FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The (pro-Republican) newspaper 'The United Irishman' and the Fianna Fail-led 'Voice Of The North' newspaper were engaged in a 'war of words' ; when Seamus Brady (Fianna Fail member , and the man in charge of the 'Voice' newspaper) was asked for a comment on ' Fianna Fail takeover attempts' -type articles published in 'The United Irishman' newspaper , he described such comments as a pack of lies - " These people could'nt tell the truth if their lives depended on it . "
Days later , on November 3rd , 1969 , Seamus Brady (as explained in his submission to the subsequent Leinster House inquiry) submitted an invoice for £1,580, 6 shillings , 6 pence to Eoin Neeson in the 'Government Information Bureau' for the organisation and production of the first three editions of 'The Voice Of The North' newspaper . On the day before 'The United Irishman' newspaper exclusive (re the attempt by Fianna Fail to takeover the 'Civil Rights' issue in the Six Counties) , on October 29th , 1969 , Seamus Brady wrote to Eoin Neeson , Director of the (FS) 'Government Information Bureau' , pointing out that the (FS) Minister for Finance , Charles Haughey , had authorised payment of £1,000 to him to cover 'Voice Of The North' expenses .
As agreed between Brady and Neeson the description was '...to preparation of manuscripts for Government Information Bureau.. ' The publicity given to the disclosure meant changes in the way the 'Voice' newspaper would get its finances ; on November 10th , 1969 , £2,500 was withdrawn from the 'undercover' bank account in Clones , County Monaghan , and was used to open the 'Ann O'Brien' account in Baggot Street , Dublin . So the newspaper continued , with the 'Ann O'Brien' account paying its bills , via Captain James Kelly . Meanwhile , a meeting of all key IRA figures was being organised .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Republican intervention in the British electoral process dates back to the elections of Charles Kickham and O Donovan Rossa , while a political prisoner , between 1869 and 1875 , to the Westminster Parliament .
Five years later , John Mitchel was elected MP for Tipperary and Cork City ; when this election , in which he was returned unopposed , was declared 'invalid' ( because " Mitchel had not purged himself of his felony") he stood again and was returned with an 80 per cent majority against his opponent . These men were Fenians , members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood , jailed for their political affiliations and their opposition to British rule in Ireland .
The question , therefore , of Republican intervention in electoral politics is not a new one and an exploration , even a cursory one , of such interventions , gives an interesting and , at times , an illuminating insight into many of the questions which have bedevilled nationalist politics in Ireland for centuries . Constitutionalism versus physical force ; social issues versus national issues - constitutional nationalism versus militant nationaism versus republicanism and the many and varied efforts by Republicans to bring al these tendencies together against British colonialism . The period 1878-1887 is particularly interesting in this respect .
THE FENIANS.
The Fenian Movement , the Irish Republican Brotherhood , was founded in 1858 , and had as its objective the winning of Irish Independence by armed rebellion . In its reports and communications , incidently, mention of the IRA is made for the first time . That apart , and more interestingly , Fenianism was the first truly nation-wide lay secular society which was distinctly radical and committed to founding '... a Republic based on universal suffrage which shall secure for all , the intrinsic value for their labour . The soil of Ireland belongs to us , the Irish people , and to us it must be restored . We declare , also , in favour of absolute liberty of conscience , and the complete separation of Church and State ... '
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
On the evening of Thursday , October 29 , 1987 , a conference was held in Dr. Austin Darragh's apartment , attended by solicitor Hilary Prentice , Detective Superintendent Noel Conroy , Dr. Austin Darragh and members of the O'Grady family ; the following morning 'Auntie Bettie' (Dr. Walter Doyle's wife ) was driven to Limerick Cathedral by Dr. Darragh's chauffeur ; she searched all around the statue for twenty-five minutes , but all she found was a petition to Our Lady asking her to help ' Sean's nerves' . 'Auntie Bettie' returned to Dublin with the petition which she handed over to Detective Superintendent Noel Conroy ; the note to which Dessie O'Hare referred was indeed in the cathedral , but 'Auntie Bettie' would have had to lift the statue up to find it .
That note instructed a courier to go to the Blarney Hotel in Cork on Tuesday , November 3 , 1987 , at 1.00 PM , in a car with a car phone , and the ransom . At the hotel he was to take a call under the name of 'Pat Murray' and would be given further instructions .
On Saturday October 31 , 1987 , Dessie O'Hare made another phone call , this time to the offices of 'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper : he gave an interview to that newspaper , telling them that John O'Grady was safe and would remain so providing certain instructions given to Dr. Darragh were followed carefully .
14. "THINK OF THE SEASONS , THINK OF SPRING. "
Over the next day or two , Dessie O'Hare discovered that the Blarney Hotel was useless as a contact point - it was closed for renovations . On Tuesday , November 3rd , 1987 , O'Hare telephoned Hilary Prentice . He was unaware that the ransom note had not been found in Limerick Cathedral ; he wanted Prentice to get 'Auntie Bettie' to contact , by car phone , the courier who O'Hare presumed was sitting outside the Blarney Hotel . O'Hare told Prentice there had been "...a fuck up.. " - that the hotel was closed . 'Auntie Bettie' was to instruct the courier to proceed to the Killeshin Hotel in Portlaoise - this was to be the new point of contact . But Hilary Prentice had'nt the remotest idea what O'Hare was talking about ; O'Hare said he would ring back shortly after two o'clock .
During this call , Hilary Prentice told O'Hare that 'Auntie Bettie' had gone to Limerick Cathedral as instructed - but had not found the note . It was at this point that Dessie O'Hare flipped his lid .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, October 06, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
By the middle of October 1969 it was clear that the (FS) government's sub-committee on the North was in full swing and that nobody would be allowed stand in the way of Fianna Fail ; they had commenced their takeover of the Citizens Defence Committee and the 'Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association' - but greater inroads would have to be made on the IRA front .
Fianna Fail began to publish a weekly paper to rival the very influential IRA newspaper 'The United Irishman' , which had a print run , at the time , in the region of 70,000 copies each month . The first edition of 'The Voice Of The North' newspaper appeared on October 12 , 1969 ; Seamus Brady (FF) was its main supervisor and set out to equate the demand for Civil Rights in the North of Ireland with Fianna Fail . In the third edition , on October 26 , 1969 , 'The Voice Of The North' carried a two-page spread titled - ' De Valera on the North' , which was a reprint of a 1939 speech in the (FS) Senate by Dev . Later editions during 1970 advertised meetings organised by Provisional Sinn Fein and the Provisional IRA .
The 'United Irishman' newspaper hit back : their November 1969 issue carried an exclusive on the Fianna Fail attempted takeover of the Northern Civil Rights Association . It was clear the orders had come down from the IRA Army Council not to mention the takeover attempts of the IRA itself with the difficult situation prevailing . The 'United Irishman' , November 1969 issue , published at the end of October 1969 , stated - " It is hard to believe that Mr. Jack Lynch is unaware of this cynical double-dealing by his Ministers . These Fianna Fail politicians are doing their best to disrupt Civil Rights and anti-Unionist forces which have been politically embarrassing to them . "
When Seamus Brady (FF) was asked for a comment he described it as a pack of lies.......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
A Fianna spokesperson stated - " Young people , mostly in their teens , have always been found in the ranks of Na Fianna : who were prepared to endure death , torture , intimidation , victimisation and harassment . Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Today , the Fianna is growing and new sluaite (units) are being set up practically every week . Increasingly it is taking a more publicly prominent role in the Republican Movement and addressing itself more and more to the day-to-day problems facing Irish youth . The Fianna is forging a future for itself , worthy of its past . "
[END of ' NA FIANNA EIREANN .......' .]
