THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Sunday 12th August 1984 ; two days after the killing of Detective Frank Hand . Noel McCabe went to Tommy Eccles's house . Eccles was there with Paul Finnegan - McCabe asked them about the robbery but Finnegan warned him not to talk about it to anyone or he would be shot - " It went wrong , we did'nt mean to shoot anyone , " said Finnegan , " I did'nt intend to involve you in anything like this . " Then he laughed . " It's only another stiff , anyway . "
When Finnegan was gone McCabe and Eccles talked : " It's ironic , " said Eccles , according to McCabe , " but it's a Scotsman who shot him . "
The gardai drew up a questionnaire and began a house-to-house inquiry . On Monday 13th August 1984 both Seamus Lynch and Joe Gargan received routine visits at their homes in Kentstown ; both answered the routine questions , placing themselves well away from Drumree at the time of the killing (which was , in fact , true ) . A Garda Michael Miley interviewed Joe Gargan - he thought that Gargan talked a lot , very freely , but gave short and to-the-point answers to specific questions about his movements . There was space at the bottom of the questionnaire marked - ' Member's Personal Opinion ? ' ; Garda Miley wrote - ' Very talkative , seemed very friendly , but not genuine . '
The Gardai lifted a lot of people , the routine round-up . Among them were Seamus Lynch , Joe Gargan , Tommy Eccles and Paddy Duffy . They all made statements , some bare admissions of their own roles in the robbery , others lengthier and fuller . There would later be allegations of garda beatings , but there was little evidence to sustain them . What seemed to have happened is that , faced with the unexpected enormity of the situation in which they found themselves , the suspects crumbled .
The money and guns were recovered from the shed at Kentstown .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
One of the 'signs' that the Reverend Ivan Foster sees that 'the End' may be at hand , that it may be necessary to fight on to Armageddon , is that homosexuality has been legalised in the North of Ireland - " As a Protestant , and not a mere political Protestant , but as one who without apology believes the Bible , I come to portions of the scripture like Romans Chapter 1 where it indicates that society and mankind reaches the depths of decline and depravity when men turn from the natural use of women unto men . That's the pits , to use a modern phrase - you can go no lower . Paul at that stage speaks about the judgement of God coming upon a nation that does that . And whether we like it or don't like it , history indicates that when nations decline to those depths , they come to an end .
It may have been their next door neighbour that put an end to them , and you may see no more to it than that , but I as a Christian see the moving of the neighbouring nation against the decadent nation as the judgement of God . Consequently I abhor the legalising of sodomy . I like that term , because if nothing else it annoys those who prefer to use modern euphemisms for what is nothing less than the sin which is associated with a city the doom of which is recorded in scripture . " ('1169...' Comment - .... and that , reader , is the closed and defunct mind-set of those that most Unionists/Loyalists voted-in as their representatives . 'Trouble' was , and is , inevitable ....)
Gregory Campbell shares this 'horror' : " It's an evil , wicked , abhorrent practice . My opposition to that is based on the bible and also based on natural justice and I know many people who do not share my Protestant faith but who would share my opposition to homosexuality because they believe it is something which would corrupt society as a whole , and is something so radically awful as to merit total and utter opposition . You're not even talking about something which is a run-of-the-mill sexual practice but something which is totally and utterly depraved , and to me anyway the AIDS scare which is currently running through America is proof that homosexual practice is something which calls upon the curse of God ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE LONG KESH ESCAPE - SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 1983 .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
No 'By-Line' .
Unfortunately , the plan of escape began to go wrong at the first 'tally-hut' due to there being larger numbers of Screws coming on duty than anticipated . While the escapees kept arresting more and more Screws , the situation got out of control and the alarm was raised . At this point the escapees were forced to make a run for it on foot across fields , many of them successfully commandeering local cars . In the final melee several Screws were stabbed and one escapee , Harry Murray , was shot and wounded .
It was inevitable , given the eventual breakdown of the plan , that there would be some re-arrests , some within minutes and some within two days of the break-out . Nonetheless , the massive total of 19 Republican prisoners of war did successfully escape and eventually reach freedom - to the massive embarrassment of the British and the jubilation of Nationalists throughout the 32 Counties !
The 19 H-Block escapees that were then at liberty are - Kevin Barry Artt , (24) North Belfast ; Paul Brennan (30) Ballymurphy ; Seamus Campbell (26) Coalisland , County Tyrone ; James Clarke (27) Letterkenny , County Donegal ; Seamus Clarke (27) Ardoyne ; Gerard Fryer (24) Turf Lodge ; Dermot Finucane (22) Lenadoon ; Kieran Fleming (23) Derry ; Anthony Kelly (22) Derry ; Gerry Kelly (30) Belfast ; Anthony McAllister (25) Belfast ; Gerard McDonnell (32) Belfast ; Seamus McElwair (22) Scotstown , County Monaghan ; Brendan McFarane (31) Ardoyne ; Padraic McKearney (29) Moy , County Tyrone ; Dermot McNally (26) Lurgantarry , North Armagh ; Robert Russell (25) Ballymurphy ; Terence Kirby (27) Andersonstown ; and James Smith (38) Ardoyne .
[END of ' THE LONG KESH ESCAPE - SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 1983 '].
(MONDAY , JULY 4 : ' McFARLANE - THE INSIDE STORY').
Thursday, June 30, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Tommy Eccles , Pat McPhillips and the man with the ear-ring got into Noel McCabe's blue Ford Cortina and he drove them off towards Dundalk ; the three passengers were white-faced , arguing . McCabe started to ask them what happened when McPhillips said " Shut up , drive ! " . The car wound its way through the narrow roads with McPhillips barking " Left , right , right , left ," several times , before admitting he was lost .
The panic in the car was such that at Julianstown , three or four miles from Drogheda , Noel McCabe ordered the others out of the car , in fear they would run into a garda checkpoint ; McPhillips and the man with the ear-ring got out and made their way on foot . McCabe agreed to drive Tommy Eccles into Drogheda ; he did so . Then he drove on to Dundalk and went to Mass before returning home .
In Drogheda , Tommy Eccles went into a shop and bought a peach - he ate it walking along the street , then he went into St. Peter's Church , the one with Oliver Plunkett's head , and thanked God he had got away . Seamus Lynch drove the guns and money to a big shed about a mile from Kentstown . Joe Gargan was waiting there for him . Lynch hid the guns and money inside an empty tank in the shed and then went home . The 9am news on the radio said a garda had been killed at Drumree .
Tommy Eccles took a taxi home to Dundalk from Drogheda . The taxi driver , a Mrs Dempsey , told him there had been something on the news about a garda being shot dead at Drumree . Eccles felt sick .
Meanwhile , the beige Opel Ascona had disappeared in another direction , taking the 'heavies' , the ones who had used the guns , to safety .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Gregory Campbell , DUP , went on to say - " I would look in the Old Testament where the children of Israel were put in a similiar position . In the land where Pharaoh was king over them , they were told that there was no peaceable way out and the only option was to rise up and rebel and Moses led them out of Egypt though they were told by the Pharaoh that they were breaking his laws in doing so . They used physical breach of the laws in order to extricate themselves from the position that Pharaoh had gotten them into , but they only did that after Moses went to Pharaoh and said 'Let my people go' .
What we're doing is the exact same thing . We will not go outside the law if we can do it inside the law , but at the end of the day we will take that option of breaking the law . " ('1169....' Comment - What a twisted sense of 'Moral values' : Campbell and his like were already 'outside the law...' by the very nature of their mis-treatment of the Nationalists in the Six County area . )
For Ivan Foster and Gregory Campbell , the 'signs' are not only in the political dealings of the Anglo-Irish summit , but also in the 'wickedness of man' which is courting Armageddon . Ivan Foster sees the breakdown of law and order in the Northern state as linked to moral depravity - " I would be very concerned for the future of any country (sic) that continues to liberalise and liberalise and liberalise . Because it is an indisputable fact that alongside recent developments , liberal trends , there has been an increasing social problem regarding law and order , in the home , in the marriage , in the schoolroom or just on the streets .
It may be argued that there is no link , but I think there is a link . I recognise as a Protestant that if a Protestant loses his Protestantism , then he loses all motivation for opposing a United Ireland . It's immaterial to him who serves the Guinness as long as it's served . Under what flag does'nt matter , the political consequences of change don't matter . I see the danger of a population undermined by libertine trends that is gradually abolishing its spiritual heritage , its spiritual base , and since its spiritual base was always the source of its opposition to a United Ireland philosophy , that opposition will disappear .
I think that we must take note of the fact that there is a great deal of co-ordination in all this . So I look for a co-ordinator . And as a conservative and orthodox Protestant I look to find the co-ordinator revealed to me in scripture - namely the power of Satan is at work ....... " ('1169...' Comment - Phew ! Congratulations , reader , if you are still with us after that complete load of bilge ! Definately the product of a much-trouble mind ; people like Foster and Campbell were placed into positions of authority in the Six Counties by their colleagues in Westminster . And people like those two fanatics are STILL in such positions but have , for the most part , learned to keep their 'Armageddon/Satan' clap-trap confined to inhouse meetings .)
(MORE LATER).
THE LONG KESH ESCAPE - SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 1983 .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
No 'By-Line' .
On a given signal , once everyone was in position , IRA Volunteers overpowered and arrested all the prison Screws in the Block , many of the Volunteers subsequently changing into their uniforms . During the seizure of control one Screw - on duty in a locked control room - was shot twice in the head when he ignored orders to lie on the floor and instead made a lunge for the alarm . Control of the Block was completed when 'Bic' McFarlane , accompanied by two IRA Volunteers dressed as Screws , arrested the Screw on duty in the front gate enclosure . It was now about 2.45pm .
Some time later the food lorry bringing evening meals to H7 arrived ; 37 IRA Volunteers climbed into the back while another lay on the floor of the cab holding a gun on the Screw driving the lorry . The lorry then drove through a series of 'security gates' in the Long Kesh complex manned by unsuspecting Screws and in full view of armed Brit sentry posts . It eventually arrived at a 'tally hut' close to a back gate of the prison camp ; the plan was to arrest the Screws in the 'tally hut' and , leaving five Volunteers in control , drive the food lorry a further quarter mile to the front gate 'tally hut' which the escapees would then take control of , leaving two Volunteers there , before driving out in the food lorry to freedom .
Meanwhile , the five Volunteers in the first 'tally hut' would obtain a Screw's car from the adjoining car park , drive to the front gate where the two Volunteers in control there would clamber into the boot , and also make their escape . That was the plan of escape ; unfortunately , it was not to be .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Tommy Eccles , Pat McPhillips and the man with the ear-ring got into Noel McCabe's blue Ford Cortina and he drove them off towards Dundalk ; the three passengers were white-faced , arguing . McCabe started to ask them what happened when McPhillips said " Shut up , drive ! " . The car wound its way through the narrow roads with McPhillips barking " Left , right , right , left ," several times , before admitting he was lost .
The panic in the car was such that at Julianstown , three or four miles from Drogheda , Noel McCabe ordered the others out of the car , in fear they would run into a garda checkpoint ; McPhillips and the man with the ear-ring got out and made their way on foot . McCabe agreed to drive Tommy Eccles into Drogheda ; he did so . Then he drove on to Dundalk and went to Mass before returning home .
In Drogheda , Tommy Eccles went into a shop and bought a peach - he ate it walking along the street , then he went into St. Peter's Church , the one with Oliver Plunkett's head , and thanked God he had got away . Seamus Lynch drove the guns and money to a big shed about a mile from Kentstown . Joe Gargan was waiting there for him . Lynch hid the guns and money inside an empty tank in the shed and then went home . The 9am news on the radio said a garda had been killed at Drumree .
Tommy Eccles took a taxi home to Dundalk from Drogheda . The taxi driver , a Mrs Dempsey , told him there had been something on the news about a garda being shot dead at Drumree . Eccles felt sick .
Meanwhile , the beige Opel Ascona had disappeared in another direction , taking the 'heavies' , the ones who had used the guns , to safety .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .......
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Gregory Campbell , DUP , went on to say - " I would look in the Old Testament where the children of Israel were put in a similiar position . In the land where Pharaoh was king over them , they were told that there was no peaceable way out and the only option was to rise up and rebel and Moses led them out of Egypt though they were told by the Pharaoh that they were breaking his laws in doing so . They used physical breach of the laws in order to extricate themselves from the position that Pharaoh had gotten them into , but they only did that after Moses went to Pharaoh and said 'Let my people go' .
What we're doing is the exact same thing . We will not go outside the law if we can do it inside the law , but at the end of the day we will take that option of breaking the law . " ('1169....' Comment - What a twisted sense of 'Moral values' : Campbell and his like were already 'outside the law...' by the very nature of their mis-treatment of the Nationalists in the Six County area . )
For Ivan Foster and Gregory Campbell , the 'signs' are not only in the political dealings of the Anglo-Irish summit , but also in the 'wickedness of man' which is courting Armageddon . Ivan Foster sees the breakdown of law and order in the Northern state as linked to moral depravity - " I would be very concerned for the future of any country (sic) that continues to liberalise and liberalise and liberalise . Because it is an indisputable fact that alongside recent developments , liberal trends , there has been an increasing social problem regarding law and order , in the home , in the marriage , in the schoolroom or just on the streets .
It may be argued that there is no link , but I think there is a link . I recognise as a Protestant that if a Protestant loses his Protestantism , then he loses all motivation for opposing a United Ireland . It's immaterial to him who serves the Guinness as long as it's served . Under what flag does'nt matter , the political consequences of change don't matter . I see the danger of a population undermined by libertine trends that is gradually abolishing its spiritual heritage , its spiritual base , and since its spiritual base was always the source of its opposition to a United Ireland philosophy , that opposition will disappear .
I think that we must take note of the fact that there is a great deal of co-ordination in all this . So I look for a co-ordinator . And as a conservative and orthodox Protestant I look to find the co-ordinator revealed to me in scripture - namely the power of Satan is at work ....... " ('1169...' Comment - Phew ! Congratulations , reader , if you are still with us after that complete load of bilge ! Definately the product of a much-trouble mind ; people like Foster and Campbell were placed into positions of authority in the Six Counties by their colleagues in Westminster . And people like those two fanatics are STILL in such positions but have , for the most part , learned to keep their 'Armageddon/Satan' clap-trap confined to inhouse meetings .)
