist prisoners ' are out-numbered and under threat from republicans' .

But warnings from both republican and loyalist camps of impending trouble between the prisoners , and as a consequence between prisoners and warders , have fallen on deaf ears at the 'Northern Ireland Office', which continues to issue statements proclaiming that it is not government policy to segregate prisoners according to their political beliefs . The comparison between this statement and the existing reality in the prisons , particularly Crumlin Road, shows it to be nothing other than a blatant lie .

For over six years , indeed since July 12th 1976 when a riot occurred in the canteen of 'C' wing between republicans and loyalists , the prison administration has operated a policy of segregating remand prisoners during meal-times , association and exercise periods , and while cleaning out their cells . The only time in Crumlin Road Prison that loyalist and republican prisoners 'mix' is when they are going to and from visits , and this practice existed even before political status was withdrawn in 1976 .......
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983.......
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From 'GRALTON' magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible 'footprint' .)

LABOUR PARTY: Formed in 1930 by the division of the Irish Labour Party and the Trade Union Congress into its constituent parts . Throughout the period the Labour Party has been the largest organisation numerically , although this strength was possibly rivalled for some time by Sinn Fein - this does not imply any great level of activity on the part of ts members , who are obviously heterogeneous in the level of activity and commitment . The election of Brendan Corish as leader in 1960 was followed by a cautious move leftwards and the adhesion of a radical layer of 'intellectuals' .

This development was helped by the entry of the National Progressive Democrats in 1963 , which raised the combined 'left' strength in Leinster House to 17 . But the 1969 general election was outwardly disappointing , reducing the strength from the 22 of 1965 to 18 , despite the vote increasing from 15.4 per cent to 17 per cent . The aftermath was the adoption of a coalitionist policy in 1970 and the departure of the most left-wing elements .

Through the period of the Cosgrave coalition (1973-77) and the first FitzGerald coalition (1981-82) and the following Fianna Fail governments , the Labour Party vote steadily declined and seats declined from a peak of 19 in 1973 . The 1977 general election also saw an outflow of left-wingers from the party .
(MORE LATER).

Sunday, April 01, 2007

WAL*McG and PSFCO.......

Through one of our many contacts in the political sphere - who , themselves , have regular dealings with people they describe as "...movers and shakers.." in the business world , we have learned that the Provisional Sinn Fein organisation is at the centre of a proposed take-over by one or other of the above-pictured supermarket chains .

Although late was the hour when our source confirmed this historic (!) news to us , we nonetheless , eventually , managed to contact a spokesperson for the Provos who , on hearing the amount of information we already had on the take-over,decided it would be in the produc....eh...party's best interest to "...bring a degree of clarity to this important and historic occasion , least the truth be submerged in a tissue of mis-direction from the securocrats who , as we all know ...etc etc " Anyway - just before blood started seeping from our ears - we managed to get the following sentence from that spokesperson : "....and , yes - going forward , and in the best interests of those whose votes we borrowed , I can confirm that we have once again sold ou...eh....arranged for closer cooperation between ourselves and one of the supermarket chains you mentioned . I cannot , however , confirm which supermarket chain ,as to do so would break the financial packag...em...agreement which our Gerry has entered into with said best-value multi-national confectionary-and-other-top-class-product retailer.."

Meanwhile.....

.....a part-time student , recently employed (on a temporary contract) by Tesco to round-up errant trollies in the local supermarker car park told us that "...the whole bleedin' gaff is wired with the buzz of the Provies takin' over here , so it is... " Sporting a rather naff pale green 'uniform' , Mickser pointed to the logo affixed to same - it read 'PSFCO' , accompanied by the legend (in small print) - 'if you shop elsewhere you will ruin this whole process'. In a foretaste of what may be to come , Mickser pleaded with us not to use his full name in our article as to do so could well render him to the 'Damaged Goods' section.....

WAL*MART , for its part ,told us that there is "...not a Gawd-damn thing wrong in big business buying a poo-lit-acal partee . I sure as Hell dunno how the syss-tim works in yer neck 'o the woods , Sonny Jim , but that there is the way we do business here.."
The spokesman continued on to tell us that his company's Board of Directors decided on purchasing the Provos after they had witnessed , over the past 21 years , how the leadership of that party had managed to sell all types of crap to its own people.
" Yep ! Sure thing ! If Jerrie A-dams can sucker-punch his own buddies like that , just think what he can do for us !! YEEHAW! "
This blog will post updates as they happen , although we do admit to suffering from a collective headache and sore eyes , no doubt due to repeatedly witnessing the same old rubbish being repackaged in bright new plastic boxes and sold to gullible punters.......