(Tomorrow - 'ELECTION INTERVENTIONS' ; from 1981 .)
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O'Hare next visited the house (where John O'Grady was being held) on Saturday , October 31 , 1987 - but never went near the prisoner . In the intervening days O'Grady had been allowed to have a bath and a change of clothes . The other gang members did'nt bother him either . Fergal Toal came into the alcove on one occasion and John O'Grady examined the graze on his head , which he diagnosed as being not serious . He cut away the hair around the spot the bullet had grazed , and told Toal to bathe it in lukewarm , salted water and then apply Sudocreme . Compared to what had gone before , O'Grady's days at Carnlough Road were idyllically spent and incident free . It was to be the calm before the storm ...
13. THE NOTE UNDER THE STATUE .
From the alcove under the stairs where John O'Grady was there may well have seemed to be a lull in activity ; but away from Carnlough Road there were a number of significant developments . Since the kidnap there had been several articles in the newspapers speculating on Dr. Austin Darragh's wealth - one of the articles valued his assets at £27 million - Dessie O'Hare had upped his ransom to £1.5 million . A week earlier he had dictated a note to John O'Grady demanding ransom which named the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk as a liaison point , but had never followed through on this plan .
On Thursday October 29 , 1987 , Dessie O'Hare decided it was time to collect . He rang solicitor Hilary Prentice of Matheson Ormsby and Prentice , whose name had been given to him by John O'Grady as one of the people who could act as a go-between . O'Hare told the solicitor that his name was John Mohen : he established his bona fides from the information supplied to him by John O'Grady , by giving Hilary Prentice details of work carried out on her teeth by O'Grady . O'Hare told her that she was to contact the wife of ear , nose and throat specialist Dr. Walter Doyle who was known to John O'Grady as 'Auntie Bettie' .
Prentice was to tell 'Auntie Bettie' to go to Limerick Cathedral ; there , underneath a statue of Our Lady , beside the thirteenth 'Station of the Cross' , there was a note with instructions . O'Hare warned of the consequences if Dr. Darragh contacted the gardai .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
By the middle of October 1969 it was clear that the (FS) government's sub-committee on the North was in full swing and that nobody would be allowed stand in the way of Fianna Fail ; they had commenced their takeover of the Citizens Defence Committee and the 'Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association' - but greater inroads would have to be made on the IRA front .
Fianna Fail began to publish a weekly paper to rival the very influential IRA newspaper 'The United Irishman' , which had a print run , at the time , in the region of 70,000 copies each month . The first edition of 'The Voice Of The North' newspaper appeared on October 12 , 1969 ; Seamus Brady (FF) was its main supervisor and set out to equate the demand for Civil Rights in the North of Ireland with Fianna Fail . In the third edition , on October 26 , 1969 , 'The Voice Of The North' carried a two-page spread titled - ' De Valera on the North' , which was a reprint of a 1939 speech in the (FS) Senate by Dev . Later editions during 1970 advertised meetings organised by Provisional Sinn Fein and the Provisional IRA .
The 'United Irishman' newspaper hit back : their November 1969 issue carried an exclusive on the Fianna Fail attempted takeover of the Northern Civil Rights Association . It was clear the orders had come down from the IRA Army Council not to mention the takeover attempts of the IRA itself with the difficult situation prevailing . The 'United Irishman' , November 1969 issue , published at the end of October 1969 , stated - " It is hard to believe that Mr. Jack Lynch is unaware of this cynical double-dealing by his Ministers . These Fianna Fail politicians are doing their best to disrupt Civil Rights and anti-Unionist forces which have been politically embarrassing to them . "
When Seamus Brady (FF) was asked for a comment he described it as a pack of lies.......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
A Fianna spokesperson stated - " Young people , mostly in their teens , have always been found in the ranks of Na Fianna : who were prepared to endure death , torture , intimidation , victimisation and harassment . Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Today , the Fianna is growing and new sluaite (units) are being set up practically every week . Increasingly it is taking a more publicly prominent role in the Republican Movement and addressing itself more and more to the day-to-day problems facing Irish youth . The Fianna is forging a future for itself , worthy of its past . "
[END of ' NA FIANNA EIREANN .......' .]
(Tomorrow - 'ELECTION INTERVENTIONS' ; from 1981 .)
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O'Hare next visited the house (where John O'Grady was being held) on Saturday , October 31 , 1987 - but never went near the prisoner . In the intervening days O'Grady had been allowed to have a bath and a change of clothes . The other gang members did'nt bother him either . Fergal Toal came into the alcove on one occasion and John O'Grady examined the graze on his head , which he diagnosed as being not serious . He cut away the hair around the spot the bullet had grazed , and told Toal to bathe it in lukewarm , salted water and then apply Sudocreme . Compared to what had gone before , O'Grady's days at Carnlough Road were idyllically spent and incident free . It was to be the calm before the storm ...
13. THE NOTE UNDER THE STATUE .
From the alcove under the stairs where John O'Grady was there may well have seemed to be a lull in activity ; but away from Carnlough Road there were a number of significant developments . Since the kidnap there had been several articles in the newspapers speculating on Dr. Austin Darragh's wealth - one of the articles valued his assets at £27 million - Dessie O'Hare had upped his ransom to £1.5 million . A week earlier he had dictated a note to John O'Grady demanding ransom which named the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk as a liaison point , but had never followed through on this plan .
On Thursday October 29 , 1987 , Dessie O'Hare decided it was time to collect . He rang solicitor Hilary Prentice of Matheson Ormsby and Prentice , whose name had been given to him by John O'Grady as one of the people who could act as a go-between . O'Hare told the solicitor that his name was John Mohen : he established his bona fides from the information supplied to him by John O'Grady , by giving Hilary Prentice details of work carried out on her teeth by O'Grady . O'Hare told her that she was to contact the wife of ear , nose and throat specialist Dr. Walter Doyle who was known to John O'Grady as 'Auntie Bettie' .
Prentice was to tell 'Auntie Bettie' to go to Limerick Cathedral ; there , underneath a statue of Our Lady , beside the thirteenth 'Station of the Cross' , there was a note with instructions . O'Hare warned of the consequences if Dr. Darragh contacted the gardai .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
On the evening of September 22 , 1969 , the 'dissident' IRA members marched into a Staff meeting of the Belfast IRA Command which was being held in Cyprus Street in the Lower Falls - they were armed and informed all present that they were taking over .
In the interests of unity and in the face of possible pogroms , the Officer Commanding of the Belfast IRA agreed to have talks with the 'dissidents' : an agreement was made which brought representatives of the 'dissidents' onto the Belfast Command Staff , a temporary shelving of the IRA's socialist policies , a break with GHQ in Dublin , and abstention from the coming General Army Convention due for December 1969 . That special convention would decide on Sinn Fein's attitude towards parliamentary participation and the development of a National Liberation Front in Ireland which might unite left wing forces . The examples of Vietnam was popular worldwide in left wing circles .