(MORE LATER).
THE LONG KESH ESCAPE - SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 1983 .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
No 'By-Line' .
On a given signal , once everyone was in position , IRA Volunteers overpowered and arrested all the prison Screws in the Block , many of the Volunteers subsequently changing into their uniforms . During the seizure of control one Screw - on duty in a locked control room - was shot twice in the head when he ignored orders to lie on the floor and instead made a lunge for the alarm . Control of the Block was completed when 'Bic' McFarlane , accompanied by two IRA Volunteers dressed as Screws , arrested the Screw on duty in the front gate enclosure . It was now about 2.45pm .
Some time later the food lorry bringing evening meals to H7 arrived ; 37 IRA Volunteers climbed into the back while another lay on the floor of the cab holding a gun on the Screw driving the lorry . The lorry then drove through a series of 'security gates' in the Long Kesh complex manned by unsuspecting Screws and in full view of armed Brit sentry posts . It eventually arrived at a 'tally hut' close to a back gate of the prison camp ; the plan was to arrest the Screws in the 'tally hut' and , leaving five Volunteers in control , drive the food lorry a further quarter mile to the front gate 'tally hut' which the escapees would then take control of , leaving two Volunteers there , before driving out in the food lorry to freedom .
Meanwhile , the five Volunteers in the first 'tally hut' would obtain a Screw's car from the adjoining car park , drive to the front gate where the two Volunteers in control there would clamber into the boot , and also make their escape . That was the plan of escape ; unfortunately , it was not to be .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Mary Gilsenan , Michael's mother , was in the family bungalow about 60 yards away ; she had heard the shots , so she rang the post office to find out what was happening . The receiver was lifted immediately and Michael shouted - " DIAL 999 ..... " then the phone was slammed down . She dialled 999 three times before being put through to Dublin Castle .
The money and guns were by now dumped in the Opel Ascona and the red Mercedes and both cars sped off . Just before the second car left the leader said - " If that fucking bastard moves , fucking shoot him , shoot him ! " Then the cars were gone . Detective Michael Dowd did'nt know if any raiders remained behind . James Gorman , who lived about 50 yards on the other side of the post office , had already seen the activity , and heard the shots ; he got 999 and was put through to the gardai , his son David was watching the events unfold and shouting information to his father , who in turn passed it on to the gardai . He saw the cars speed away .
Detective Dowd , lying on the ground beside the garda car , looked across at J.J. Bell lying face down - " Are they all gone ? " Things were very quiet . Donal Brady came out from the shed behind the post office ; " Are you alright , J.J. ? " , he called to Bell . Detective Dowd looked around and under the car at his partner - " Are you alright , Frank ..... ? " The ambulance came from Navan ; it arrived after almost half an hour , around 8.35am . Nurse Olivia Reilly felt for Detective Frank Hand's pulse but could find none .
It was 8.05am : Seamus Lynch , the Provo in Kentstown , had gone to Joe Gargan's house , went up to his bedroom and Gargan had given him the keys to his yellow Ford Escort . Lynch was now arriving at the field at Rathfeigh ; Noel McCabe was waiting in his 'borrowed' blue Ford Cortina , at the crossroads where he was to pick up 'the lads' . The red Mercedes , driven by Tommy Eccles , came speeding along , on its way from Drumree , past McCabe , who followed it to the field at Rathfeigh . The yellow Escort was already there .
There was panic in the field ; the men from the Mercedes were shouting and arguing about the shooting of the garda , running around in circles . The money , guns , boiler suits and walkie-talkies were dumped in the boot of the yellow Escort and Seamus Lynch drove it away to Kentstown . Petrol was thrown on the Mercedes and it was set on fire .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Ivan Foster , erstwhile Commander of the Reverend Ian Paisley's 'Third Force' , believes he may be living in the 'Last Days' . An evangelical minister living in Fermanagh , on the border with the Republic , he reads dark signs in his bible these days - " I turn to the New Testament where in the words of Christ , of Paul and Peter , very clear predictions are made regarding the 'End of The Age' times . And it paints a picture of increasing lawlessness , and I recognise therefore that that which is prophesied in scripture is beginning to take place .
Prophesying is a prediction , it's not a revelation that must happen and therefore we need not bother fighting it . It is merely a revelation to me that this is the trend that is going to take place and if you wish to avoid the consequences of such trends in your generation , you resist every move that leads towards that . " ('1169...' Comment - gobbledygook and claptrap , mouthed by Paisley and his like to 'impress' those that are easily impressed . )
Ivan Foster is the Democratic Unionist Party member of the 'Northern Ireland' (sic) Assembly for Fermanagh ; in the Anglo-Irish Agreement (ie the 1985 Hillsborough Treaty) , as in the 'moral depravity' all around him , he sees the signs of the apocalypse and hears the sound of marching feet . Gregory Campbell , DUP Assemblyman from the Waterside area of what he always calls 'Londonderry' (sic) , also takes his guide from his reading of the Bible - " I look at the scriptures and see in bible times what a people done where a government had forfeited the right to govern , where a people had been put in a position where they had no alternative but to take up arms .
And I can only see that in those same scriptures that say you must love your neighbour , that having done all we can in a peaceable legitimate fashion , then there is no alternative but to resort to arms ....... " ('1169...' Comment - "...having done all we can .. " : except to treat your neighbours like fellow human beings . )
(MORE LATER).
THE LONG KESH ESCAPE - SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 1983 .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
No 'By-Line' .
" We perceived the escape as a military operation from beginning to end . It could not have been achieved in any other way , and the ASU - as Volunteers in the Irish Republican Army - were under strict orders throughout from an Operations Officer whose judgement was crucial and whose every order had to be obeyed . Every Volunteer was under a tight brief . "
It was this precision of planning , exclusively revealed to 'An Phoblacht/Republican News' in a detailed interview by key ASU personnel involved , that lay behind the almost incredible escape of 38 Republicans on Sunday 25th September 1983 from what is generally believed to be the most secure prison in Western Europe - the H-Blocks of Long Kesh .
At 2.15pm that day , three IRA Volunteers carrying concealed pistols fitted with silencers , which had been smuggled into the prison , moved into the 'Central Administration' area (the 'Circle') of H7-Block on the pretext of cleaning out a store . Fifteen minutes later they were joined by a fourth armed Volunteer ; control of the 'Circle' , with its numerous alarm bells , was vital for the escape's success and had to be carried out simultaneously with the overpowering of prison Screws in the four wings of H7-Block .
Minutes later three other Volunteers - armed with pistols , hammers or chisels - took up key positions near Screws positioned by alarm buttons , on the pretext of carrying out orderly duties , while Brendan 'Bic' McFarlane (the H-Block Officer Commanding during the hunger-strike) was allowed through two locked grilles into the hall of the Block on cleaning duties - his job was to arrest the Screw there .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Mary Gilsenan , Michael's mother , was in the family bungalow about 60 yards away ; she had heard the shots , so she rang the post office to find out what was happening . The receiver was lifted immediately and Michael shouted - " DIAL 999 ..... " then the phone was slammed down . She dialled 999 three times before being put through to Dublin Castle .
The money and guns were by now dumped in the Opel Ascona and the red Mercedes and both cars sped off . Just before the second car left the leader said - " If that fucking bastard moves , fucking shoot him , shoot him ! " Then the cars were gone . Detective Michael Dowd did'nt know if any raiders remained behind . James Gorman , who lived about 50 yards on the other side of the post office , had already seen the activity , and heard the shots ; he got 999 and was put through to the gardai , his son David was watching the events unfold and shouting information to his father , who in turn passed it on to the gardai . He saw the cars speed away .
Detective Dowd , lying on the ground beside the garda car , looked across at J.J. Bell lying face down - " Are they all gone ? " Things were very quiet . Donal Brady came out from the shed behind the post office ; " Are you alright , J.J. ? " , he called to Bell . Detective Dowd looked around and under the car at his partner - " Are you alright , Frank ..... ? " The ambulance came from Navan ; it arrived after almost half an hour , around 8.35am . Nurse Olivia Reilly felt for Detective Frank Hand's pulse but could find none .
It was 8.05am : Seamus Lynch , the Provo in Kentstown , had gone to Joe Gargan's house , went up to his bedroom and Gargan had given him the keys to his yellow Ford Escort . Lynch was now arriving at the field at Rathfeigh ; Noel McCabe was waiting in his 'borrowed' blue Ford Cortina , at the crossroads where he was to pick up 'the lads' . The red Mercedes , driven by Tommy Eccles , came speeding along , on its way from Drumree , past McCabe , who followed it to the field at Rathfeigh . The yellow Escort was already there .
There was panic in the field ; the men from the Mercedes were shouting and arguing about the shooting of the garda , running around in circles . The money , guns , boiler suits and walkie-talkies were dumped in the boot of the yellow Escort and Seamus Lynch drove it away to Kentstown . Petrol was thrown on the Mercedes and it was set on fire .......
(MORE LATER).
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE .
The Democratic Unionist Party would prefer a Civil War to acquiescence in a role for the Dublin Government in the affairs of the North of Ireland after the Anglo-Irish summit .
FINTAN O'TOOLE spoke to DUP activists about the depth of their opposition to the Anglo-Irish deal and their willingness to resort to violence .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .
Ivan Foster , erstwhile Commander of the Reverend Ian Paisley's 'Third Force' , believes he may be living in the 'Last Days' . An evangelical minister living in Fermanagh , on the border with the Republic , he reads dark signs in his bible these days - " I turn to the New Testament where in the words of Christ , of Paul and Peter , very clear predictions are made regarding the 'End of The Age' times . And it paints a picture of increasing lawlessness , and I recognise therefore that that which is prophesied in scripture is beginning to take place .
Prophesying is a prediction , it's not a revelation that must happen and therefore we need not bother fighting it . It is merely a revelation to me that this is the trend that is going to take place and if you wish to avoid the consequences of such trends in your generation , you resist every move that leads towards that . " ('1169...' Comment - gobbledygook and claptrap , mouthed by Paisley and his like to 'impress' those that are easily impressed . )
Ivan Foster is the Democratic Unionist Party member of the 'Northern Ireland' (sic) Assembly for Fermanagh ; in the Anglo-Irish Agreement (ie the 1985 Hillsborough Treaty) , as in the 'moral depravity' all around him , he sees the signs of the apocalypse and hears the sound of marching feet . Gregory Campbell , DUP Assemblyman from the Waterside area of what he always calls 'Londonderry' (sic) , also takes his guide from his reading of the Bible - " I look at the scriptures and see in bible times what a people done where a government had forfeited the right to govern , where a people had been put in a position where they had no alternative but to take up arms .
And I can only see that in those same scriptures that say you must love your neighbour , that having done all we can in a peaceable legitimate fashion , then there is no alternative but to resort to arms ....... " ('1169...' Comment - "...having done all we can .. " : except to treat your neighbours like fellow human beings . )
(MORE LATER).
THE LONG KESH ESCAPE - SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 1983 .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
No 'By-Line' .
" We perceived the escape as a military operation from beginning to end . It could not have been achieved in any other way , and the ASU - as Volunteers in the Irish Republican Army - were under strict orders throughout from an Operations Officer whose judgement was crucial and whose every order had to be obeyed . Every Volunteer was under a tight brief . "
It was this precision of planning , exclusively revealed to 'An Phoblacht/Republican News' in a detailed interview by key ASU personnel involved , that lay behind the almost incredible escape of 38 Republicans on Sunday 25th September 1983 from what is generally believed to be the most secure prison in Western Europe - the H-Blocks of Long Kesh .
At 2.15pm that day , three IRA Volunteers carrying concealed pistols fitted with silencers , which had been smuggled into the prison , moved into the 'Central Administration' area (the 'Circle') of H7-Block on the pretext of cleaning out a store . Fifteen minutes later they were joined by a fourth armed Volunteer ; control of the 'Circle' , with its numerous alarm bells , was vital for the escape's success and had to be carried out simultaneously with the overpowering of prison Screws in the four wings of H7-Block .
Minutes later three other Volunteers - armed with pistols , hammers or chisels - took up key positions near Screws positioned by alarm buttons , on the pretext of carrying out orderly duties , while Brendan 'Bic' McFarlane (the H-Block Officer Commanding during the hunger-strike) was allowed through two locked grilles into the hall of the Block on cleaning duties - his job was to arrest the Screw there .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Free State Detective Michael Dowd was still struggling upright in the garda car , his forehead bleeding , when the door was pulled open beside him and a handgun put to his head ; he was grabbed by the arm and thrown out beside the car on his hands and knees . His handgun was pulled from its holster - he was told to lie down . He hesitated . A gun was put to the back of his head - " On your belly . " He was told to put his nose and lips on the ground and not to move . He sank to the ground .
There was a man with a submachine gun at the driver's door of the post van - " Turn off the fucking ignition . " The van driver , J.J. Bell , switched off and pulled out the key . He was told to get out and open the back doors . For some reason he found himself reaching into the glove compartment and taking his cigarettes and lighter . The stolen beige Opel Ascona and the red Mercedes , with Tommy Eccles , Pat McPhillips , Brian McShane and two or three others whose identity is not known , called there by walkie-talkie , arrived at the post office , skidding to a stop .
J.J. Bell had opened the back doors of the van and was now lying face down on the ground ; he still had the keys of the van in his right hand . One of the gunmen kicked the keys from under his hand , put a gun to the back of his head and said - " If you move , son , you are fucking dead . " Bell did'nt move ; in his left hand he still had his smokes and his lighter . The money bags were transferred into the red Mercedes ; the radio was torn out of the garda car . Detective Michael Dowd , gambling that the gunmen would be watching the money , raised his right arm and turned his head so he could see under his armpit .