('1169...' Comment : normal service will resume tomorrow , April 2nd.....)

Saturday, March 31, 2007

EASTER 1916 COMMEMORATION , MONDAY , 9 APRIL 2007, Dublin .

'The Mother'.

" I do not grudge them : Lord , I do not grudge
my two strong sons that I have seen go out
to break their strength and die , they and a few ,
in bloody protest for a glorious thing ,
they shall be spoken of among their people ,
the generation shall remember them
and call them Blessed :

But I will speak their names to my own heart
in the long nights ;
the little names that were familiar once
round my dead hearth .

Lord , thou art hard on mothers ;
we suffer in their coming and their going :
and tho' I grudge them not , I weary , weary ,
of the long sorrow .
And yet I have my joy ; my sons were faithful , and they fought . "

- PH Pearse, written hours before his execution , May 3 , 1916 .

It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Monday Commemoration (9 April 2007) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
All Welcome!

Friday, March 30, 2007

WHICH WAY FORWARD IN THE FREE STATE ?

In the wake of Sinn Fein successs in the North , republicans are increasingly having to confront the problem of building a realistic strategy for the very different political situation that exists in the 26 Counties . In this controversial analysis , Sinn Fein ard comhairle ('National Executive') member Paddy Bolger , argues that the Sinn Fein concept of an 'Economic Resistance Movement' , put forward in 1971 and expanded eight years later , is seriously over-optimistic , and that the national question remains the central revolutionary issue on which Free State workers can be mobilised in a painstaking and gradualist approach .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .

The most regularly-drawn contrast in relation to Sinn Fein's position is that between the situation that existed for the party in the North prior to 1981 and the massive increase in Sinn Fein's influence and credibility in the North that has occurred since then .

But what about the other major contrast , as massively relevant to republican strategy as the Northern electoral interventions - the contrast between the state of the party in the North and in the Free State ? While few people would challenge the strong possibility of Sinn Fein securing majority electoral support among Northern nationalists * in the not so distant future , would anyone venture a comparable optimism about Sinn Fein's prospects in the 26 counties ? Undoubtedly not . ('1169...' Comment * It was actually those that left the Republican Movement in 1986 with Gerry Adams that "secured majority electoral support..." , but they done so by 'out-stooping' the Stoops, an 'opportunity' that was always available to Irish Republicans but which was only ever taken-up by those that left the Movement .)

And yet , the current social and economic situation in the South is almost identical to that projected in the Sinn Fein policy document adopted in early 1980 - ' Eire Nua : the Social , Economic and Political Dimensions ' (a revision of the 1971 Social and Economic Programme) . That document urged the immediate forging of an 'Economic Resistance Movement' centred on the trade unions and co-operatives and mobilising the people for national aims around issues such as unemployment , women's rights , youth , withdrawal from the EEC etc.......
(MORE LATER).

A SEGREGATED JAIL .
Formerly Sinn Fein's national organiser , 28-year-old Belfast republican Jim Gibney has been imprisoned on remand since last January , one of many who have been held solely on the word of an RUC informer . Most of this period on remand has been spent in Belfast's Crumlin Road Jail.
In this article , smuggled out of Crumlin Road , Gibney outlines the daily routine in the jail , in which segregation between republican and loyalist prisoners -one of the hunger-strikers' five demands- plays a central , if 'officially' unrecognised , role .
From 'IRIS' magazine ,November 1982 .
By Jim Gibney .

One year after the ending of the hunger-strike in the H-Blocks, the British government continues to refuse to concede some of the outstanding demands which prompted it .

Principal among these demands are the issues of segregation between republican and loyalist prisoners , and a full restoration of remission lost by prisoners during the six-year protest . Although the relationship in the North's prisons - Long Kesh, Armagh, Magilligan and Crumlin Road, which contains remand prisoners - between prisoners and prison warders has improved , this is due more to the ending of the no-wash and blanket protests by the prisoners which in turn led to the warders ending their physical assaults and the internal body searches than to any enlightened handling of the prison situation by the self-avowed 'liberal' prisons' minister , 'Lord' Gowrie.

More than enough time has passed since the hunger-strike ended on October 3rd 1981 for the necessary changes to be implemented if the British government was genuinely interested in preventing yet another major challenge to their prison policy , which was derailed last year when they were forced to concede the political prisoners' right to wear their own clothes . Since then , the focus of attention has switched to the issue of segregation - one of the original five demands which the British government has said it will not implement.......
(MORE LATER).