Meanwhile the Fianna Fail strategists realised that influence over the IRA would not be enough - they must have control of Citizens Defence Committees which had sprung up - otherwise 'the tail would still be wagging the (southern) dog' . A meeting initiated by Fianna Fail's operators was held in Lurgan , County Armagh , on Saturday September 27, 1969 , of Central Defence Commitees and a 'Provisional Central Committee' was established . That meeting was held in opposition to a similar gathering called by the IRA for the Oriel Hotel , Monaghan . At the Lurgan meeting , organised by the Fianna Fail government , was Ruairi O Bradaigh who in fact had been an active member of the IRA Army Council for many years .
At this time Republican Ireland was being visited by personalities out of the Celtic Twilight : they were the Belfast 'dissidents' , including Maire Drumm , Jimmy Steele and others , who travelled the 32 Counties 'stirring the pot' , openly campaigning against the existing leadership and making contacts all over the country . They were helped in their travels by Seamus Brady , a Fianna Fail man .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
A Fianna spokesperson stated - " Young people in the South suffer a wide range of problems - youth unemployment is twice the national average , working-class youth are effectively denied the right to a third level education through the miserable grants scheme operating there . Apprentices and young workers , especially girls , are discriminated against in pay . There's the whole question of illegitimacy , the age of criminal responsibility , the care of young offenders , the provision of adequate sports and recreational facilities . These are just a few of the problems facing young people in the South - problems which Na Fianna Eireann as a youth organisation is vitally concerned about .
We believe that such a bad situation is made worse by the absence of any effective and comprehensive policy document on youth by the twenty-six county government . This clearly shows the lack of commitment on the part of the establishment parties in the South to solving the real issues facing young people today . The twenty-six county government lacks both the vision to see the measures that would be needed to solve these problems , and the will to put these measures into practice .
Na Fianna Eireann , the Irish Republican youth movement , was founded seventy-two years ago and , in that time , in a history that few youth organisations can parallel , it has served the Republican Movement and the cause of Irish freedom well ....... "
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
12. THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM .
That morning , Tuesday October 27 , 1987 , John O'Grady got a decent breakfast - hamburger , bacon , sausage , double egg and a pint jug of tea . After that he was moved downstairs and put in an alcove under the stairs in the living room . He was told that once inside he could remove his blacked-out glasses - his handcuffs had already been removed . There was a mattress on the floor , a light bulb hanging from a waterpipe and a radio . The electricity supply was controlled from the livingroom outside . The alcove was big enough to sit in comfortably but not large enough to stand in .
He was given a selection of Wilbur Smith novels , a book on Liam Mellowes , the writings of Bobby Sands and a book by Nora Connolly O'Brien on the development of Ireland since 1916 ; he was told to study them carefully as he would be asked questions later .
The newspapers were full of accounts of the shooting incident in Midleton , Cork : it was the first time he knew that he had been in Midleton though from listening to the radio , which had a lot of Cork-based ads , he had suspected that Dessie O'Hare's shots at supposed British soldiers was an attempt to disorientate him . There was criticism in the newspapers over the garda handling of the operation at Midleton ; public disquiet over the way the kidnap was being handled was growing . There was some consolation for the gardai , however - because there had been no contact with the O'Grady family many gardai feared that John O'Grady was dead . Secondly , the gang had left plenty of fingerprints behind in the container : the gardai were now able to harden up their suspicions and positively identify the remaining gang members .
Dessie O'Hare turned up at Carnlough Road the night after the shoot-out , Tuesday October 27 , 1987 ; the gang bought beer and celebrated . In the alcove under the stairs John O'Grady could here O'Hare and the others talking about the escape in excited tones . O'Hare was accompanied by a woman - he never came near O'Grady that night .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
On the evening of September 22 , 1969 , the 'dissident' IRA members marched into a Staff meeting of the Belfast IRA Command which was being held in Cyprus Street in the Lower Falls - they were armed and informed all present that they were taking over .
In the interests of unity and in the face of possible pogroms , the Officer Commanding of the Belfast IRA agreed to have talks with the 'dissidents' : an agreement was made which brought representatives of the 'dissidents' onto the Belfast Command Staff , a temporary shelving of the IRA's socialist policies , a break with GHQ in Dublin , and abstention from the coming General Army Convention due for December 1969 . That special convention would decide on Sinn Fein's attitude towards parliamentary participation and the development of a National Liberation Front in Ireland which might unite left wing forces . The examples of Vietnam was popular worldwide in left wing circles .
Meanwhile the Fianna Fail strategists realised that influence over the IRA would not be enough - they must have control of Citizens Defence Committees which had sprung up - otherwise 'the tail would still be wagging the (southern) dog' . A meeting initiated by Fianna Fail's operators was held in Lurgan , County Armagh , on Saturday September 27, 1969 , of Central Defence Commitees and a 'Provisional Central Committee' was established . That meeting was held in opposition to a similar gathering called by the IRA for the Oriel Hotel , Monaghan . At the Lurgan meeting , organised by the Fianna Fail government , was Ruairi O Bradaigh who in fact had been an active member of the IRA Army Council for many years .
At this time Republican Ireland was being visited by personalities out of the Celtic Twilight : they were the Belfast 'dissidents' , including Maire Drumm , Jimmy Steele and others , who travelled the 32 Counties 'stirring the pot' , openly campaigning against the existing leadership and making contacts all over the country . They were helped in their travels by Seamus Brady , a Fianna Fail man .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
A Fianna spokesperson stated - " Young people in the South suffer a wide range of problems - youth unemployment is twice the national average , working-class youth are effectively denied the right to a third level education through the miserable grants scheme operating there . Apprentices and young workers , especially girls , are discriminated against in pay . There's the whole question of illegitimacy , the age of criminal responsibility , the care of young offenders , the provision of adequate sports and recreational facilities . These are just a few of the problems facing young people in the South - problems which Na Fianna Eireann as a youth organisation is vitally concerned about .
We believe that such a bad situation is made worse by the absence of any effective and comprehensive policy document on youth by the twenty-six county government . This clearly shows the lack of commitment on the part of the establishment parties in the South to solving the real issues facing young people today . The twenty-six county government lacks both the vision to see the measures that would be needed to solve these problems , and the will to put these measures into practice .
Na Fianna Eireann , the Irish Republican youth movement , was founded seventy-two years ago and , in that time , in a history that few youth organisations can parallel , it has served the Republican Movement and the cause of Irish freedom well ....... "
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
12. THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM .
That morning , Tuesday October 27 , 1987 , John O'Grady got a decent breakfast - hamburger , bacon , sausage , double egg and a pint jug of tea . After that he was moved downstairs and put in an alcove under the stairs in the living room . He was told that once inside he could remove his blacked-out glasses - his handcuffs had already been removed . There was a mattress on the floor , a light bulb hanging from a waterpipe and a radio . The electricity supply was controlled from the livingroom outside . The alcove was big enough to sit in comfortably but not large enough to stand in .
He was given a selection of Wilbur Smith novels , a book on Liam Mellowes , the writings of Bobby Sands and a book by Nora Connolly O'Brien on the development of Ireland since 1916 ; he was told to study them carefully as he would be asked questions later .