From the number of legs he saw moving back and forth he thought there were at least eight raiders . They were wearing blue boilersuits and black balaclavas with red stitching around the mouths . He could see one raider holding a pistol that looked like his own . The leader of the gang , giving orders in a Northern accent , several times said - " Shoot him ! Shoot him ! " to the raider standing near Detective Dowd ; Dowd did'nt know how the gunmen would interpret this , whether it was a real order or a method of intimidation . Each second he expected to be shot .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Having spoken for 39 minutes in the British House of 'Commons' on his regret at having fought for political status for Irish Republican prisoners in 1972 , Gerry Fitt sat down . The discussion moved on to other issues : the 'Avoidable Destruction of Wildlife Bill ' on which Janet Fookes , member for Plymouth-Drake , rose to speak . She mentioned birds "...dying of starvation induced by lead poisoning of their environment .. " . The House agreed to an extension beyond the 10pm deadline to let her speak fully of this crisis . Then she spoke about moles which , she said , were dying "...painfully , underground , where we cannot see them . Out of sight ought not to mean out of mind .. " ('1169 ... ' Comment - unless , that is , you are an Irish political prisoner .)
On June 10 , 1983 , Gerry Fitt lost his seat to Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein . John Hume , benefitting from the deal which (British) Labour did with the Unionists , won the restructured seat in Foyle and set off himself to be the lone voice in Westminster . The 'Housing Executive' announced that they were pulling down Gerry Fitt's house as part of their 'modernisation programme' ; Fitt said he was moving out his furniture anyway before the Provos came to celebrate their victory - he would consider his future in England , he said , adding that if he took a 'peerage' , he might not be able to contest the following year's European elections .
He also spoke about losing all those " ...Prod votes.. " . But if he does take a 'peerage' - if a seat is offered to him in the British House of 'Lords' and he accepts - the man who sought 'one man one vote' (sic) in the North of Ireland will not be allowed a 'commoner's ' vote ever again . Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamus .
[END of ' TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK ' ].
(Tomorrow - ' FIRE AND BRIMSTONE ; THE DUP ').
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
Near-panic spread through the GAA Headquarters Staff when one leading GAA member in the North of Ireland appeared on a television interview confirming that every support would continue for the prisoners and that GAA directives to the contrary from the management committee would be completely ignored ! The GAA's involvement in the hunger-strike showed up clearly the basic grassroots' support for the suffering prisoners , but also highlighted the GAA hierarchy's apathy and conservatism .
As a national cultural and sporting body , the GAA has of necessity to embrace many shades of political persuasion , but it also undeniably has an obligation to support its members in Northern jails . With the ending of the hunger-strike , which saved the GAA from further polarisation on the issue , the problems remain of the denial of Gaelic games , language and traditions to the Republican prisoners .
The GAA hierarchy has yet to give voice to these grievances .
[END of 'THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS'].
(Tomorrow - 'THE LONG KESH ESCAPE ' - SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 1983).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Free State Detective Michael Dowd was still struggling upright in the garda car , his forehead bleeding , when the door was pulled open beside him and a handgun put to his head ; he was grabbed by the arm and thrown out beside the car on his hands and knees . His handgun was pulled from its holster - he was told to lie down . He hesitated . A gun was put to the back of his head - " On your belly . " He was told to put his nose and lips on the ground and not to move . He sank to the ground .
There was a man with a submachine gun at the driver's door of the post van - " Turn off the fucking ignition . " The van driver , J.J. Bell , switched off and pulled out the key . He was told to get out and open the back doors . For some reason he found himself reaching into the glove compartment and taking his cigarettes and lighter . The stolen beige Opel Ascona and the red Mercedes , with Tommy Eccles , Pat McPhillips , Brian McShane and two or three others whose identity is not known , called there by walkie-talkie , arrived at the post office , skidding to a stop .
J.J. Bell had opened the back doors of the van and was now lying face down on the ground ; he still had the keys of the van in his right hand . One of the gunmen kicked the keys from under his hand , put a gun to the back of his head and said - " If you move , son , you are fucking dead . " Bell did'nt move ; in his left hand he still had his smokes and his lighter . The money bags were transferred into the red Mercedes ; the radio was torn out of the garda car . Detective Michael Dowd , gambling that the gunmen would be watching the money , raised his right arm and turned his head so he could see under his armpit .
From the number of legs he saw moving back and forth he thought there were at least eight raiders . They were wearing blue boilersuits and black balaclavas with red stitching around the mouths . He could see one raider holding a pistol that looked like his own . The leader of the gang , giving orders in a Northern accent , several times said - " Shoot him ! Shoot him ! " to the raider standing near Detective Dowd ; Dowd did'nt know how the gunmen would interpret this , whether it was a real order or a method of intimidation . Each second he expected to be shot .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Having spoken for 39 minutes in the British House of 'Commons' on his regret at having fought for political status for Irish Republican prisoners in 1972 , Gerry Fitt sat down . The discussion moved on to other issues : the 'Avoidable Destruction of Wildlife Bill ' on which Janet Fookes , member for Plymouth-Drake , rose to speak . She mentioned birds "...dying of starvation induced by lead poisoning of their environment .. " . The House agreed to an extension beyond the 10pm deadline to let her speak fully of this crisis . Then she spoke about moles which , she said , were dying "...painfully , underground , where we cannot see them . Out of sight ought not to mean out of mind .. " ('1169 ... ' Comment - unless , that is , you are an Irish political prisoner .)
On June 10 , 1983 , Gerry Fitt lost his seat to Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein . John Hume , benefitting from the deal which (British) Labour did with the Unionists , won the restructured seat in Foyle and set off himself to be the lone voice in Westminster . The 'Housing Executive' announced that they were pulling down Gerry Fitt's house as part of their 'modernisation programme' ; Fitt said he was moving out his furniture anyway before the Provos came to celebrate their victory - he would consider his future in England , he said , adding that if he took a 'peerage' , he might not be able to contest the following year's European elections .
He also spoke about losing all those " ...Prod votes.. " . But if he does take a 'peerage' - if a seat is offered to him in the British House of 'Lords' and he accepts - the man who sought 'one man one vote' (sic) in the North of Ireland will not be allowed a 'commoner's ' vote ever again . Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamus .
[END of ' TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK ' ].
(Tomorrow - ' FIRE AND BRIMSTONE ; THE DUP ').
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
Near-panic spread through the GAA Headquarters Staff when one leading GAA member in the North of Ireland appeared on a television interview confirming that every support would continue for the prisoners and that GAA directives to the contrary from the management committee would be completely ignored ! The GAA's involvement in the hunger-strike showed up clearly the basic grassroots' support for the suffering prisoners , but also highlighted the GAA hierarchy's apathy and conservatism .
As a national cultural and sporting body , the GAA has of necessity to embrace many shades of political persuasion , but it also undeniably has an obligation to support its members in Northern jails . With the ending of the hunger-strike , which saved the GAA from further polarisation on the issue , the problems remain of the denial of Gaelic games , language and traditions to the Republican prisoners .
The GAA hierarchy has yet to give voice to these grievances .
[END of 'THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS'].
(Tomorrow - 'THE LONG KESH ESCAPE ' - SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 1983).
Monday, June 27, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The robbery was in progress ; shots had been fired . J.J. Bell , the post office van driver , took off the handbrake and put the van into first gear . Then he hesitated , for fear of being shot whilst driving away . All of this was happening in the few seconds after the garda car came to rest behind the van . Then the man with the Sten gun opened up .
The memories of the surviving victims of the raid are , understandably , confused and contradictory on some points : Michael Dowd , for instance , thought at first that the man with the Webley was firing a submachine gun . From statements made shortly after the incident and - more reliably - detailed forensic reports , it is possible to work out what happened . The gunman with the Sten fired eight shots , either in one burst , with the gun moving up and to the left , or - more likely - two quick bursts of four bullets .
Four bullets hit the windscreen area of the car , in a cluster , ripping the chrome and rubber strip holding the windscreen . One of these bullets ploughed across the dashboard and went out the driver's door , which was open . Detective Frank Hand was already out of the car , or getting out , his Smith and Wesson .38 revolver in his hand , when the Sten gun began firing . Two more bullets from the Sten hit the windscreen about a foot from the bottom ; a seventh bullet hit the windowframe of the door which Frank Hand had just opened .
This all happened in fractions of a second ; Detective Michael Dowd saw the bullet holes appear in the windscreen , the dashboard being ploughed by a bullet . One of the bullets fragmented and a sliver of metal hit him just above his left eyebrow . He slumped to his right , putting his hands to the wound , the Uzi slipping from his lap ; Detective Frank Hand got off two shots - one hit the post office wall about seven feet from the ground , the other was never found . The eight bullet from the Sten gun hit Frank Hand in the right upper chest , passing through the chest cavity causing a haemmorhage .
Frank Hand spun around and fell face down , facing towards the rear of the garda car ; the haemmorhage led to asphyxia . Someone shouted - " For God's sake stop shooting , there's a man dead ....... "
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Monday , November 10 , 1980 , 8.39pm : Gerry Fitt rose to his feet in the British House of 'Commons' - the North of Ireland was being discussed , briefly . Fitt re-called having successfully pleaded for political status in 1972 , and said - " I bitterly regret having made those representations . " Then he told stories , and the stories were littered with the bodies of people who died in the North over the decade : three British soldiers killed by an IRA landmine . Two British soldiers and seven civilians killed by an IRA bomb on 'Bloody Friday' . Six civilians killed by an IRA bomb in Claudy . A woman twenty yards from his (Fitt's) home , with no legs , because the loyalist bomb went off in a pub as she passed by .
Ten Protestant workmen killed in Armagh , their lunch boxes still in their hands . Three Catholics killed in retaliation . Ten Catholics killed on July 5 by loyalists , and "... a mixture of Catholics and Protestants .. " killed on july 8 and 9 . John Turnley , Miriam Daly , Ronnie Bunting and Joe Little assassinated by loyalists . His friend , Davy Walsh , with no leg , "...never able to live with the fact that his leg was blown off for no known or understandable reason . " No deaths caused by the RUC or the British Army or the UDR were mentioned .
Gerry Fitt could only say with some regret , of Cardinal O Fiach's involvement in the hunger strike , that the Cardinal "...did not avail of an invitation to visit other people on the mattress .. " - the maimed with no arms or legs .
An Irish newspaper had remarked that "... if a person was imprisoned then that should be sufficient retribution , that once in prison a person should be able to do other things . I do not believe that taking away a man's liberty because he has committed a heinous crime is enough . There are certain conditions that must be fulfilled in prison . "
Having said his piece , Gerry Fitt sat down at 9. 18pm .......
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
It was the decision to stand Republican prisoners in the Free State general election held in June 1981 that saw the divergence of views within the GAA coming to the front ; several of the hunger-strike candidates were known to have had close links with GAA clubs in their native areas . Kevin Lynch had captained his County under-age team which had won an All-Ireland trophy at Croke Park . His old club in Dungiven have since renamed themselves the 'Kevin Lynch Hurling Club' .
Kieran Doherty , from Andersonstown in West Belfast , was also well-known in GAA circles : yet incredibly , the GAA's management committee directed that the GAA could not get involved in 'party politics' !
The GAA hierarchy now regarded the H-Blocks issue as 'party political ' whereas earlier their statements had called it "...humanitarian .. " . It seemed that as long as the protest was kept north of the border the GAA would show signs of support , but that once brought home to the twenty-six counties , Fianna Fail and Fine Gael influence , worried by the effect of prisoner candidates in marginal constituencies , was enough to secure a change in policy .
The then outgoing President of the GAA , Paddy McFlynn , was now caught wearing two caps : caught between Northern GAA activists and the Fianna Fail element , which had most to lose by the intervention of prisoner candidates in the elections , Paddy McFlynn now pointed out that as the controlling body of the GAA , the management committee did not wish to commit itself further in support of the five demands - but a certain television interview was to cause panic for McFlynn and the management committee .......
(MORE LATER).
(CPT Mark - thank you for your favourable comments ; much appreciated ! Glad you find the blog useful . Thanks again - Sharon.)
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
The robbery was in progress ; shots had been fired . J.J. Bell , the post office van driver , took off the handbrake and put the van into first gear . Then he hesitated , for fear of being shot whilst driving away . All of this was happening in the few seconds after the garda car came to rest behind the van . Then the man with the Sten gun opened up .
The memories of the surviving victims of the raid are , understandably , confused and contradictory on some points : Michael Dowd , for instance , thought at first that the man with the Webley was firing a submachine gun . From statements made shortly after the incident and - more reliably - detailed forensic reports , it is possible to work out what happened . The gunman with the Sten fired eight shots , either in one burst , with the gun moving up and to the left , or - more likely - two quick bursts of four bullets .
Four bullets hit the windscreen area of the car , in a cluster , ripping the chrome and rubber strip holding the windscreen . One of these bullets ploughed across the dashboard and went out the driver's door , which was open . Detective Frank Hand was already out of the car , or getting out , his Smith and Wesson .38 revolver in his hand , when the Sten gun began firing . Two more bullets from the Sten hit the windscreen about a foot from the bottom ; a seventh bullet hit the windowframe of the door which Frank Hand had just opened .
This all happened in fractions of a second ; Detective Michael Dowd saw the bullet holes appear in the windscreen , the dashboard being ploughed by a bullet . One of the bullets fragmented and a sliver of metal hit him just above his left eyebrow . He slumped to his right , putting his hands to the wound , the Uzi slipping from his lap ; Detective Frank Hand got off two shots - one hit the post office wall about seven feet from the ground , the other was never found . The eight bullet from the Sten gun hit Frank Hand in the right upper chest , passing through the chest cavity causing a haemmorhage .
Frank Hand spun around and fell face down , facing towards the rear of the garda car ; the haemmorhage led to asphyxia . Someone shouted - " For God's sake stop shooting , there's a man dead ....... "
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Monday , November 10 , 1980 , 8.39pm : Gerry Fitt rose to his feet in the British House of 'Commons' - the North of Ireland was being discussed , briefly . Fitt re-called having successfully pleaded for political status in 1972 , and said - " I bitterly regret having made those representations . " Then he told stories , and the stories were littered with the bodies of people who died in the North over the decade : three British soldiers killed by an IRA landmine . Two British soldiers and seven civilians killed by an IRA bomb on 'Bloody Friday' . Six civilians killed by an IRA bomb in Claudy . A woman twenty yards from his (Fitt's) home , with no legs , because the loyalist bomb went off in a pub as she passed by .