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .

Lunch was over and people trooped back in to the courtroom to listen , disbelievingly , while Raymond Gilmour continued to inform . Fifty-five more people will face his accusations when the present 'lot' are done with .

'How could he do it...' , they kept asking . How could Michael Quigley, too , have done it ? Quigley had already provided his own answer : he was not an informer , he told his cross questioner in court - he was 'a converted terrorist' . When had he 'converted' , the defence team asked him ? " On the road to Castlereagh Prison...." , he replied , his immobile face an identikit mask.

[END of 'THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR']
(NEXT : 'A Segregated Jail' : from 1982)

Monday, March 26, 2007

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .

Conversation turns from the RUC to court room procedure : the solicitors want to save cross examination until the formal trial next year . There's no point giving Raymond Gilmour a 'dry run' now , they argue - 'You're just giving the RUC time to prepare him..' . The RUC already know all the dirt there is to know about him , comes the counter argument - ' You can be sure they've broken him already , and remoulded him . Why give them more time . Throw stuff at him now , while he's still vulnerable...'

But is he vulnerable , they wonder then ? This is not the Raymond Gilmour some of them knew . Is that how they brainwashed people in Korea , in Vietnam ? " Never mind Gilmour , " said one woman , " ... look how the solicitors are brainwashed . A lot of money , for appearing in court , and they'll uphold any system . They should have withdrawn from the courts long ago . You wouldn't find informers being tolerated in an English system ."

Those words fall like stones on some hearts - one woman present has a son in the dock , and a solicitor son among defence counsel . The son in the dock is not allowed to sit beside his wife , of eighteen months , also charged . She got bail because she was pregnant , the child having since been born . If her husband is convicted of the killing of which he has been accused , her child-bearing years will be over by the time he gets out . Assuming her body is not destroyed in Armagh Jail, where she will probably be sent if Gilmour is believed . The young woman's mother keeps vigil in court , from her wheelchair.......
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983.......
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From 'GRALTON' magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible 'footprint' .)

IRISH WORKERS'GROUP (Mark 1) : This group changed its name from the Irish Communist Group in 1965 . An organisation in the Trotskyist tradition , it ceased to function in 1968 following the secession of the 'League for a Workers' Republic', but many of its members were already involved in the Labour Party or the Young Socialist Alliance.

IRISH WORKERS' GROUP (Mark 2) : Formed in 1976 following a breakaway from the Socialist Workers' Movement in the direction of a more rigorous adherence to Trotskyist doctrine . This group had close relations with the British Workers' Power Group.

IRISH WORKERS' LEAGUE: Formed in 1948 when the Communist Party Of Ireland had divided on a North/South basis in 1941 . It changed its name to the Irish Workers' Party in 1962 .
(MORE LATER).

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Saturday, March 24, 2007

RSF Easter 2007 : New Arrangements .

Republican Sinn Fein in Dublin has re-arranged its main Dublin Commemoration , from Easter Sunday (8th April) to Easter Monday (9th April) .
Apologises to those who had already made arrangements to travel to the main RSF Easter Commemoration in Dublin - the day on which that event will be held has been changed .

An Coiste Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta (the National Commemoration Committee) has requested that the Dublin Republican Sinn Fein organisation change its main Easter Commemoration from Easter Sunday (8th April) to Easter Monday (9th April) and , after consultation , the Dublin Comhairle Ceantair (Executive) of RSF agreed to do so .

The new arrangements are as follows :

Easter Monday (9th April) - assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for the parade to the GPO .

Easter Sunday (8th April) - Assemble at the gates of Deansgrange Cemetery at 1(one)pm .

Once again , apologises to anyone inconvenienced by this change of date .

Go raibh maith agat , agus slán go fóill anois ,

Sharon .

Friday, March 23, 2007

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .

It might take weeks to persuade the British magistrate to let the Gilmour family back into the courtroom , the solicitors informed them on the roadway . The forlorn little bunch , beaten by the RUC , ignored by their son , Raymond , ignored by some prisoners and relatives and ignorant of their father's fate , trailed off to the cars for the journey home .

The rest of the Derry people moved up the road to a portacabin, set on a concrete base , surrounded by protective fencing , pitched in the middle of a wasteland directly opposite Crumlin Road Jail. Inside the cabin , merrily decorated and spotlessly clean , and muggy with warmth , children played with toys . The cabin and its little canteen and its staff , offering voluntary service , was set up by an international children's organisation so that people can leave their children somewhere safe while they visit relatives in jail or in the court , or simply call in for tea and sausage-rolls and soup and biscuits , while awaiting developments . The staff were wonderful , handing out the cup that cheers !