The newspapers were full of accounts of the shooting incident in Midleton , Cork : it was the first time he knew that he had been in Midleton though from listening to the radio , which had a lot of Cork-based ads , he had suspected that Dessie O'Hare's shots at supposed British soldiers was an attempt to disorientate him . There was criticism in the newspapers over the garda handling of the operation at Midleton ; public disquiet over the way the kidnap was being handled was growing . There was some consolation for the gardai , however - because there had been no contact with the O'Grady family many gardai feared that John O'Grady was dead . Secondly , the gang had left plenty of fingerprints behind in the container : the gardai were now able to harden up their suspicions and positively identify the remaining gang members .
Dessie O'Hare turned up at Carnlough Road the night after the shoot-out , Tuesday October 27 , 1987 ; the gang bought beer and celebrated . In the alcove under the stairs John O'Grady could here O'Hare and the others talking about the escape in excited tones . O'Hare was accompanied by a woman - he never came near O'Grady that night .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
On September 18 , 1969 , the same people - except Neil Blaney - met the then (FS) Minister for Finance , Chares J. Haughey , at his home . The same matters were again discussed and arrangements made for the establishment of a bank account through which (FS) government aid could be channelled directly to Belfast . The following morning , September 19th , the account was opened with a £5 deposit in Dundalk - but no money ever came .
On September 22 , 1969 , Captain James Kelly and Seamus Brady gave an indication of their Government's strategy regarding the IRA when they called to the home of the South Derry IRA Officer Commanding - this was the man who received the first contact from Fianna Fail earlier in the year ; they were accompanied by two others , one of whom was the businessman who made the initial contact earlier in the year . Seamus Brady put forward the idea of an independent Northern Command for the IRA - this would mean breaking with the Dublin/Goulding leadership .
Such an 'independent' Northern Command of the IRA would lead to more money and more arms - Seamus Brady explained that the IRA's socialist policies were unacceptable to the Dublin Government and he also suggested that if the top people in the IRA were removed they could more easily supply arms . When the IRA Officer Commanding asked who these 'top people' were , he was told , among others , Cathal Goulding , Seamus Costello and Mick Ryan : the top 3 in the IRA at that time . The idea was that the IRA should be used now that Fianna Fail had no support organisation since the demise of the Nationalist Party . ( '1169...' Comment - Fianna Fail now have a 'support organisation' in the North - it is called the Provisional movement !)
The new Fianna Fail message reached the 'dissident' group in Belfast ; with the prospects of massive amounts of cash and guns it was easy to go along with the separate Northern Command concept . The 'dissident group' was made up of people who were too old to adopt socialist policies and/or too young to bother too much . They decided to take over the Belfast IRA with a coup d'etat.......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
A Fianna spokesperson stated - " We believe there is a great need for such a political youth organisation to combat British imperialism and its effects in both parts of Ireland ; and let's not forget that British imperialism has resulted in the deaths of several children since May of this year in the North - murdered by plastic bullets . It has been responsible for the deaths of eighteen of our members since 1969 and hundreds of other young people , children and teenagers .
British imperialism means the armed and aggressive occupation of Ireland . It means baton-charges , snatch-squads , bullying and torture . It means the bolstering up of a sectarian statelet in which a third of the population have no rights , and play no part . It means that a nationalist school-leaver in the North is twice as likely to be unemployed as his unionist counterpart . Believe you me , the youth of this country are getting a rough lesson in what 'imperialism' is all about . "
To the charge that all this means little to the young people in the South who do not experience sectarian discrimination and who have probably only ever seen British troops on the television , the Fianna spokesperson said - " I think the recent elections in the South where two prisoners were elected , and where all the prisoner candidates did very well , has put paid to the idea that Southern people don't care about the North . Most commentators have accepted that the prisoners won a large section of the young vote , and H-Block/Armagh demonstrations , North and South , have been notable by the large youth presence in them . So H-Block repression , the whole Northern question , is felt to be important and relevant to young people in the South ....... "
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
11. "NOTHING PERSONAL" .
As it happened , the kidnap gang did meet a (FS) soldier that afternoon - Private Mark Nugent had travelled by car to Cork with three friends to see Cork City play Waterford in a League of Ireland football match ; the four had stopped at Cobh Cross to go to the toilet , and were spotted by O'Hare's Unit who decided it was time to change cars . They took the car at gunpoint ; Eddie Hogan told Private Mark Nugent that if he had any objection he would "...blow his fucking brains out .. "
As the gang approached Mallow , County Cork , it was decided to change cars again . They called to the house of John Hannon - when he opened the door , Eddie Hogan pushed a gun to his face and pushed him into the living room onto his couch . Hannon though it was a joke and went to pull the balaclava off Hogan's head - Hogan told him it was nothing personal but they needed his car . Fergal Toal , who had been grazed by a bullet at Midleton , cleaned his wound . John Hannon , his wife Nuala and their seven-year-old child , Colin , were tied up . A seven-month-old baby , John , was left in his pram beside his parents .
Tony McNeill questioned the wisdom of tying up the mother who would then not be able to give the baby attention , but Eddie Hogan told him - " Tie her up . That's an order . " As an afterthought Hogan made up a fresh bottle for the baby before leaving . John O'Grady remained outside in the car : for the first time in twelve days he was left unattended . The gang returned after a few minutes and took off . A few miles up the road they needed petrol , so O'Grady was shoved into a ditch under guard ; the car returned in a few minutes with a full tank , and they drove on to Dublin , staying clear of main roads to avoid roadblocks . They arrived at 260 Carnlough Road , the house of barber Gerry Wright , shorty before midnight . John O'Grady slept in an ordinary bed for the first time in almost two weeks .
It had been a trying day , with almost nothing to eat . All he got before going to sleep was a glass of water , but he slept soundly . When he awoke the following morning it was already bright .......
(MORE LATER).
(To the person who wrote in re the 'unsanctioned UVF killing' - thank you for contacting us . You can leave more information , in the same way , if you want . Sharon.).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
On September 18 , 1969 , the same people - except Neil Blaney - met the then (FS) Minister for Finance , Chares J. Haughey , at his home . The same matters were again discussed and arrangements made for the establishment of a bank account through which (FS) government aid could be channelled directly to Belfast . The following morning , September 19th , the account was opened with a £5 deposit in Dundalk - but no money ever came .
On September 22 , 1969 , Captain James Kelly and Seamus Brady gave an indication of their Government's strategy regarding the IRA when they called to the home of the South Derry IRA Officer Commanding - this was the man who received the first contact from Fianna Fail earlier in the year ; they were accompanied by two others , one of whom was the businessman who made the initial contact earlier in the year . Seamus Brady put forward the idea of an independent Northern Command for the IRA - this would mean breaking with the Dublin/Goulding leadership .
Such an 'independent' Northern Command of the IRA would lead to more money and more arms - Seamus Brady explained that the IRA's socialist policies were unacceptable to the Dublin Government and he also suggested that if the top people in the IRA were removed they could more easily supply arms . When the IRA Officer Commanding asked who these 'top people' were , he was told , among others , Cathal Goulding , Seamus Costello and Mick Ryan : the top 3 in the IRA at that time . The idea was that the IRA should be used now that Fianna Fail had no support organisation since the demise of the Nationalist Party . ( '1169...' Comment - Fianna Fail now have a 'support organisation' in the North - it is called the Provisional movement !)