Ten Protestant workmen killed in Armagh , their lunch boxes still in their hands . Three Catholics killed in retaliation . Ten Catholics killed on July 5 by loyalists , and "... a mixture of Catholics and Protestants .. " killed on july 8 and 9 . John Turnley , Miriam Daly , Ronnie Bunting and Joe Little assassinated by loyalists . His friend , Davy Walsh , with no leg , "...never able to live with the fact that his leg was blown off for no known or understandable reason . " No deaths caused by the RUC or the British Army or the UDR were mentioned .
Gerry Fitt could only say with some regret , of Cardinal O Fiach's involvement in the hunger strike , that the Cardinal "...did not avail of an invitation to visit other people on the mattress .. " - the maimed with no arms or legs .
An Irish newspaper had remarked that "... if a person was imprisoned then that should be sufficient retribution , that once in prison a person should be able to do other things . I do not believe that taking away a man's liberty because he has committed a heinous crime is enough . There are certain conditions that must be fulfilled in prison . "
Having said his piece , Gerry Fitt sat down at 9. 18pm .......
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
It was the decision to stand Republican prisoners in the Free State general election held in June 1981 that saw the divergence of views within the GAA coming to the front ; several of the hunger-strike candidates were known to have had close links with GAA clubs in their native areas . Kevin Lynch had captained his County under-age team which had won an All-Ireland trophy at Croke Park . His old club in Dungiven have since renamed themselves the 'Kevin Lynch Hurling Club' .
Kieran Doherty , from Andersonstown in West Belfast , was also well-known in GAA circles : yet incredibly , the GAA's management committee directed that the GAA could not get involved in 'party politics' !
The GAA hierarchy now regarded the H-Blocks issue as 'party political ' whereas earlier their statements had called it "...humanitarian .. " . It seemed that as long as the protest was kept north of the border the GAA would show signs of support , but that once brought home to the twenty-six counties , Fianna Fail and Fine Gael influence , worried by the effect of prisoner candidates in marginal constituencies , was enough to secure a change in policy .
The then outgoing President of the GAA , Paddy McFlynn , was now caught wearing two caps : caught between Northern GAA activists and the Fianna Fail element , which had most to lose by the intervention of prisoner candidates in the elections , Paddy McFlynn now pointed out that as the controlling body of the GAA , the management committee did not wish to commit itself further in support of the five demands - but a certain television interview was to cause panic for McFlynn and the management committee .......
(MORE LATER).
(CPT Mark - thank you for your favourable comments ; much appreciated ! Glad you find the blog useful . Thanks again - Sharon.)
Friday, June 24, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
In a lane beside Drumree Post Office , behind an iron gate , two armed men were waiting ; they wore blue boiler-suits and black balaclavas . One carried a Sten submachine gun , the other had a Webley revolver , .455 calibre . Just a few feet away , inside the post office , Michael Gilsenan and Mick Boyle , the local postman , were sorting mail .
The post office van pulled into the lay-by at Drumree Post Office ; Donal Brady , the van helper , got out with the money bag - this time he did'nt wait for Detective Frank Hand to join him . He went into the post office . It was 8.03am , give or take a minute . The Garda Fiat car coasted to a stop behind the post van . The gunmen in boiler suits , two of them , began running towards the garda car from the lane beside the post office . The one in front had the Sten gun , the one slightly behind had the Webley .
Detective Garda Michael Dowd , glancing to his left , saw the two gunmen coming at him ; he shouted to Frank Hand : someone else shouted - " GET DOWN , YOU FUCKER ! " The man with the Webley was already firing - there were six bullets in the cylinder , .455 calibre , all old , some defective . The man got off three rounds , two of which hit the rear left door of the garda Fiat . One lodged in the door panel , the other passing through the car , missing both gardai and smashing through the driver's window , beside Frank Hand .
The third shot from the Webley hit the ground behind the post office van . The gunman pulled the trigger again , and once more , those two rounds misfired ; at this stage the gunman with the Sten was moving to his left : he had not yet fired . He was now standing to the front and left of the garda car . While this was happening - inside the post office Gilsenan and Boyle and Brady heard the running feet , the shouting , the shots . Boyle and Brady ran out the back of the post office and hid in a shed . Gilsenan ran forward and slammed the front door of the post office . He locked the door and went upstairs to look out the window .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt manned a polling station for Sinn Fein in 1958 ; he was of the opinion that Sean South was 'a broth of a boy' , though a bit of an 'eejit' , rolling up to the RUC barracks door like that to get shot dead . " I would have worked with anybody that got up and after the Unionists , " said Fitt , explaining his liaison with Sinn Fein . " Sinn Fein then was'nt like it is now , and I agreed to man a polling station for them in the Belfast Corporation elections . A woman came in to personate for the Unionists . I spotted her straight away and challenged her and she stood her ground so I called the police (sic) over to arrest her . 'You can't do that ' , says the Sinn Fein man beside me . 'Why not ?' , says I . ' Because you'll have to testify in court against her and we don't recognise the courts ' , says he . 'Fucks sake , ye bunch of cunts' , says I , and I tore up my agent's card and walked away . " ('1169....' Comment - ... and he spent the rest of his political career "walking away... " )
Twenty two years later , Sinn Fein were'nt even recognising the prisons ; in November 1980 , 'blanket prisoners' went on hunger strike in pursuit of political status ; Gerry Fitt sat in the House of Commons , opposite Margaret Thatcher , on Monday November 10 , 1980 , and listened to speeches about unemployment . 35,900 people had been thrown on the dole in Wales in one year . A computer company had just closed , shedding fifteen hundred workers . The British Steel workforce had been reduced by 826 that week . The Broadcasting Bill for a fourth television channel was discussed , plus plans for Welsh language programmes . At 8pm , the Commons moved onto the issue of the North of Ireland -
- 'Remanded Persons' was up for discussion , and Humphrey Atkins assured the House that the current industrial strike by prison officers in the North , in support of the strike taken by prison officers in England , was not affecting the security situation in Long Kesh : " In the province (sic) we do not have the rapid turnover in and out of prisons that occurs in England and Wales . " Prisoners in the North of Ireland were serving much longer sentences , you see . Some of those prisoners were on hunger strike this two weeks now , but Mr Atkins scarcely discussed that . But Jim Molyneux did ; he spent eleven minutes 'explaining' that "...the IRA hunger-strikers .. " were " beasts . " He urged the British government not even to concede civilian clothing to
them . Molyneux sat down , and Gerry Fitt rose to his feet .......
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
The whole question of the role of the GAA in Nationalist affairs was raised , with it becoming blatantly clear that the courage was lacking from top GAA Officials to come out openly , and support with direct action , motions passed at successive GAA congresses which backed the prisoners' demands .
The influence of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael members , and the ever-present voice of the Garda Siochana in the GAA , was beginning to cause even more alarm among GAA Headquarters' staff ; the grassroots' support at Northern level was understandable as many clubs had at least one member in Long Kesh , but the gulf in understanding of many Southern GAA personnel was a reflection of how removed from the realities of the Northern situation they had become .
GAA Headquarters kept one careful eye on events in Long Kesh and the other on those middle-class conservatives who wanted the GAA to steer well clear of involvement in the H-Blocks crisis . Statements from the GAA management committee referred to bringing "...the whole sad situation to an end ... in the interests of peace .. " - hardly words calculated to cause Southern politicians to take seriously the degree of GAA concern over the prison situation !
Other statements talked of "...humanitarian concern .. " , while the increased pressure exerted by some GAA members in the South gave rise to terms such as "...condemnation of violence and men of violence .. " being increasingly included in policy statements from the GAA management committee .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
In a lane beside Drumree Post Office , behind an iron gate , two armed men were waiting ; they wore blue boiler-suits and black balaclavas . One carried a Sten submachine gun , the other had a Webley revolver , .455 calibre . Just a few feet away , inside the post office , Michael Gilsenan and Mick Boyle , the local postman , were sorting mail .
The post office van pulled into the lay-by at Drumree Post Office ; Donal Brady , the van helper , got out with the money bag - this time he did'nt wait for Detective Frank Hand to join him . He went into the post office . It was 8.03am , give or take a minute . The Garda Fiat car coasted to a stop behind the post van . The gunmen in boiler suits , two of them , began running towards the garda car from the lane beside the post office . The one in front had the Sten gun , the one slightly behind had the Webley .
Detective Garda Michael Dowd , glancing to his left , saw the two gunmen coming at him ; he shouted to Frank Hand : someone else shouted - " GET DOWN , YOU FUCKER ! " The man with the Webley was already firing - there were six bullets in the cylinder , .455 calibre , all old , some defective . The man got off three rounds , two of which hit the rear left door of the garda Fiat . One lodged in the door panel , the other passing through the car , missing both gardai and smashing through the driver's window , beside Frank Hand .
The third shot from the Webley hit the ground behind the post office van . The gunman pulled the trigger again , and once more , those two rounds misfired ; at this stage the gunman with the Sten was moving to his left : he had not yet fired . He was now standing to the front and left of the garda car . While this was happening - inside the post office Gilsenan and Boyle and Brady heard the running feet , the shouting , the shots . Boyle and Brady ran out the back of the post office and hid in a shed . Gilsenan ran forward and slammed the front door of the post office . He locked the door and went upstairs to look out the window .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt manned a polling station for Sinn Fein in 1958 ; he was of the opinion that Sean South was 'a broth of a boy' , though a bit of an 'eejit' , rolling up to the RUC barracks door like that to get shot dead . " I would have worked with anybody that got up and after the Unionists , " said Fitt , explaining his liaison with Sinn Fein . " Sinn Fein then was'nt like it is now , and I agreed to man a polling station for them in the Belfast Corporation elections . A woman came in to personate for the Unionists . I spotted her straight away and challenged her and she stood her ground so I called the police (sic) over to arrest her . 'You can't do that ' , says the Sinn Fein man beside me . 'Why not ?' , says I . ' Because you'll have to testify in court against her and we don't recognise the courts ' , says he . 'Fucks sake , ye bunch of cunts' , says I , and I tore up my agent's card and walked away . " ('1169....' Comment - ... and he spent the rest of his political career "walking away... " )
Twenty two years later , Sinn Fein were'nt even recognising the prisons ; in November 1980 , 'blanket prisoners' went on hunger strike in pursuit of political status ; Gerry Fitt sat in the House of Commons , opposite Margaret Thatcher , on Monday November 10 , 1980 , and listened to speeches about unemployment . 35,900 people had been thrown on the dole in Wales in one year . A computer company had just closed , shedding fifteen hundred workers . The British Steel workforce had been reduced by 826 that week . The Broadcasting Bill for a fourth television channel was discussed , plus plans for Welsh language programmes . At 8pm , the Commons moved onto the issue of the North of Ireland -
- 'Remanded Persons' was up for discussion , and Humphrey Atkins assured the House that the current industrial strike by prison officers in the North , in support of the strike taken by prison officers in England , was not affecting the security situation in Long Kesh : " In the province (sic) we do not have the rapid turnover in and out of prisons that occurs in England and Wales . " Prisoners in the North of Ireland were serving much longer sentences , you see . Some of those prisoners were on hunger strike this two weeks now , but Mr Atkins scarcely discussed that . But Jim Molyneux did ; he spent eleven minutes 'explaining' that "...the IRA hunger-strikers .. " were " beasts . " He urged the British government not even to concede civilian clothing to
them . Molyneux sat down , and Gerry Fitt rose to his feet .......
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
The whole question of the role of the GAA in Nationalist affairs was raised , with it becoming blatantly clear that the courage was lacking from top GAA Officials to come out openly , and support with direct action , motions passed at successive GAA congresses which backed the prisoners' demands .
The influence of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael members , and the ever-present voice of the Garda Siochana in the GAA , was beginning to cause even more alarm among GAA Headquarters' staff ; the grassroots' support at Northern level was understandable as many clubs had at least one member in Long Kesh , but the gulf in understanding of many Southern GAA personnel was a reflection of how removed from the realities of the Northern situation they had become .
GAA Headquarters kept one careful eye on events in Long Kesh and the other on those middle-class conservatives who wanted the GAA to steer well clear of involvement in the H-Blocks crisis . Statements from the GAA management committee referred to bringing "...the whole sad situation to an end ... in the interests of peace .. " - hardly words calculated to cause Southern politicians to take seriously the degree of GAA concern over the prison situation !
Other statements talked of "...humanitarian concern .. " , while the increased pressure exerted by some GAA members in the South gave rise to terms such as "...condemnation of violence and men of violence .. " being increasingly included in policy statements from the GAA management committee .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, June 23, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Ironically , the route which the post office van took on its way to the beginning of its deliveries - through Phibsboro , Cabra , Blanchardstown etc - was the way it would travel on its official route back ; in other words , the van was going to almost the most distant point on the route before beginning to drop off money ! Had it began dropping off mailbags on its way out of the city it would have arrived in Drumree with just a few thousand pounds .
The armed Detectives stayed roughly 100 yards behind the post office van ; routinely , they paid attention to any vehicle coming in sight , assessing it for danger . There was nothing suspicious . At Dunboyne Post Office , the first drop , the garda car stopped behind the van ; Detective Michael Dowd sat where he was , the Uzi on his lap . Detective Frank Hand got out of the car ; the post office helper , Donal Brady , got out of the van with the mailbag . He and Hand went to the door of the post office together , and Hand kicked the bottom of the door and rattled the letterbox . The bag of money was handed over .
Next stop , Batterstown , the same procedure . Detective Hand got out , Dowd stayed in the car . Brady got out of the van and J.J. Bell , the van driver , stayed at the wheel . No problems . Next stop , Drumree . The van now carried £202,900 in cash . It was about 7.50am .