How had those relatives who did not resent the Gilmours maintain composure while the RUC assaulted the Gilmour family ? " You think of RUC members being killed by the IRA , someday , somewhere . You keep that in your mind while you sit absolutely still , and you're not sorry at the prospect..." , said a mild Derrywoman , sitting in a Belfast wasteland , who normally spends the summer days sitting with her family on a Donegal beach.......
(MORE LATER).

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS.......

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the 'REAL LIVES' programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : " What about particular policies ? To make an inroad into Dublin you need policies to deal with the city's problems . "

GERRY ADAMS : " What happens nationally cannot be divorced from what happens in a city the size of Dublin . The reason why Dublin is so big is because of the breakdown in agriculture as an industry and the whole crumbling of the rural population , the dependence along the Eastern seaboard upon Britain .

This means that some people come to Dublin for work or to live or for some sort of opportunity . Then you have all the housing estates - I mean , the Ballymun mistake was repeated in Tallaght, except on a two-storey level . No facilities , no opportunities for young people , the lack of an attempt to create employment on the basis of building infrastructure , and the dependence on borrowing . What we have been saying is that the administration of local government should include more accountability to local people and a move towards labour-intensive industries . There are cuts in education which means that there are teachers on the dole . There is a need with a young population for more schools and hospitals , for roads - all of which can be used to provide jobs as well as a service .

I think that in many of the deprived areas people are quite justified in being cynical . Probably the most telling thing about Dublin was that only forty per cent of the population actually voted : the system of clientelism quite surprised me - I mean , I'm an MP in West Belfast and I deliberately don't send people letters saying ' Dear Mrs Smith , I enclose a letter from the city manager about your complaint about your gutters...' (See 'New Departures...' , here) I am surprised by the extent to which it goes on here . "
(MORE LATER).

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .

People are informing against Raymond Gilmour and Michael Quigley now . Word went out that defence solicitors needed to know everything there was to know about the two men in order to mount a cross questioning assault , along the lines of character assassination , and information came back in abundance . The kitchen sink was thrown at the informer Michael Quigley in court : things that would not have been said publicly against any Derryman or Derrywoman a decade ago , have been dredged up and 'touted' aloud .

Why did you not enquire too closely into who sent those Christmas presents to your children , the defence enquired of Quigley ? Was it because you knew one of the two children was not fathered by you ? Do the names of these three women mean something to you because you had affairs with them after you married ? ('The Irish News' newspaper, incredibly , printed the names of the women , one of whom is herself married) Did you , who claim a moral conversion against 'terrorism' , consider it immoral to beat your wife ? Weren't you in the remedial class at school ? And so it went .....

Michael Quigley's parents and brothers and sisters , still living in Derry , have to live with this expose of their son . The Gilmours are being prepared for similar , and 'worse' , revelations about Raymond : information is flowing in and spilling over - private reticence abouit other people's family life has been awesomely sundered . It is almost merciful that the Gilmours have been thrown out of court and will not be there to hear it . Except that they must try to get back in , and sit silently , as the shameful flood bursts over them , in the hope of reaching Raymond's heart and saving the father.......
(MORE LATER).

Monday, March 19, 2007

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .

Punish Raymond Gilmour , punish the Gilmours , punish somebody for what is being done to us . There are fewer and fewer jokes around Derry about how the 62-year-old father is having the time of his life somewhere in Donegal , in the company of 'the lads' . Fewer jokes about how it does a man good to get away from the wife .

If Mr Gilmour is shot now , the reasoning goes , it will only stiffen Raymond Gilmour's resolve . There's no point shooting him after the trial , either , since the damage will have been done . There is a point , though , to shooting him dead , anyway , as a warning to other informers . Unless the Gilmour family can draw Raymond back from the brink . That family , isolated now , draw emotional sustenance from Sinn Fein , because few others will speak to them , and live in dread of what the Provisional IRA will do . This deadly scenario has become a commonplace of casual discussion in Derry .

No one has come to Raymond Gilmour's public defence : 'officially' , he's doing what the Catholic Bishop of Derry and the SDLP (...and , now , the 'Please Stoop Furthers', too..) have repeatedly called for - he's giving information about killings and such - but neither the Bishop nor the SDLP have defended his stance . This has not gone unnoticed : in the absence of authoritative moral guidelines - from those who claim to know - people have wandered into a moral maze . The mental savagery of the Belfast courtroom has seeped like a virus across the land and into the streets of Derry.......
(MORE LATER).