The new Fianna Fail message reached the 'dissident' group in Belfast ; with the prospects of massive amounts of cash and guns it was easy to go along with the separate Northern Command concept . The 'dissident group' was made up of people who were too old to adopt socialist policies and/or too young to bother too much . They decided to take over the Belfast IRA with a coup d'etat.......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
A Fianna spokesperson stated - " We believe there is a great need for such a political youth organisation to combat British imperialism and its effects in both parts of Ireland ; and let's not forget that British imperialism has resulted in the deaths of several children since May of this year in the North - murdered by plastic bullets . It has been responsible for the deaths of eighteen of our members since 1969 and hundreds of other young people , children and teenagers .
British imperialism means the armed and aggressive occupation of Ireland . It means baton-charges , snatch-squads , bullying and torture . It means the bolstering up of a sectarian statelet in which a third of the population have no rights , and play no part . It means that a nationalist school-leaver in the North is twice as likely to be unemployed as his unionist counterpart . Believe you me , the youth of this country are getting a rough lesson in what 'imperialism' is all about . "
To the charge that all this means little to the young people in the South who do not experience sectarian discrimination and who have probably only ever seen British troops on the television , the Fianna spokesperson said - " I think the recent elections in the South where two prisoners were elected , and where all the prisoner candidates did very well , has put paid to the idea that Southern people don't care about the North . Most commentators have accepted that the prisoners won a large section of the young vote , and H-Block/Armagh demonstrations , North and South , have been notable by the large youth presence in them . So H-Block repression , the whole Northern question , is felt to be important and relevant to young people in the South ....... "
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
11. "NOTHING PERSONAL" .
As it happened , the kidnap gang did meet a (FS) soldier that afternoon - Private Mark Nugent had travelled by car to Cork with three friends to see Cork City play Waterford in a League of Ireland football match ; the four had stopped at Cobh Cross to go to the toilet , and were spotted by O'Hare's Unit who decided it was time to change cars . They took the car at gunpoint ; Eddie Hogan told Private Mark Nugent that if he had any objection he would "...blow his fucking brains out .. "
As the gang approached Mallow , County Cork , it was decided to change cars again . They called to the house of John Hannon - when he opened the door , Eddie Hogan pushed a gun to his face and pushed him into the living room onto his couch . Hannon though it was a joke and went to pull the balaclava off Hogan's head - Hogan told him it was nothing personal but they needed his car . Fergal Toal , who had been grazed by a bullet at Midleton , cleaned his wound . John Hannon , his wife Nuala and their seven-year-old child , Colin , were tied up . A seven-month-old baby , John , was left in his pram beside his parents .
Tony McNeill questioned the wisdom of tying up the mother who would then not be able to give the baby attention , but Eddie Hogan told him - " Tie her up . That's an order . " As an afterthought Hogan made up a fresh bottle for the baby before leaving . John O'Grady remained outside in the car : for the first time in twelve days he was left unattended . The gang returned after a few minutes and took off . A few miles up the road they needed petrol , so O'Grady was shoved into a ditch under guard ; the car returned in a few minutes with a full tank , and they drove on to Dublin , staying clear of main roads to avoid roadblocks . They arrived at 260 Carnlough Road , the house of barber Gerry Wright , shorty before midnight . John O'Grady slept in an ordinary bed for the first time in almost two weeks .
It had been a trying day , with almost nothing to eat . All he got before going to sleep was a glass of water , but he slept soundly . When he awoke the following morning it was already bright .......
(MORE LATER).
(To the person who wrote in re the 'unsanctioned UVF killing' - thank you for contacting us . You can leave more information , in the same way , if you want . Sharon.).
Monday, October 03, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Trouble within the IRA was developing (over the £100,000 Free State 'relief' money ) and both sides (ie the IRA and the 'Northern Defence Committee') were falling over each other in grabbing the money from the Dublin Government ; the internal IRA row flared over the lack of guns in the organisation in mid-August 1969 - the 'old brigade' , who had now become active again , were bitterest in their attacks .
The left wing move of Cathal Goulding and company was the root cause of the shortage of weapons , the 'old brigade' claimed ; by now all heads were turned northwards and the social agitations in the South , and indeed the housing and other agitations in the North , were virtually forgotten about . On August 24th , 1969 , some members of the 'old brigade' aong with some activists discontent with the shortage of guns came together in Casement Park at Andersonstown , Belfast ; the meeting decided to oust the Belfast IRA leadership which was close to the Goulding leadership in Dublin . They also agreed that the Fianna Fail Government's generous offer of guns and money and the conditions of non-action South of the border should be immediately accepted .
While the row was developing , money from the Dublin Government continued to arrive in Belfast and was grabbed by the city's IRA leadership ; on September 14th , 1969 , the 'dissidents' met again in Belfast and were addressed by an un-named person who was described to them as a 'political commentator from Dublin ' - in fact he was a well-known journalist attached to one of the Dublin newspapers . Later in the evening the same journalist met a Staff member of the Belfast IRA in the Wellington Park Hotel on the Malone Road in Belfast ; the journalist explained that money and other assistance would be coming from the South and arrangements were made for a meeting between the IRA Staff Officer and the people in the 26 Counties . The meeting took place a few days later in Dublin - in Government Buildings ; it was hed in the Office of the (FS) Minister for Agriculture , Neil Blaney . Seamus Brady , Fianna Fail activist and the man who was in charge of the 'Voice Of The North' newspaper , was present .
Also there were prominent representatives of the minority community in the North of Ireland -they discussed personalities in the North and problems facing that community and how security for their safety could be improved .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
From the 1940's when Na Fianna Eireann defied the ban on the main Republican Commemoration at Bodenstown by hiking the 23 miles there and laying a wreath on Wolfe Tone's grave , under the guns of Free State soldiers , to the 1960's when Na Fianna sold the banned Easter Lily publicly and like many other Republicans were prosecuted for doing so , the organisation has refused to be bullied or brow-beaten . They proudly refuse today , too , and continue the glorious heritage of militant resistance bequeathed them by Countess Markievicz , Con Colbert , Sean Heuston , Liam Mellowes and Frank Ryan .
Na Fianna Eireann is the youth organisation of the Republican Movement ; it is a national youth movement organised throughout Ireland (and in the USA) , involved in a broad range of activities , scouting , political and cultural , and deeply committed to the freedom of Ireland and the Irish people . A spokesperson for the Fianna stated - " We are playing an important part in mobilising young people behind the demands of the prisoners . Our last 'Youth Against H-Block/Armagh' march was the largest youth march ever seen in Dublin . We were very pleased with that . It shows that young people do care . They link the oppression the prisoners are suffering under with the oppression they see around them every day - in employment , education , housing , in every aspect of life . "
Asked if Fianna are going totally political , he replied - " Na Fianna Eireann was never non-political . We are a Republican youth organisation , and in that sense we were always political . The Fianna is involved in a whole range of activities - we have Irish classes , we go on hikes and camps , we put up posters and give out leaflets . We are , if you like , at the service of the Republican Movement . Wherever the pressure is greatest , the Fianna will be there . At the moment the pressure is coming from the prisons and naturally we are straining at the leash to do everything we can to support the prisoners . Especially since many of them are our prisoners - members , or former members , of our organisation . Probably most of them are former members . Raymond McCreesh was a member of Na Fianna , Kieran Doherty TD , and Jackie McMullan were also former members .