Around that time Tommy Eccles , Pat McPhillips and someone else , a man with an earring , were in the red Mercedes in the shed about three miles from Drumree ; Brian McShane was in the beige Opel Ascona along with some others . They had walkie-talkies . In Kentstown , about fifteen miles from Drumree , Seamus Lynch was up and about . He had to be in the designated field at Rathfeigh to pick up the money and guns ; he needed a car and knew where to get it . He had several times borrowed Joe Gargan's yellow Ford Escort . Gargan also lived in Kentstown .
Noel McCabe had left his home in Dundalk at 7.10am and was now driving his 'borrowed' blue Ford Cortina south-west towards a crossroads somewhere around Dunshaughlin , where he would pick up 'the lads' , as requested by Paul Finnegan .
In a lane beside Drumree Post Office , behind an iron gate , two armed men were waiting .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
The British offered a 'White Paper' dealing with the North of Ireland , in November 1979 ; but it contained no mention of an Irish dimension . Gerry Fitt urged acceptance of the paper in Belfast , saying - " An Irish dimension will always be there while the six counties exist on the island of Ireland ... " . The SDLP rejected the 'Paper' in Dungannon , west of the Bann . Fitt supported their stand and flew back to Westminster from where , one day later , faced with a British government that was fast losing patience with the Irish , he resigned from the SDLP .
Gerry Fitt was a man at the end of his tether . The IRA would'nt listen to the Pope ; the SDLP would'nt listen to him . He had the ear only of the RUC and the British House of Commons . And he had his gun : " I had only had it for protection , " he said , " the IRA never protected anybody . The (British) Army was there to protect people . ('1169... ' Comment - the SDLP position then . And now - ' those sent by our persecuters will protect us ... ' !) At least they (the British Army) had to follow the rules of the Yellow Card . ('1169...' Comment - did the 'Yellow Card' allow the BA to work with the Loyalist paramilitaries , too ... ?) The IRA never used a Yellow Card . "
Paddy Kennedy (SDLP) recalled the very early days : " Gerry could never figure out the Republicans . When he was out fighting World War Two , the IRA killed a policeman (sic) on the Springfield Road . " Tom Williams was hung for that in 1943 . " Gerry Fitt called the Republicans wimps and gimps and hunchies , running round with their coat collars turned up . The trouble was he was very funny about it . He can slander more wittily than anybody you'd know , and be laughing without realising the damage he was causing and the real hurt he was doing to people's feelings . "
For all that , Gerry Fitt manned a polling station for Sinn Fein in 1958 , in the middle of their 1956-1962 armed campaign against the B-Specials and the RUC . It was a comparatively minor campaign though , and few people died.......
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
Organised protests in the North took up again with the commencement of the second hunger-strike in March 1981 , intensifying with the dark news that Bobby Sands was growing weaker .
Every team travelling North from the 26 counties experienced H-Block demonstrations at half-time and were continually made aware of the feelings of Northern GAA members about the dilemma of their fellow Irishmen in Long Kesh . GAA banners were familiar sights on H-Block marches across the six counties and GAA grounds were frequent venues for demonstrations and rallies . The H-Block video film was distributed around many GAA social centres and enthusiastically received .
In August 1981 , a seven-day token fast and vigil was held outside Casement Park in Belfast by South Antrim GAA members ; it was to be expected that the British Army would not allow the picket to go by without harassment , and indeed two plastic bullets were fired into the protestors without warning , but they stood their ground and refused to be intimidated .
Over £2000 was collected at this fast and vigil in an illustration of the unstinting generosity of the people of West Belfast , who simultaneously were being called upon to contribute to a constant stream of other collections to provide the finance necessary for the hunger-strike campaign ; however , concern began to grow among the GAA's conservative hierarchy that the organisation , and particularly its Northern members , were going too far .
These people feared that the support shown for the blanketmen would 'tarnish' the nice respectable image the GAA nurtured , and that full backing for the prisoners' five demands would be interpreted as support for the armed struggle .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Ironically , the route which the post office van took on its way to the beginning of its deliveries - through Phibsboro , Cabra , Blanchardstown etc - was the way it would travel on its official route back ; in other words , the van was going to almost the most distant point on the route before beginning to drop off money ! Had it began dropping off mailbags on its way out of the city it would have arrived in Drumree with just a few thousand pounds .
The armed Detectives stayed roughly 100 yards behind the post office van ; routinely , they paid attention to any vehicle coming in sight , assessing it for danger . There was nothing suspicious . At Dunboyne Post Office , the first drop , the garda car stopped behind the van ; Detective Michael Dowd sat where he was , the Uzi on his lap . Detective Frank Hand got out of the car ; the post office helper , Donal Brady , got out of the van with the mailbag . He and Hand went to the door of the post office together , and Hand kicked the bottom of the door and rattled the letterbox . The bag of money was handed over .
Next stop , Batterstown , the same procedure . Detective Hand got out , Dowd stayed in the car . Brady got out of the van and J.J. Bell , the van driver , stayed at the wheel . No problems . Next stop , Drumree . The van now carried £202,900 in cash . It was about 7.50am .
Around that time Tommy Eccles , Pat McPhillips and someone else , a man with an earring , were in the red Mercedes in the shed about three miles from Drumree ; Brian McShane was in the beige Opel Ascona along with some others . They had walkie-talkies . In Kentstown , about fifteen miles from Drumree , Seamus Lynch was up and about . He had to be in the designated field at Rathfeigh to pick up the money and guns ; he needed a car and knew where to get it . He had several times borrowed Joe Gargan's yellow Ford Escort . Gargan also lived in Kentstown .
Noel McCabe had left his home in Dundalk at 7.10am and was now driving his 'borrowed' blue Ford Cortina south-west towards a crossroads somewhere around Dunshaughlin , where he would pick up 'the lads' , as requested by Paul Finnegan .
In a lane beside Drumree Post Office , behind an iron gate , two armed men were waiting .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
The British offered a 'White Paper' dealing with the North of Ireland , in November 1979 ; but it contained no mention of an Irish dimension . Gerry Fitt urged acceptance of the paper in Belfast , saying - " An Irish dimension will always be there while the six counties exist on the island of Ireland ... " . The SDLP rejected the 'Paper' in Dungannon , west of the Bann . Fitt supported their stand and flew back to Westminster from where , one day later , faced with a British government that was fast losing patience with the Irish , he resigned from the SDLP .
Gerry Fitt was a man at the end of his tether . The IRA would'nt listen to the Pope ; the SDLP would'nt listen to him . He had the ear only of the RUC and the British House of Commons . And he had his gun : " I had only had it for protection , " he said , " the IRA never protected anybody . The (British) Army was there to protect people . ('1169... ' Comment - the SDLP position then . And now - ' those sent by our persecuters will protect us ... ' !) At least they (the British Army) had to follow the rules of the Yellow Card . ('1169...' Comment - did the 'Yellow Card' allow the BA to work with the Loyalist paramilitaries , too ... ?) The IRA never used a Yellow Card . "
Paddy Kennedy (SDLP) recalled the very early days : " Gerry could never figure out the Republicans . When he was out fighting World War Two , the IRA killed a policeman (sic) on the Springfield Road . " Tom Williams was hung for that in 1943 . " Gerry Fitt called the Republicans wimps and gimps and hunchies , running round with their coat collars turned up . The trouble was he was very funny about it . He can slander more wittily than anybody you'd know , and be laughing without realising the damage he was causing and the real hurt he was doing to people's feelings . "
For all that , Gerry Fitt manned a polling station for Sinn Fein in 1958 , in the middle of their 1956-1962 armed campaign against the B-Specials and the RUC . It was a comparatively minor campaign though , and few people died.......
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
Organised protests in the North took up again with the commencement of the second hunger-strike in March 1981 , intensifying with the dark news that Bobby Sands was growing weaker .
Every team travelling North from the 26 counties experienced H-Block demonstrations at half-time and were continually made aware of the feelings of Northern GAA members about the dilemma of their fellow Irishmen in Long Kesh . GAA banners were familiar sights on H-Block marches across the six counties and GAA grounds were frequent venues for demonstrations and rallies . The H-Block video film was distributed around many GAA social centres and enthusiastically received .
In August 1981 , a seven-day token fast and vigil was held outside Casement Park in Belfast by South Antrim GAA members ; it was to be expected that the British Army would not allow the picket to go by without harassment , and indeed two plastic bullets were fired into the protestors without warning , but they stood their ground and refused to be intimidated .
Over £2000 was collected at this fast and vigil in an illustration of the unstinting generosity of the people of West Belfast , who simultaneously were being called upon to contribute to a constant stream of other collections to provide the finance necessary for the hunger-strike campaign ; however , concern began to grow among the GAA's conservative hierarchy that the organisation , and particularly its Northern members , were going too far .
These people feared that the support shown for the blanketmen would 'tarnish' the nice respectable image the GAA nurtured , and that full backing for the prisoners' five demands would be interpreted as support for the armed struggle .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Drumree , August 10 , 1984 :
Just before 7am that morning Detective Garda Frank Hand of the Central Detective Unit arrived at his Headquarters at Harcourt Square . The detective with whom he would work that day , Detective Garda Michael Dowd , was already there . Dowd had signed out an attache case which held an Uzi submachine gun ; the two Gardai went out and found the Fiat Mirafiori they would be using that day . Dowd took the Uzi from the case , along with two magazines carrying twenty rounds each ; he put the attach case , containing three more magazines , on the back seat of the Fiat .
He put one magazine into the Uzi and left the other on the floor of the car near his feet . He was also armed with a Walther P.P. semi-automatic pistol ; Frank Hand was armed with a Smith and Wesson .38 Special . Frank Hand was 25 . He joined the Garda force in 1977 and became a detective in 1981 . He was one of seven children of a Roscommon family and , on joining , in 1977 , worked in Dublin - in Donnybrook and Irishtown . In 1981 he became a detective and subsequently worked with the Drug Squad . Early in 1984 he was assigned to the Central Detective Unit .
In July 1984 he married Ban Gharda Breda Hogan ; they had returned from their honeymoon in Venice about a week before Hand set out with Detective Michael Dowd on post office escort duty . They lived in Lucan , County Dublin . Frank Hand was driving . He and Dowd arrived at the GPO at around 7.15am and almost immediately drew in behind a post office van and set off on Route 3 , which begins at Dunboyne , in Meath , just beyond the border with Dublin . That Route then went to a few post offices in Meath , wound back into Dublin , through Blanchardstown , Cabra , Phibsboro , to Berkeley Road , a stone's throw from O' Connell Street .
Route 3 covered nineteen post offices , there were twenty-three mailbags in the van , containing almost a quarter of a million pounds , most of it social welfare money .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt was returned for West Belfast , for the last time , in the May 1979 general election which followed . Michael Foot , who had negotiated the deal with the Unionists , paid glowing quoted tribute in Fitt's election literature : Frank Cluskey , leader of the (Free State) Labour Party signed himself "...deeply impressed by your unrelenting opposition to social injustice and sectarianism .. " . Joe Gormley , President of the Mineworkers Union was quoted too , as was Ray Buckton , General Secretary of ASLEF .
The SDLP got the vote out for him ; they did not attempt to get the vote out in Fermanagh-Tyrone , that peculiar seat west of the Bann , where Frank Maguire was returned as a Unity candidate . Austin Currie resigned as chief whip of the SDLP to fight Frank Maguire as 'independent SDLP' and he lost .
In June , John Hume won a northern Euro seat without the help of Gerry Fitt , who went to Dublin to campaign for the (FS) Labour Party . In September the Pope came . In November the SDLP annual conference barely rejected a motion from the mid-Ulster branch calling for talks with the Provos and suppressed motions critical of Gerry Fitt .
Later that November , Humphrey Atkins , with the approval of Margaret Thatcher , published a white paper suggesting yet another Assembly to which " If ... " etc , and everybody being agreed of course ... - but there was to be no mention of an Irish dimension . Still , in Belfast , Gerry Fitt urged acceptance of the paper . But not all in the SDLP agreed with him .......
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
Some GAA clubs had taken the decision not to play football and hurling at all during the hunger-strike : in the South Antrim Division the 25 clubs came out and fully supported the five demands , agreeing to cancel fixtures on days of national demonstrations to encourage members to attend .
It was at one of these demonstrations , in Belfast on Sunday 30th November 1980 , that 3,000 GAA members marched up the Falls Road from the Dunville Park to the GAA grounds at Casement Park where the rally was held . Buses had ferried in the GAA supporters from all parts of the North , but the loudest cheer was reserved for the contingent that had travelled all the way from North Tipperary .
On an administrative level , with the example of prominent GAA individuals such as the legendary Kerry footballer Joe Keohane throwing their weight behind the campaign , various County Boards answered their members' concern by issuing statements of support . The Antrim County Executive Committee of the GAA declared -
- " We call on the British government to take immediate steps to afford normal decent standards and humane treatment to the prisoners , to relieve further distress for their relatives .... we confirm our support for the principles embodied in the five demands of the prisoners on hunger-strike . "
Telegrams were sent by clubs in the Antrim area to the (British) 'Northern Ireland Office' , and the British and Free State premiers .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Drumree , August 10 , 1984 :
Just before 7am that morning Detective Garda Frank Hand of the Central Detective Unit arrived at his Headquarters at Harcourt Square . The detective with whom he would work that day , Detective Garda Michael Dowd , was already there . Dowd had signed out an attache case which held an Uzi submachine gun ; the two Gardai went out and found the Fiat Mirafiori they would be using that day . Dowd took the Uzi from the case , along with two magazines carrying twenty rounds each ; he put the attach case , containing three more magazines , on the back seat of the Fiat .
He put one magazine into the Uzi and left the other on the floor of the car near his feet . He was also armed with a Walther P.P. semi-automatic pistol ; Frank Hand was armed with a Smith and Wesson .38 Special . Frank Hand was 25 . He joined the Garda force in 1977 and became a detective in 1981 . He was one of seven children of a Roscommon family and , on joining , in 1977 , worked in Dublin - in Donnybrook and Irishtown . In 1981 he became a detective and subsequently worked with the Drug Squad . Early in 1984 he was assigned to the Central Detective Unit .