So Na Fianna Eireann is a political youth organisation as well as being a scouting and cultural one....... "
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
State Detective Sergeant Michael Scanlon quickly radioed Detective Inspector Carey to tell him that the kidnappers and hostage had escaped and were headed in their direction . In the confusion he told them they were travelling in a Hi-Ace van ; the kidnappers , driving the Renault 9 , were on top of Detective Carey and his men before they knew it . Carey recognised Eddie Hogan in the Renault and shouted to his men . Garda Gerard O'Donoghue was in a crouched position on the grass verge beside the road with an Uzi machine gun ; there was a gunman pointing a gun out the back window of the car , which he had broken with the butt of his rifle . Garda John Gleeson was beside Garda O'Donoghue with a Smith and Wesson - there was an exchange of shots .
One of the bullets struck the boot of the car , another grazed the neck of Fergal Toal , the driver : the Renault swerved and went around the corner . The Gardai , with the exception of Garda Gerard O'Donoghue - whose lead had pinpointed the kidnappers - proceeded to run on foot to their cars which were parked a quarter of a mile away . Garda O'Donoghue flagged down a civilian car and gave chase . But the kidnappers were already gone .
The developments were radioed back to Superintendent Murray in Midleton Garda Station , who had already detailed eight uniformed gardai to set up roadblocks , but none were yet in position . Meanwhile , (FS) Army support had just arrived . The kidnappers were already miles away ........
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Trouble within the IRA was developing (over the £100,000 Free State 'relief' money ) and both sides (ie the IRA and the 'Northern Defence Committee') were falling over each other in grabbing the money from the Dublin Government ; the internal IRA row flared over the lack of guns in the organisation in mid-August 1969 - the 'old brigade' , who had now become active again , were bitterest in their attacks .
The left wing move of Cathal Goulding and company was the root cause of the shortage of weapons , the 'old brigade' claimed ; by now all heads were turned northwards and the social agitations in the South , and indeed the housing and other agitations in the North , were virtually forgotten about . On August 24th , 1969 , some members of the 'old brigade' aong with some activists discontent with the shortage of guns came together in Casement Park at Andersonstown , Belfast ; the meeting decided to oust the Belfast IRA leadership which was close to the Goulding leadership in Dublin . They also agreed that the Fianna Fail Government's generous offer of guns and money and the conditions of non-action South of the border should be immediately accepted .
While the row was developing , money from the Dublin Government continued to arrive in Belfast and was grabbed by the city's IRA leadership ; on September 14th , 1969 , the 'dissidents' met again in Belfast and were addressed by an un-named person who was described to them as a 'political commentator from Dublin ' - in fact he was a well-known journalist attached to one of the Dublin newspapers . Later in the evening the same journalist met a Staff member of the Belfast IRA in the Wellington Park Hotel on the Malone Road in Belfast ; the journalist explained that money and other assistance would be coming from the South and arrangements were made for a meeting between the IRA Staff Officer and the people in the 26 Counties . The meeting took place a few days later in Dublin - in Government Buildings ; it was hed in the Office of the (FS) Minister for Agriculture , Neil Blaney . Seamus Brady , Fianna Fail activist and the man who was in charge of the 'Voice Of The North' newspaper , was present .
Also there were prominent representatives of the minority community in the North of Ireland -they discussed personalities in the North and problems facing that community and how security for their safety could be improved .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
From the 1940's when Na Fianna Eireann defied the ban on the main Republican Commemoration at Bodenstown by hiking the 23 miles there and laying a wreath on Wolfe Tone's grave , under the guns of Free State soldiers , to the 1960's when Na Fianna sold the banned Easter Lily publicly and like many other Republicans were prosecuted for doing so , the organisation has refused to be bullied or brow-beaten . They proudly refuse today , too , and continue the glorious heritage of militant resistance bequeathed them by Countess Markievicz , Con Colbert , Sean Heuston , Liam Mellowes and Frank Ryan .
Na Fianna Eireann is the youth organisation of the Republican Movement ; it is a national youth movement organised throughout Ireland (and in the USA) , involved in a broad range of activities , scouting , political and cultural , and deeply committed to the freedom of Ireland and the Irish people . A spokesperson for the Fianna stated - " We are playing an important part in mobilising young people behind the demands of the prisoners . Our last 'Youth Against H-Block/Armagh' march was the largest youth march ever seen in Dublin . We were very pleased with that . It shows that young people do care . They link the oppression the prisoners are suffering under with the oppression they see around them every day - in employment , education , housing , in every aspect of life . "
Asked if Fianna are going totally political , he replied - " Na Fianna Eireann was never non-political . We are a Republican youth organisation , and in that sense we were always political . The Fianna is involved in a whole range of activities - we have Irish classes , we go on hikes and camps , we put up posters and give out leaflets . We are , if you like , at the service of the Republican Movement . Wherever the pressure is greatest , the Fianna will be there . At the moment the pressure is coming from the prisons and naturally we are straining at the leash to do everything we can to support the prisoners . Especially since many of them are our prisoners - members , or former members , of our organisation . Probably most of them are former members . Raymond McCreesh was a member of Na Fianna , Kieran Doherty TD , and Jackie McMullan were also former members .
So Na Fianna Eireann is a political youth organisation as well as being a scouting and cultural one....... "
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
State Detective Sergeant Michael Scanlon quickly radioed Detective Inspector Carey to tell him that the kidnappers and hostage had escaped and were headed in their direction . In the confusion he told them they were travelling in a Hi-Ace van ; the kidnappers , driving the Renault 9 , were on top of Detective Carey and his men before they knew it . Carey recognised Eddie Hogan in the Renault and shouted to his men . Garda Gerard O'Donoghue was in a crouched position on the grass verge beside the road with an Uzi machine gun ; there was a gunman pointing a gun out the back window of the car , which he had broken with the butt of his rifle . Garda John Gleeson was beside Garda O'Donoghue with a Smith and Wesson - there was an exchange of shots .
One of the bullets struck the boot of the car , another grazed the neck of Fergal Toal , the driver : the Renault swerved and went around the corner . The Gardai , with the exception of Garda Gerard O'Donoghue - whose lead had pinpointed the kidnappers - proceeded to run on foot to their cars which were parked a quarter of a mile away . Garda O'Donoghue flagged down a civilian car and gave chase . But the kidnappers were already gone .
The developments were radioed back to Superintendent Murray in Midleton Garda Station , who had already detailed eight uniformed gardai to set up roadblocks , but none were yet in position . Meanwhile , (FS) Army support had just arrived . The kidnappers were already miles away ........
(MORE LATER).
Friday, September 30, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The weekend of October 4-5th 1969 saw a meeting to establish a controlling body for all Northern defence committees and according to the stated objectives of the meeting the purchases of arms would also be on the agenda . The meeting was held in the Commercial Hotel , Bailieborough , County Cavan , which is owned by Vincent Kelly , brother of (FS) Captain James Kelly .
The meeting began with an assurance from Captain Kelly that the suspension of arms training at Ford Dunree for people from Derry was just a temporary matter and was due to a newspaper inquiry on the activity . In addition to the activity on all other fronts , the Dublin Government had actually opened a military training camp along the border and was training Northern activists in the use of arms . The principal discussion focussed on the funding of full-time people to control barricaded areas and , of course , the necessary provision of arms .
Meanwhile , the Special Branch were outside the hotel and reported back to Peter Berry in the (FS) Department of Justice on Captain Kelly's association with 'subversives' . Days later Charles Haughey authorised the transfer of £5,000 Red Cross funds (the Red Cross was officialy involved in the distribution of the £100,000 given by the Dublin Government for relief of distress in the North ) into an account in the Bank of Ireland in Clones , County Monaghan . The account holders , described as " Mr F , G and H.. " at the subsequent Dail (ie Leinster House) inquiry and the cover names used in the bank were 'John White , John Loughran' and ' Roger White' .
On October 15th and 30th 1969 amounts of £5,000 drawn on the (FS) 'Government Grant-In-Aid' of £100,000 were paid into the Clones bank account ; the money was to be distributed as agreed at the Bailieborough meeting and so strengthen the position of the newly-established Northern Defence Committee - the intention was to distribute it to full-time IRA organisers and vigilantes in the Defence Committees . But that money caused trouble in IRA circles .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
After the Rising and the release from prison of many Fianna members at the end of 1916 and 1917 , Na Fianna Eireann was re-organised . From 1919 to 1921 the organisation took an active part in the fight for freedom throughout the country ; they carried despatches for the Volunteers , reconnoitred barracks , engaged in intelligence work and rendered first-aid to the wounded .
These years saw a rapid growth in membership (twenty-five thousand in 1921) and in organisation for the Fianna . Those years also saw great sacrifices and grievous losses . The agony Ireland went through was played out to the full in the Fianna - Fian Billy Myles killed in action at Tralee , County Kerry : Fian Toghd O'Suillivan , died after hunger-strike , Cork , 1917 : Fian Patrick Hanly , murdered in reprisal by the RIC in 1920 and many , many more of their comrades .
Na Fianna Eireann stood solidly behind the Republic after the split in 1922 over the Truce - that Truce , and the Civil War between Republicans and Free Staters which followed it , were to result in the setting up of two states in Ireland ; the twenty-six counties which was to have Dominion home-rule under Britain , and the six counties which were to be represented in the Westminster parliament as well as having their own loyalist government in Belfast . These years were to see more resistance , more deaths and imprisonment and more sacrifices .
This type of military resistance and the sacrifices which resistance demands were to continue long after the end of the Civil War ; indeed , in the six counties , where Na Fianna Eireann has always been an illegal organisation , they continue the struggle to the present day .
Victimisation and harassment , from being stopped and questioned on the street , to being arrested , sometimes charged , convicted and imprisoned for dubious offences - such as membership of Na Fianna , collecting or organising for the Fianna , possession of Fianna documents etc - all these are a regular occurrence both in the North and South of Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The first 'Rescue Team' , led by Detective Inspector Carey , who had helped draw up the plan , took up its position in the field across the road from the house ; the second team , led by Detective Sergeant Michael Scanlon , also moved into position , approaching from the rear of the house . Radio silence was observed until all three teams were in position : at 4.50 PM the team led by Detective Sergeant Michael Scanlon radioed into base that they were in position - they were taking cover behind a large ditch overlooking the container .
The kidnappers and John O'Grady were hiding inside this same ditch - they heard the message being given over the garda radio ; it was then that Detective Michael Scanlon noticed that they were not , in fact , in their correct position . There was another field between them and the container and he ordered his men forward - Detective Garda Gerard Corbett went to climb over the ditch which was covered in dense undergrowth . The sound of a branch cracking beneath his weight was clearly audible . The kidnappers , a few feet below Garda Corbett , made a break for it out onto the open road .
Luck was on their side - a Hi-Ace van was approaching , the occupants of which , Charles and Mary Terry , were ordered out at gunpoint : using Mary Terry as a 'shield' , one of the gang fired two shots at Detective Corbett while roaring " Get down you scum " . More shots were exchanged . A Renault 9 pulled up behind the Hi-Ace van - the kidnappers changed their minds and hi-jacked this car instead - all this time one of the gang was firing shots . Another gunman was shouting - " Bring the hostage!" To the gardai the gang seemed well militarily drilled - the gardai were unable to return fire because Mary Terry was between them and the kidnappers .
The gang took off in the Renault , driving down the road towards the container where the garda 'Team One' was positioned .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The weekend of October 4-5th 1969 saw a meeting to establish a controlling body for all Northern defence committees and according to the stated objectives of the meeting the purchases of arms would also be on the agenda . The meeting was held in the Commercial Hotel , Bailieborough , County Cavan , which is owned by Vincent Kelly , brother of (FS) Captain James Kelly .
The meeting began with an assurance from Captain Kelly that the suspension of arms training at Ford Dunree for people from Derry was just a temporary matter and was due to a newspaper inquiry on the activity . In addition to the activity on all other fronts , the Dublin Government had actually opened a military training camp along the border and was training Northern activists in the use of arms . The principal discussion focussed on the funding of full-time people to control barricaded areas and , of course , the necessary provision of arms .
Meanwhile , the Special Branch were outside the hotel and reported back to Peter Berry in the (FS) Department of Justice on Captain Kelly's association with 'subversives' . Days later Charles Haughey authorised the transfer of £5,000 Red Cross funds (the Red Cross was officialy involved in the distribution of the £100,000 given by the Dublin Government for relief of distress in the North ) into an account in the Bank of Ireland in Clones , County Monaghan . The account holders , described as " Mr F , G and H.. " at the subsequent Dail (ie Leinster House) inquiry and the cover names used in the bank were 'John White , John Loughran' and ' Roger White' .
On October 15th and 30th 1969 amounts of £5,000 drawn on the (FS) 'Government Grant-In-Aid' of £100,000 were paid into the Clones bank account ; the money was to be distributed as agreed at the Bailieborough meeting and so strengthen the position of the newly-established Northern Defence Committee - the intention was to distribute it to full-time IRA organisers and vigilantes in the Defence Committees . But that money caused trouble in IRA circles .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
After the Rising and the release from prison of many Fianna members at the end of 1916 and 1917 , Na Fianna Eireann was re-organised . From 1919 to 1921 the organisation took an active part in the fight for freedom throughout the country ; they carried despatches for the Volunteers , reconnoitred barracks , engaged in intelligence work and rendered first-aid to the wounded .
These years saw a rapid growth in membership (twenty-five thousand in 1921) and in organisation for the Fianna . Those years also saw great sacrifices and grievous losses . The agony Ireland went through was played out to the full in the Fianna - Fian Billy Myles killed in action at Tralee , County Kerry : Fian Toghd O'Suillivan , died after hunger-strike , Cork , 1917 : Fian Patrick Hanly , murdered in reprisal by the RIC in 1920 and many , many more of their comrades .
Na Fianna Eireann stood solidly behind the Republic after the split in 1922 over the Truce - that Truce , and the Civil War between Republicans and Free Staters which followed it , were to result in the setting up of two states in Ireland ; the twenty-six counties which was to have Dominion home-rule under Britain , and the six counties which were to be represented in the Westminster parliament as well as having their own loyalist government in Belfast . These years were to see more resistance , more deaths and imprisonment and more sacrifices .