In July 1984 he married Ban Gharda Breda Hogan ; they had returned from their honeymoon in Venice about a week before Hand set out with Detective Michael Dowd on post office escort duty . They lived in Lucan , County Dublin . Frank Hand was driving . He and Dowd arrived at the GPO at around 7.15am and almost immediately drew in behind a post office van and set off on Route 3 , which begins at Dunboyne , in Meath , just beyond the border with Dublin . That Route then went to a few post offices in Meath , wound back into Dublin , through Blanchardstown , Cabra , Phibsboro , to Berkeley Road , a stone's throw from O' Connell Street .
Route 3 covered nineteen post offices , there were twenty-three mailbags in the van , containing almost a quarter of a million pounds , most of it social welfare money .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt was returned for West Belfast , for the last time , in the May 1979 general election which followed . Michael Foot , who had negotiated the deal with the Unionists , paid glowing quoted tribute in Fitt's election literature : Frank Cluskey , leader of the (Free State) Labour Party signed himself "...deeply impressed by your unrelenting opposition to social injustice and sectarianism .. " . Joe Gormley , President of the Mineworkers Union was quoted too , as was Ray Buckton , General Secretary of ASLEF .
The SDLP got the vote out for him ; they did not attempt to get the vote out in Fermanagh-Tyrone , that peculiar seat west of the Bann , where Frank Maguire was returned as a Unity candidate . Austin Currie resigned as chief whip of the SDLP to fight Frank Maguire as 'independent SDLP' and he lost .
In June , John Hume won a northern Euro seat without the help of Gerry Fitt , who went to Dublin to campaign for the (FS) Labour Party . In September the Pope came . In November the SDLP annual conference barely rejected a motion from the mid-Ulster branch calling for talks with the Provos and suppressed motions critical of Gerry Fitt .
Later that November , Humphrey Atkins , with the approval of Margaret Thatcher , published a white paper suggesting yet another Assembly to which " If ... " etc , and everybody being agreed of course ... - but there was to be no mention of an Irish dimension . Still , in Belfast , Gerry Fitt urged acceptance of the paper . But not all in the SDLP agreed with him .......
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .......
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
Some GAA clubs had taken the decision not to play football and hurling at all during the hunger-strike : in the South Antrim Division the 25 clubs came out and fully supported the five demands , agreeing to cancel fixtures on days of national demonstrations to encourage members to attend .
It was at one of these demonstrations , in Belfast on Sunday 30th November 1980 , that 3,000 GAA members marched up the Falls Road from the Dunville Park to the GAA grounds at Casement Park where the rally was held . Buses had ferried in the GAA supporters from all parts of the North , but the loudest cheer was reserved for the contingent that had travelled all the way from North Tipperary .
On an administrative level , with the example of prominent GAA individuals such as the legendary Kerry footballer Joe Keohane throwing their weight behind the campaign , various County Boards answered their members' concern by issuing statements of support . The Antrim County Executive Committee of the GAA declared -
- " We call on the British government to take immediate steps to afford normal decent standards and humane treatment to the prisoners , to relieve further distress for their relatives .... we confirm our support for the principles embodied in the five demands of the prisoners on hunger-strike . "
Telegrams were sent by clubs in the Antrim area to the (British) 'Northern Ireland Office' , and the British and Free State premiers .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Others lined up that day for the robbery of a post van at Drumree Post Office were Paddy Duffy of Dromiskin , to provide the stolen cars ; Tommy Eccles of Dundalk , who had brought the Mercedes down from Newry and who was to drive it in the robbery ; Joe Gargan of Kentstown , who was to provide Seamus Lynch with a car and help him hide the money ; Noel McCabe , who had been doing odd jobs for Paul Finnegan , who was to drive three robbers to safety ; and Pat McPhillips and Brian McShane , two Provos from Dundalk who were to help unload the money from the post office van into the red Mercedes .
There were also at least two others lined up for the robbery , plus Paul Finnegan : two armed men would wait at Drumree Post Office for the post van to arrive , the others would be involved in getting the money and guns away from the area after the job . That night Paul Finnegan and a number of others assembled in Paddy Duffy's yard at Dromiskin , about six miles south of Dundalk ; Duffy was the Provo who lived in the mobile home and was in charge of providing the cars . He had the Opel Ascona ready , someone else brought the red Mercedes . That was the end of Duffy's participation in the robbery .
Noel MCabe , the alcoholic who had been doing odd jobs for Paul Finnegan , had driven Finnegan out to Paddy Duffy's place that night , where the cars and guns were assembled . Finnegan passed money around - he gave McCabe £30 to make sure the blue Ford Cortina had enough petrol ; he showed McCabe the crossroads where he was to pick up 'the lads' next morning . McCabe then drove Finnegan back to Dundalk , getting home himself at about a quarter to one in the morning . He was uneasy and had trouble getting to sleep . Meanwhile , Tommy Eccles , Pat McPhillips , Brian McShane and some others moved on from Duffy's to some sheds near Dunshaughlin , about three miles from Drumree .
They travelled in the stolen Mercedes and Ascona ; they slept in the sheds that night .
Earlier that day , (FS) Detective Sergeant Patrick Millea of the Central Detective Unit was rostering gardai for Friday's duties . He assigned Detective Garda Francis Hand for Post Office escort duty commencing at 7am the next day .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
" When the Shankill Butchers were caught and charged , " says Gerry Fitt , " I was over the moon ! Then in walks Paschal O' Hare (SDLP Councillor) and announces that he's defending them . I refused to drink with him ; a Catholic defending Prods that cut Catholic throats . I've heard of ethics but that was just ridiculous . " ('1169...' Comment - not for the SDLP , it was'nt .... !)
The breakdown of ethics in RUC and British Army behaviour was revealed in the Bennet Report in 1979 and the (British) Labour government refused time to discuss it in Westminster ; they were by now a minority government and were holding onto power by means of a deal with Unionist MP's at the 'House of Commons' . If the Unionists abstained from any vote against them , Labour would increase , at Westminster , representation for those from the North , from twelve seats to seventeen . A vote of confidence was called and Gerry Fitt held the balance of power -
- " This will be the unhappiest speech I have ever made in the House , " Fitt began , and he explained that he would abstain from voting for Labour , citing the Bennet Report , the deal with the Unionists and Roy Mason's behaviour in the North of Ireland as his reasons for standing aside while Labour fell : " The Labour Government ," said Fitt , " are not the best government to grapple with the Irish problem (sic - it's a British problem) . I respect the Conservative government of 1970-1974 which tried courageously * to reach a settlement in Northern Ireland . " (sic) (* ... by which Fitt was referring to the 1973 Sunningdale Agreement : a failure because , as with the 1998 Stormont Treaty , it contained no date for British withdrawal. Incidentally , that 1973 'Agreement' acknowledged the fact that the Six Counties " ...are part of the geographical entity of Ireland .. " , which is more than Adams and Co. managed to obtain in 1998 !)
After finishing his speech , Gerry Fitt left the Chamber without hearing the vote : " I saw a Tory when I finished speaking , " he said later , " a real bloated Tory . You could have identified him anywhere as a Tory . He was sneering at the Labour government side . If I'd stayed on , I'd have had to vote against anything he was voting for . "
The SDLP , which did not know how Gerry Fitt was going to vote over in Westminster , heaved a sigh of relief ....... ('1169... ' Comment - a political party which styles itself as a 'democratic' entity [Social Democratic Labour Party] and it gives its leader free reign to vote as he [in this case] sees fit on such an important issue ! And this same party continues to dismiss Republicans as "undemocratic ... " ! )
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
The above quote announced the decision by Republican blanket-men in the H-Blocks to commence the first of the two major hunger-strikes during 1980 and 1981 . Impassioned messages urging support were smuggled out of Long Kesh from the prisoners - with over 150 of the H-Block men from every Ulster county having connections with GAA clubs it was no surprise that the Association was asked to use its influence at every level to raise the prisoners' five demands . One letter smuggled out put the case in simple terms -
- " We appeal to you in the GAA to act now to avert death in the H-Blocks . We urge you to mobilise to divert the British government from its illogical and wholly insane stance . We hope that our plea will not fall on deaf ears within the GAA . We also hope that the GAA will not allow the barbed wire , the concrete walls and the iron bars of Long Kesh to stifle those cries for justice . "
Individual GAA clubs immediately rallied to the call for support with advertisements being inserted in 'The Irish News' newspaper . The grassroots reaction , in particular from counties like Derry , Tyrone and Antrim , was swift , recognising that the Association was more than simply a sporting body . The occupation of GAA grounds and premises in Crossmaglen and Casement Park , Belfast ; the banning of the carrying of hurling sticks as if they were offensive weapons ; and the day-to-day harassment of GAA members , had all brought a deeper understanding of why the GAA had been formed , and the reality of the consequences of promoting the Association's ideals - those of National freedom and cultural identity - in the bigoted Orange state .
With GAA activists working and co-ordinating support in the North , demonstrations were held at half-time during National League matches , pamphlets were issued to spectators and collections taken up .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Others lined up that day for the robbery of a post van at Drumree Post Office were Paddy Duffy of Dromiskin , to provide the stolen cars ; Tommy Eccles of Dundalk , who had brought the Mercedes down from Newry and who was to drive it in the robbery ; Joe Gargan of Kentstown , who was to provide Seamus Lynch with a car and help him hide the money ; Noel McCabe , who had been doing odd jobs for Paul Finnegan , who was to drive three robbers to safety ; and Pat McPhillips and Brian McShane , two Provos from Dundalk who were to help unload the money from the post office van into the red Mercedes .
There were also at least two others lined up for the robbery , plus Paul Finnegan : two armed men would wait at Drumree Post Office for the post van to arrive , the others would be involved in getting the money and guns away from the area after the job . That night Paul Finnegan and a number of others assembled in Paddy Duffy's yard at Dromiskin , about six miles south of Dundalk ; Duffy was the Provo who lived in the mobile home and was in charge of providing the cars . He had the Opel Ascona ready , someone else brought the red Mercedes . That was the end of Duffy's participation in the robbery .
Noel MCabe , the alcoholic who had been doing odd jobs for Paul Finnegan , had driven Finnegan out to Paddy Duffy's place that night , where the cars and guns were assembled . Finnegan passed money around - he gave McCabe £30 to make sure the blue Ford Cortina had enough petrol ; he showed McCabe the crossroads where he was to pick up 'the lads' next morning . McCabe then drove Finnegan back to Dundalk , getting home himself at about a quarter to one in the morning . He was uneasy and had trouble getting to sleep . Meanwhile , Tommy Eccles , Pat McPhillips , Brian McShane and some others moved on from Duffy's to some sheds near Dunshaughlin , about three miles from Drumree .
They travelled in the stolen Mercedes and Ascona ; they slept in the sheds that night .
Earlier that day , (FS) Detective Sergeant Patrick Millea of the Central Detective Unit was rostering gardai for Friday's duties . He assigned Detective Garda Francis Hand for Post Office escort duty commencing at 7am the next day .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
" When the Shankill Butchers were caught and charged , " says Gerry Fitt , " I was over the moon ! Then in walks Paschal O' Hare (SDLP Councillor) and announces that he's defending them . I refused to drink with him ; a Catholic defending Prods that cut Catholic throats . I've heard of ethics but that was just ridiculous . " ('1169...' Comment - not for the SDLP , it was'nt .... !)
The breakdown of ethics in RUC and British Army behaviour was revealed in the Bennet Report in 1979 and the (British) Labour government refused time to discuss it in Westminster ; they were by now a minority government and were holding onto power by means of a deal with Unionist MP's at the 'House of Commons' . If the Unionists abstained from any vote against them , Labour would increase , at Westminster , representation for those from the North , from twelve seats to seventeen . A vote of confidence was called and Gerry Fitt held the balance of power -
- " This will be the unhappiest speech I have ever made in the House , " Fitt began , and he explained that he would abstain from voting for Labour , citing the Bennet Report , the deal with the Unionists and Roy Mason's behaviour in the North of Ireland as his reasons for standing aside while Labour fell : " The Labour Government ," said Fitt , " are not the best government to grapple with the Irish problem (sic - it's a British problem) . I respect the Conservative government of 1970-1974 which tried courageously * to reach a settlement in Northern Ireland . " (sic) (* ... by which Fitt was referring to the 1973 Sunningdale Agreement : a failure because , as with the 1998 Stormont Treaty , it contained no date for British withdrawal. Incidentally , that 1973 'Agreement' acknowledged the fact that the Six Counties " ...are part of the geographical entity of Ireland .. " , which is more than Adams and Co. managed to obtain in 1998 !)
After finishing his speech , Gerry Fitt left the Chamber without hearing the vote : " I saw a Tory when I finished speaking , " he said later , " a real bloated Tory . You could have identified him anywhere as a Tory . He was sneering at the Labour government side . If I'd stayed on , I'd have had to vote against anything he was voting for . "
The SDLP , which did not know how Gerry Fitt was going to vote over in Westminster , heaved a sigh of relief ....... ('1169... ' Comment - a political party which styles itself as a 'democratic' entity [Social Democratic Labour Party] and it gives its leader free reign to vote as he [in this case] sees fit on such an important issue ! And this same party continues to dismiss Republicans as "undemocratic ... " ! )
(MORE LATER).
THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS .
" We declare that political status is ours of right and we declare that from Monday 27th October 1980 a hunger-strike by a number of men representing H-Blocks 3 , 4 and 5 will commence . Our widely-recognised resistance has carried us through four years of immense suffering and it shall carry us through to the bitter climax of death , if necessary . "
No by-line.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .
The above quote announced the decision by Republican blanket-men in the H-Blocks to commence the first of the two major hunger-strikes during 1980 and 1981 . Impassioned messages urging support were smuggled out of Long Kesh from the prisoners - with over 150 of the H-Block men from every Ulster county having connections with GAA clubs it was no surprise that the Association was asked to use its influence at every level to raise the prisoners' five demands . One letter smuggled out put the case in simple terms -
- " We appeal to you in the GAA to act now to avert death in the H-Blocks . We urge you to mobilise to divert the British government from its illogical and wholly insane stance . We hope that our plea will not fall on deaf ears within the GAA . We also hope that the GAA will not allow the barbed wire , the concrete walls and the iron bars of Long Kesh to stifle those cries for justice . "
Individual GAA clubs immediately rallied to the call for support with advertisements being inserted in 'The Irish News' newspaper . The grassroots reaction , in particular from counties like Derry , Tyrone and Antrim , was swift , recognising that the Association was more than simply a sporting body . The occupation of GAA grounds and premises in Crossmaglen and Casement Park , Belfast ; the banning of the carrying of hurling sticks as if they were offensive weapons ; and the day-to-day harassment of GAA members , had all brought a deeper understanding of why the GAA had been formed , and the reality of the consequences of promoting the Association's ideals - those of National freedom and cultural identity - in the bigoted Orange state .
With GAA activists working and co-ordinating support in the North , demonstrations were held at half-time during National League matches , pamphlets were issued to spectators and collections taken up .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, June 20, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Noel McCabe kept the bag of IRA guns under his bench for a few weeks ; Paul Finnegan came and took them away . A few days later he was back with a request that Noel McCabe " ...do a wee run . " Someone else had let him down ; and , at the weekend he might want McCabe to do another run up the country "...to collect a few lads and take them back to Dundalk . "
Noel McCabe drove Finnegan about three-quarters of a mile up the Carrickmacross Road that day , to an old farmhouse . There was an old man there and he told Finnegan - " There was a few of your lads here earlier this week . " A Ford Cortina drove into the yard and a transaction followed involving guns ; one man from the Cortina wound coloured tape around a rifle - " I'll know my marking , " he told Finnegan .
That gun was passed on to a man driving yet another car , and then Noel McCabe drove Finnegan back to Dundalk ; on the way , Finnegan told McCabe he wanted him to pick up three blokes the following Friday morning , August 10 , and take them to Dundalk - they would'nt be armed , they'd be clean . On the Thursday night , Finnegan would show him where to pick them up . That Thursday , Paul Finnegan went about organising a number of people for the robbery of a post van at Drumree Post Office , to take place about 8am the following morning .
Drumree is a 'speck on the map' about twenty miles from Dublin , about forty-five miles from Dundalk ; the post office is in a lay-by . It is run by Mary Gilsenan and her son Michael - it is not the obvious place for a large haul .
That Thursday , Paul Finnegan went to Drogheda at noon and met Seamus Lynch , a Provo from Kentstown , which is about fifteen miles from Drumree : Finnegan instructed Lynch to be at a field at Rathfeigh , near Drumree , shortly after 8am the following morning , to collect guns and money and store them . Finnegan and Lynch drove to the field so that Finnegan could show Lynch where to pick up the stuff.......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt was " ...beginning to regret the decision to set it up (the 'Housing Executive') at all .. " His political base , which he had assiduously tended since first becoming a Councillor , was being cut from under him .
In lesser 'wigwams' , in the cells of Long Kesh , men wrapped only in blankets had spent the years since 1976 signalling with excrement smeared on the walls that life was unbearable : " I remain convinced to this day that some of the men sentenced were absolutely innocent , " says Michael Canavan (SDLP) . " Confessions had been tortured out of them by the RUC in Castlereagh . There was a definate breakdown in the administration of law and order . That only increased the alienation between the Catholic population and them , and reinforced the support for the Provos . I had difficulty in persuading the SDLP that brutality and corruption was going on .
Reluctance to admit that things were so was reinforced by the knowledge that every time you criticised the RUC you were strengthening the hand of the IRA . I issued a detailed statement one morning , criticising the UDR , and a few hours later a UDR man and his young daughter were blown up in their car . I was physically sick all day but I stood over my statement . "
Gerry Fitt , he says , "...always got things just slightly wrong .. " on the issue of law and order , highlighting the activities of the IRA and the loyalists , and never totally appreciating the more covert activities of the (British) 'security forces' . Paddy Kennedy , erstwhile colleague of Fitt , had a meeting with him in Dublin around that time : " Gerry had raised the wrongful imprisonment of Giuseppe Conlon in Westminster and I mentioned to him the framing of an IRA man well known to us both . Fitt replied - ' I know he is innocent of that particular charge , but he's guilty of plenty of other things ... ' . " Gerry Fitt refused to pursue the matter .
The ethics of handling law and order was something that was to puzzle Gerry Fitt always , and came to the fore in an incident involving the 'Shankill Butchers' .......
(MORE LATER).
UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY .......
SEAN DELANEY looks at recent developments in the use of perjurers in the North .
From ' IRIS ' magazine , November 1983 .
Significantly , in a 'Panorama' programme screened on BBC 1 television on October 24th - after Robert Lean's retraction - Ian Paisley again appeared to resolutely oppose the use of perjurers : more than most politicians , he , arguably , has a great deal to lose from future loyalist perjurers bringing up parts of his past life !
For loyalists , under greater pressure from the judiciary than for a long time , the use of paid perjurers must be causing a further crisis of identity and resulting in a heavy demoralisation . But for nationalists , existing under a constant regime of repression , the situation is clearer-cut and the option a simple one - resistance .
With scores of nationalists and republicans still imprisoned on the 'word' of paid perjurers , there is certainly no room for complacency despite recent retractions and the ever-present hope of more , but there is now a will and an ability to mobilise on the issue in the nationalist community that was not fully there before .
[END of ' UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY'].
(Tomorrow - 'THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS' : from 1983 ).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Noel McCabe kept the bag of IRA guns under his bench for a few weeks ; Paul Finnegan came and took them away . A few days later he was back with a request that Noel McCabe " ...do a wee run . " Someone else had let him down ; and , at the weekend he might want McCabe to do another run up the country "...to collect a few lads and take them back to Dundalk . "
Noel McCabe drove Finnegan about three-quarters of a mile up the Carrickmacross Road that day , to an old farmhouse . There was an old man there and he told Finnegan - " There was a few of your lads here earlier this week . " A Ford Cortina drove into the yard and a transaction followed involving guns ; one man from the Cortina wound coloured tape around a rifle - " I'll know my marking , " he told Finnegan .
That gun was passed on to a man driving yet another car , and then Noel McCabe drove Finnegan back to Dundalk ; on the way , Finnegan told McCabe he wanted him to pick up three blokes the following Friday morning , August 10 , and take them to Dundalk - they would'nt be armed , they'd be clean . On the Thursday night , Finnegan would show him where to pick them up . That Thursday , Paul Finnegan went about organising a number of people for the robbery of a post van at Drumree Post Office , to take place about 8am the following morning .
Drumree is a 'speck on the map' about twenty miles from Dublin , about forty-five miles from Dundalk ; the post office is in a lay-by . It is run by Mary Gilsenan and her son Michael - it is not the obvious place for a large haul .
That Thursday , Paul Finnegan went to Drogheda at noon and met Seamus Lynch , a Provo from Kentstown , which is about fifteen miles from Drumree : Finnegan instructed Lynch to be at a field at Rathfeigh , near Drumree , shortly after 8am the following morning , to collect guns and money and store them . Finnegan and Lynch drove to the field so that Finnegan could show Lynch where to pick up the stuff.......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt was " ...beginning to regret the decision to set it up (the 'Housing Executive') at all .. " His political base , which he had assiduously tended since first becoming a Councillor , was being cut from under him .
In lesser 'wigwams' , in the cells of Long Kesh , men wrapped only in blankets had spent the years since 1976 signalling with excrement smeared on the walls that life was unbearable : " I remain convinced to this day that some of the men sentenced were absolutely innocent , " says Michael Canavan (SDLP) . " Confessions had been tortured out of them by the RUC in Castlereagh . There was a definate breakdown in the administration of law and order . That only increased the alienation between the Catholic population and them , and reinforced the support for the Provos . I had difficulty in persuading the SDLP that brutality and corruption was going on .
Reluctance to admit that things were so was reinforced by the knowledge that every time you criticised the RUC you were strengthening the hand of the IRA . I issued a detailed statement one morning , criticising the UDR , and a few hours later a UDR man and his young daughter were blown up in their car . I was physically sick all day but I stood over my statement . "
Gerry Fitt , he says , "...always got things just slightly wrong .. " on the issue of law and order , highlighting the activities of the IRA and the loyalists , and never totally appreciating the more covert activities of the (British) 'security forces' . Paddy Kennedy , erstwhile colleague of Fitt , had a meeting with him in Dublin around that time : " Gerry had raised the wrongful imprisonment of Giuseppe Conlon in Westminster and I mentioned to him the framing of an IRA man well known to us both . Fitt replied - ' I know he is innocent of that particular charge , but he's guilty of plenty of other things ... ' . " Gerry Fitt refused to pursue the matter .
The ethics of handling law and order was something that was to puzzle Gerry Fitt always , and came to the fore in an incident involving the 'Shankill Butchers' .......
(MORE LATER).
UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY .......
SEAN DELANEY looks at recent developments in the use of perjurers in the North .
From ' IRIS ' magazine , November 1983 .
Significantly , in a 'Panorama' programme screened on BBC 1 television on October 24th - after Robert Lean's retraction - Ian Paisley again appeared to resolutely oppose the use of perjurers : more than most politicians , he , arguably , has a great deal to lose from future loyalist perjurers bringing up parts of his past life !
For loyalists , under greater pressure from the judiciary than for a long time , the use of paid perjurers must be causing a further crisis of identity and resulting in a heavy demoralisation . But for nationalists , existing under a constant regime of repression , the situation is clearer-cut and the option a simple one - resistance .
With scores of nationalists and republicans still imprisoned on the 'word' of paid perjurers , there is certainly no room for complacency despite recent retractions and the ever-present hope of more , but there is now a will and an ability to mobilise on the issue in the nationalist community that was not fully there before .
[END of ' UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY'].
(Tomorrow - 'THE GAA AND THE HUNGER-STRIKERS' : from 1983 ).
Friday, June 17, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Noel McCabe agreed to do a bit of work for the Republican Movement ; he began doing the odd bit of fixing walkie-talkies , radios and battery chargers . Before long McCabe became a kind of Provo 'chauffeur' : he would be asked to pick someone up and drive him to , say , Inniskeen and pick the guy up a couple of hours later and drive him back .
He got petrol money for this ; sometimes Paul Finnegan himself was the passenger . Another of the people he drove for was a Northerner called Frankie ; McCabe used to see Frankie around Dundalk from time to time and he would give him the nod . The man never acknowledged the greeting . The next time McCabe gave Frankie a lift he was warned never to speak to him in the street - McCabe was not to be publicly identified with the Provos , he could then be used safely as a driver or helper .
Around March 1984 , Paul Finnegan began leaving guns with Noel McCabe ; first , a .38 automatic for just one night , then a sawn-off shotgun for a month . McCabe hid the guns under a bench in his shed - he was nervous about this and complained . Finnegan was understanding and took the guns away . He asked if McCabe would do one last run for him , he was stuck and he would'nt ask again . McCabe agreed and gave Finnegan a lift to either Inniskeen or Swords (later he could'nt remember) and picked him up later and brought him back to Dundalk .
A couple of months went by in which McCabe was'nt asked to do anything for the Republican Movement ; then , around June or July , Paul Finnegan arrived with a bag of guns : a sten-gun , two carbines , a sawn-off shotgun , a modern pistol and a rusty old revolver - " Everyone has to play their part . Headquarters know you held guns for us before and they expect you to do so again , and to do your part , " Finnegan told Noel McCabe .
McCabe kept the guns under his bench for a few weeks .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
In 1976 , on the eve of the anniversary of internment , Gerry Fitts' constituents petrol-bombed his home , burst down the door and mobbed up the stairs to his bedroom . Fitt fired a shot over their heads . The experience made him rely more and more on the British Army and the RUC for protection , as the 'mob' returned again and again . His home had to be protected by floodlights , wire netting and a direct two-way radio link to RUC Headquarters .
There was little link with the SDLP , most of whose members were turning , in those wilderness years , to drink or business affairs , or home life : Paddy Devlin , the left-wing voice of the party , turned to trade-union affairs , saying in his resignation statement that the SDLP made not even a pretence of uniting the workers , never mind uniting Ireland . Austin Currie remembers Gerry Fitt turning up at his home in an RUC car , and asking Currie to drive him the rest of the way to his boat moored on the Shannon , where he was going on holiday . The RUC , said Austin Currie , were worried about going over the border . ('1169...' Comment - that never bothered them in later years .... )
Gerry Fitt says Michael Canavan " ...hardly ever turned up at SDLP Executive meetings .. " . Most of these were held in Donegal , west of the Bann , and were described as 'think-tanks' . But there was actually little to turn up for - the only political action , and it was little enough , was at Westminster . In the North , in November 1977 , Gerry Fitt was to exclaim , there was Roy Mason " ...a colonial administrator , always dressed in a safari suit , walking down the main street in Belfast , with the natives holed up in substandard wigwams on the Falls and Shankill reservations .. "
There was'nt even that much the politicians could do about the 'wigwams' : the 'Housing Executive' , established as an independent body because of the way politicians had exercised discrimination when they had control of housing , was "...treating politicians with contempt .. " , Gerry Fitt snarled in 1979 .......
(MORE LATER).
UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY .......
SEAN DELANEY looks at recent developments in the use of perjurers in the North .
From ' IRIS ' magazine , November 1983 .
While so far the real pressure exerted within the Nationalist community on the perjurer system has been largely 'internal' (perjurers retracting in response to their families' efforts) - since the Stormont administration will only feel pressurised by 'external' political pressure from Nationalists when the campaign achieves its full impetus - there is undoubtedly strong concern among sections of the Loyalist community too , which may eventually cause headaches for the British government .
That concern stems , obviously enough , not from any opposition to the clinging of the Northern judiciary to the coat-tails of Stormont , which after all is unionist policy , but from the increasingly heavy losses which perjurers are inflicting on loyalist paramilitary groups , and the spin-off effect which this undoubtedly has on loyalist political parties , particularly the DUP .
Although the Official Unionist Party has taken a strong line in support of paid perjurers under their 'law and order' spokesperson , Edgar Graham , individual members of the OUP including John Carson have identified themselves with a campaign of opposition . In April of this year (1983) , DUP leader Ian Paisley condemned the use of perjurers as 'undermining the rule of law' and he specifically opposed the granting of immunity to perjurers . Immediately after the informer Robert Lean's 'evidence' began to lead to the arrest of several prominent Republicans , the DUP appeared to modify its stance considerably when leading spokespersons Peter Robinson and Jim Allister - at a press conference on September 13th , from which , strangely , Ian Paisley was absent - supported the use of
uncorroborated evidence and only opposed the granting of total immunity , implying that perjurers should instead be given heavily reduced sentences for their own admitted involvement .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Noel McCabe agreed to do a bit of work for the Republican Movement ; he began doing the odd bit of fixing walkie-talkies , radios and battery chargers . Before long McCabe became a kind of Provo 'chauffeur' : he would be asked to pick someone up and drive him to , say , Inniskeen and pick the guy up a couple of hours later and drive him back .
He got petrol money for this ; sometimes Paul Finnegan himself was the passenger . Another of the people he drove for was a Northerner called Frankie ; McCabe used to see Frankie around Dundalk from time to time and he would give him the nod . The man never acknowledged the greeting . The next time McCabe gave Frankie a lift he was warned never to speak to him in the street - McCabe was not to be publicly identified with the Provos , he could then be used safely as a driver or helper .
Around March 1984 , Paul Finnegan began leaving guns with Noel McCabe ; first , a .38 automatic for just one night , then a sawn-off shotgun for a month . McCabe hid the guns under a bench in his shed - he was nervous about this and complained . Finnegan was understanding and took the guns away . He asked if McCabe would do one last run for him , he was stuck and he would'nt ask again . McCabe agreed and gave Finnegan a lift to either Inniskeen or Swords (later he could'nt remember) and picked him up later and brought him back to Dundalk .
A couple of months went by in which McCabe was'nt asked to do anything for the Republican Movement ; then , around June or July , Paul Finnegan arrived with a bag of guns : a sten-gun , two carbines , a sawn-off shotgun , a modern pistol and a rusty old revolver - " Everyone has to play their part . Headquarters know you held guns for us before and they expect you to do so again , and to do your part , " Finnegan told Noel McCabe .
McCabe kept the guns under his bench for a few weeks .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
In 1976 , on the eve of the anniversary of internment , Gerry Fitts' constituents petrol-bombed his home , burst down the door and mobbed up the stairs to his bedroom . Fitt fired a shot over their heads . The experience made him rely more and more on the British Army and the RUC for protection , as the 'mob' returned again and again . His home had to be protected by floodlights , wire netting and a direct two-way radio link to RUC Headquarters .
There was little link with the SDLP , most of whose members were turning , in those wilderness years , to drink or business affairs , or home life : Paddy Devlin , the left-wing voice of the party , turned to trade-union affairs , saying in his resignation statement that the SDLP made not even a pretence of uniting the workers , never mind uniting Ireland . Austin Currie remembers Gerry Fitt turning up at his home in an RUC car , and asking Currie to drive him the rest of the way to his boat moored on the Shannon , where he was going on holiday . The RUC , said Austin Currie , were worried about going over the border . ('1169...' Comment - that never bothered them in later years .... )
Gerry Fitt says Michael Canavan " ...hardly ever turned up at SDLP Executive meetings .. " . Most of these were held in Donegal , west of the Bann , and were described as 'think-tanks' . But there was actually little to turn up for - the only political action , and it was little enough , was at Westminster . In the North , in November 1977 , Gerry Fitt was to exclaim , there was Roy Mason " ...a colonial administrator , always dressed in a safari suit , walking down the main street in Belfast , with the natives holed up in substandard wigwams on the Falls and Shankill reservations .. "
There was'nt even that much the politicians could do about the 'wigwams' : the 'Housing Executive' , established as an independent body because of the way politicians had exercised discrimination when they had control of housing , was "...treating politicians with contempt .. " , Gerry Fitt snarled in 1979 .......
(MORE LATER).
UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY .......
SEAN DELANEY looks at recent developments in the use of perjurers in the North .
From ' IRIS ' magazine , November 1983 .
While so far the real pressure exerted within the Nationalist community on the perjurer system has been largely 'internal' (perjurers retracting in response to their families' efforts) - since the Stormont administration will only feel pressurised by 'external' political pressure from Nationalists when the campaign achieves its full impetus - there is undoubtedly strong concern among sections of the Loyalist community too , which may eventually cause headaches for the British government .
That concern stems , obviously enough , not from any opposition to the clinging of the Northern judiciary to the coat-tails of Stormont , which after all is unionist policy , but from the increasingly heavy losses which perjurers are inflicting on loyalist paramilitary groups , and the spin-off effect which this undoubtedly has on loyalist political parties , particularly the DUP .
Although the Official Unionist Party has taken a strong line in support of paid perjurers under their 'law and order' spokesperson , Edgar Graham , individual members of the OUP including John Carson have identified themselves with a campaign of opposition . In April of this year (1983) , DUP leader Ian Paisley condemned the use of perjurers as 'undermining the rule of law' and he specifically opposed the granting of immunity to perjurers . Immediately after the informer Robert Lean's 'evidence' began to lead to the arrest of several prominent Republicans , the DUP appeared to modify its stance considerably when leading spokespersons Peter Robinson and Jim Allister - at a press conference on September 13th , from which , strangely , Ian Paisley was absent - supported the use of
uncorroborated evidence and only opposed the granting of total immunity , implying that perjurers should instead be given heavily reduced sentences for their own admitted involvement .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, June 16, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Joe Gargan had a yellow Ford Escort car ; he was a Provo sympathiser , aged 34 , a lorry driver who lived at Kentstown , County Meath . Noel McCabe , aged 44 , from Dundalk , County Louth , was a Provo sympathiser : he was handy with cars and , around July , he began repairs to a car belonging to another Dundalk man - it was a blue Ford Cortina , and when McCabe fixed it he did'nt return it to its owner immediately , but began driving it himself .
A stolen beige Open Ascona , a stolen red Mercedes , Joe Gargan's yellow Escort , Noel McCabe's 'borrowed' blue Cortina : two cars brought within reach , two local cars 'on tap' . Noel McCabe was an alcoholic who was beating his problem ; by August 1984 he was eight months off drink . To fill his time and keep his mind off drink he fixed television sets in a shed at the back of his house in Oliver Plunkett Park , Dundalk , County Louth : his odd-jobs extended to various kinds of electrical work and car repairs .
Some time in 1983 a man arrived at Noel McCabe's house with a TV that needed fixing ; the man was a Northerner , a hardened Provo now living in the South . As legal proceedings may yet ensue against this man we will for the purposes of this narrative call him Paul Finnegan , though that is not his name . McCabe fixed the TV and Finnegan asked him to fix the TV again in February 1984 ; on this occasion McCbe went to Finnegan's house to do the job . The two chatted for a long time about politics , about the Provos .
Finnegan said his family had been harassed by the RUC and the British Army and he was forced to go ' on the run ' and come to live in Dundalk . McCabe expressed sympathy with Finnegan's republican sentiments - the two became friendly and McCabe sometimes dropped into Finnegan's house for tea . Finnegan sometimes dropped around to McCabe's with some little repair job on a car or radio .
Eventually , Finnegan asked Noel McCabe if he would "... do a bit of work for the republican movement ......... "
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt operated almost exclusively from Westminster ; he could have forged links with groups like the Socialist International to which the SDLP was affiliated , but he did'nt . His entire temperament went against formal relationships of any kind - " I hate being in parties , they keep trying to tell you what to do , passing resolutions on every little thing .. "
It was his proud boast that the SDLP never had a branch in his West Belfast constituency ! He was a saloon man , and his saloon was Westminster , and he liked wandering in and out of hotels and bars , seeing people when he came home . Since the fall of the Executive , he spent more and more time in the Europa Hotel in Belfast ; the bars were dangerous places now for him and his very home was unsafe . He was under attack from his own constituents .
When the Executive collapsed they were left with internment , punitive repayment of the rent they had withheld during the years of protest against it , replacement of internment in 1975 by non-jury courts , and British Army camps and RUC stations all over West Belfast . Their sole representative upheld British rule as an alternative , he said , to civil war and they turned on him . ('1169...' Comment - in later years , this was refined to read - " If it was'nt for ye lot taking pot shots at them , the Brits would have gone home years ago .. " . Expect much the same now from Adams and Co. in reference to those they call 'dissidents' . )
In 1976 , on the eve of the anniversary of internment , Gerry Fitts' constituents went looking for him .......
(MORE LATER).
UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY .......
SEAN DELANEY looks at recent developments in the use of perjurers in the North .
From ' IRIS ' magazine , November 1983 .
The Catholic Church have maintained a low profile on the issue of paid perjurers , with the exception of Dr. Edward Daly , Bishop of Derry , and a handful of priests , who have condemned the use of perjurers . Bishop Cahal Daly , previously so vocal on political issues , has adopted a studious silence .
For his part , Dungannon priest , Fr. Denis Faul , having failed to limit the opposition to perjurers to relatives (whose emotions , his experience during the hunger-strikes leads him to believe , can, at critical points , be exploited against republicans ) has concentrated much of his efforts on vitriolic attacks on Sinn Fein - on one occasion going as far as to allege that Sinn Fein were 'using' the perjurer campaign to finance their involvement in the EEC elections !
Also ranged against the use of perjurers have been the SDLP-controlled Derry Council , the Belfast and District Trades Council and a number of British MP's and British and American legal figures . British Labour MP , Martin Flannery , has said that the use of perjurers is bringing "...the whole of the British system of justice into disrepute . It is the kind of thing that Hitler and company engaged in .. " .
The use of paid perjurers by Westminster was welcomed by some Unionists but condemned by others - sometimes both 'pro' and 'anti' camps were in the same political party .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Joe Gargan had a yellow Ford Escort car ; he was a Provo sympathiser , aged 34 , a lorry driver who lived at Kentstown , County Meath . Noel McCabe , aged 44 , from Dundalk , County Louth , was a Provo sympathiser : he was handy with cars and , around July , he began repairs to a car belonging to another Dundalk man - it was a blue Ford Cortina , and when McCabe fixed it he did'nt return it to its owner immediately , but began driving it himself .
A stolen beige Open Ascona , a stolen red Mercedes , Joe Gargan's yellow Escort , Noel McCabe's 'borrowed' blue Cortina : two cars brought within reach , two local cars 'on tap' . Noel McCabe was an alcoholic who was beating his problem ; by August 1984 he was eight months off drink . To fill his time and keep his mind off drink he fixed television sets in a shed at the back of his house in Oliver Plunkett Park , Dundalk , County Louth : his odd-jobs extended to various kinds of electrical work and car repairs .
Some time in 1983 a man arrived at Noel McCabe's house with a TV that needed fixing ; the man was a Northerner , a hardened Provo now living in the South . As legal proceedings may yet ensue against this man we will for the purposes of this narrative call him Paul Finnegan , though that is not his name . McCabe fixed the TV and Finnegan asked him to fix the TV again in February 1984 ; on this occasion McCbe went to Finnegan's house to do the job . The two chatted for a long time about politics , about the Provos .
Finnegan said his family had been harassed by the RUC and the British Army and he was forced to go ' on the run ' and come to live in Dundalk . McCabe expressed sympathy with Finnegan's republican sentiments - the two became friendly and McCabe sometimes dropped into Finnegan's house for tea . Finnegan sometimes dropped around to McCabe's with some little repair job on a car or radio .
Eventually , Finnegan asked Noel McCabe if he would "... do a bit of work for the republican movement ......... "
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt operated almost exclusively from Westminster ; he could have forged links with groups like the Socialist International to which the SDLP was affiliated , but he did'nt . His entire temperament went against formal relationships of any kind - " I hate being in parties , they keep trying to tell you what to do , passing resolutions on every little thing .. "
It was his proud boast that the SDLP never had a branch in his West Belfast constituency ! He was a saloon man , and his saloon was Westminster , and he liked wandering in and out of hotels and bars , seeing people when he came home . Since the fall of the Executive , he spent more and more time in the Europa Hotel in Belfast ; the bars were dangerous places now for him and his very home was unsafe . He was under attack from his own constituents .
When the Executive collapsed they were left with internment , punitive repayment of the rent they had withheld during the years of protest against it , replacement of internment in 1975 by non-jury courts , and British Army camps and RUC stations all over West Belfast . Their sole representative upheld British rule as an alternative , he said , to civil war and they turned on him . ('1169...' Comment - in later years , this was refined to read - " If it was'nt for ye lot taking pot shots at them , the Brits would have gone home years ago .. " . Expect much the same now from Adams and Co. in reference to those they call 'dissidents' . )
In 1976 , on the eve of the anniversary of internment , Gerry Fitts' constituents went looking for him .......
(MORE LATER).
UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY .......
SEAN DELANEY looks at recent developments in the use of perjurers in the North .
From ' IRIS ' magazine , November 1983 .
The Catholic Church have maintained a low profile on the issue of paid perjurers , with the exception of Dr. Edward Daly , Bishop of Derry , and a handful of priests , who have condemned the use of perjurers . Bishop Cahal Daly , previously so vocal on political issues , has adopted a studious silence .
For his part , Dungannon priest , Fr. Denis Faul , having failed to limit the opposition to perjurers to relatives (whose emotions , his experience during the hunger-strikes leads him to believe , can, at critical points , be exploited against republicans ) has concentrated much of his efforts on vitriolic attacks on Sinn Fein - on one occasion going as far as to allege that Sinn Fein were 'using' the perjurer campaign to finance their involvement in the EEC elections !
Also ranged against the use of perjurers have been the SDLP-controlled Derry Council , the Belfast and District Trades Council and a number of British MP's and British and American legal figures . British Labour MP , Martin Flannery , has said that the use of perjurers is bringing "...the whole of the British system of justice into disrepute . It is the kind of thing that Hitler and company engaged in .. " .
The use of paid perjurers by Westminster was welcomed by some Unionists but condemned by others - sometimes both 'pro' and 'anti' camps were in the same political party .......
(MORE LATER).
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