This type of military resistance and the sacrifices which resistance demands were to continue long after the end of the Civil War ; indeed , in the six counties , where Na Fianna Eireann has always been an illegal organisation , they continue the struggle to the present day .
Victimisation and harassment , from being stopped and questioned on the street , to being arrested , sometimes charged , convicted and imprisoned for dubious offences - such as membership of Na Fianna , collecting or organising for the Fianna , possession of Fianna documents etc - all these are a regular occurrence both in the North and South of Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The first 'Rescue Team' , led by Detective Inspector Carey , who had helped draw up the plan , took up its position in the field across the road from the house ; the second team , led by Detective Sergeant Michael Scanlon , also moved into position , approaching from the rear of the house . Radio silence was observed until all three teams were in position : at 4.50 PM the team led by Detective Sergeant Michael Scanlon radioed into base that they were in position - they were taking cover behind a large ditch overlooking the container .
The kidnappers and John O'Grady were hiding inside this same ditch - they heard the message being given over the garda radio ; it was then that Detective Michael Scanlon noticed that they were not , in fact , in their correct position . There was another field between them and the container and he ordered his men forward - Detective Garda Gerard Corbett went to climb over the ditch which was covered in dense undergrowth . The sound of a branch cracking beneath his weight was clearly audible . The kidnappers , a few feet below Garda Corbett , made a break for it out onto the open road .
Luck was on their side - a Hi-Ace van was approaching , the occupants of which , Charles and Mary Terry , were ordered out at gunpoint : using Mary Terry as a 'shield' , one of the gang fired two shots at Detective Corbett while roaring " Get down you scum " . More shots were exchanged . A Renault 9 pulled up behind the Hi-Ace van - the kidnappers changed their minds and hi-jacked this car instead - all this time one of the gang was firing shots . Another gunman was shouting - " Bring the hostage!" To the gardai the gang seemed well militarily drilled - the gardai were unable to return fire because Mary Terry was between them and the kidnappers .
The gang took off in the Renault , driving down the road towards the container where the garda 'Team One' was positioned .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, September 29, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Due to the booklet and his personal friendship with Seamus Brady (FS Government employee) , Hugh Kennedy ( Bord Bainne rep in Belfast) was elected Public Relations Officer of the 'Central Citizens Defence Committee' (CCDC) , whose Chairperson was the well known IRA activist Jim O'Suillivan ; a staunch supporter of the Cathal Goulding leadership .
In Dungannon , County Tyrone , a jointly-written booklet by Seamus Brady and local Civil Rights activist Aidan Corrigan was produced , entitled - ' Eye Witness in Northern Ireland' ; this too was financed by the Dublin Government Information Bureau and was printed - 5,000 copies - at the Cityview Press in Dublin despite its imprint stating - ' Published and printed in the Province of Ulster ' . The booklet was launched at a press conference in Dublin's Jury's Hotel on October 5th , 1969 . Seamus Brady arranged the press conference .
Brady resigned suddenly from the (FS) Government's Propaganda Squad on September 21st to become a full time activist on a weekly newspaper and a mobile radio station beamed on the North ; the success of illegal stations in the Bogside and Belfast had upset the Dublin Government because of their left wing attacks on them . Seamus Brady set up the weekly 'Voice Of The North' newspaper in consulation with Charles Haughey who initially suggested the title , according to Brady . Final plans for the newspaper were taken at a meeting between Charles Haughey , Captain James Kelly , Aidan Corrigan and Seamus Brady .
Captain Kelly had already organised the distribution of the newspaper and the first edition was due off the press at the Anglo-Celt on October 12th .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Na Fianna played an active part during the 1913 strike ; the great lock-out of 1913 was the first confrontation between the Irish working-class and the bosses and it saw united actions by Republicans and socialists in defence of the people . Patsy O'Connor , a Fianna Officer , was batoned savagely on the head whilst giving first-aid to an injured worker during a baton-charge by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) on the strikers . He died shortly afterwards .
When the Irish Volunteers (the forerunners of today's IRA) were formed in the same year (1913) the value of the work undertaken by the Fianna became obvious ; the senior Fianna were ready and competent to train the Volunteers and accustom them to discipline . Fianna stewarded the inaugural meeting of the Volunteers and four of their members were elected to the first Executive Council of the Volunteers . The following year , 1914 , saw na Fianna Eireann taking part in the Howth gun-running and shortly afterwards organising a gun-running expedition at Kilcoole .
The history of the Easter Rising in 1916 , when the Republican forces took over the centre of Dublin , proclaimed an independent Irish Republic and held off vastly superior British Army forces for six days , is interwoven with Fianna exploits and Fianna heroes ; Fianna Officers were given command of important sections of the operations . A party of Fianna and Volunteers successfully attacked and destroyed the arms and munitions in the Magazine Fort in Dublin's Phoenix Park , thus signalling the start of the Rising .
Fianna Officers Sean Houston , Con Colbert and Constance Markievicz were in command of the Mendicity Institution , the College of Surgeons and the Marrowbone Lane units ; members of the organisation were also engaged in fighting in other parts of the city where they carried out the dangerous work of despatch-carrying and scouting . Six members of Na Fianna Eireann were killed in the fighting and Fianna Officers Sean Houston and Con Colbert were executed by firing squad on 8th May 1916 .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The Detectives left Midleton Garda Station at 4.30 PM to take up their designated positions : the plan failed miserably - its success hinged on the presumption that the kidnappers were inside the container . It was fundamentally flawed . The most serious omission was the failure to set up roadblocks sealing off the area . Even if the primary aim was merely containment , it was already known the gang was armed ; if it came to a shoot-out , which was a likely possibility , road blocks were essential , not just to keep the kidnappers hemmed in but , more importantly , to keep the civilian population out .
10. COCK-UP AT MIDLETON .
For the previous three-and-a-half-days , John O'Grady had only been outside the container once , for a twenty minute exercise period . Most of the time he spent listening to the radio and reading the newspapers . At regular intervals during the day a man came and knocked on the container and gave the code-word ' Geronimo' ; he would then open up the container and pass in meals . The container was locked from outside ; O'Grady's guards were as much prisoners as himself . Eddie Hogan had returned to the container on the previous evening - that evening , Hogan and another gang member left early . Sometime during the morning O'Grady and the remaining guard heard someone outside the container ; soon afterwards , Hogan arrived and told John O'Grady to dress quickly . He again put on his blacked-out glasses and was handcuffed . They moved to a tunnel close by .
John O'Grady remained in the tunnel for an hour or so listening to the RTE Radio 2 marathon ; suddenly the headphones were grabbed off his head and he was taken out of the tunnel - the gang had spotted Garda Gerard O'Donoghue and his two colleagues examining the container and calling to the house of Mrs. O'Neill . Hogan led him by the hand across a couple of fields to a ditch beside the road . The four men crouched in the ditch eating currant cake , and Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill shared a cigarette .
Meanwhile , the three teams of detectives were moving in to take up their positions , unaware that the kidnappers and John O'Grady had vacated the container . 'Rescue' Team number two payed no part in what followed .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Due to the booklet and his personal friendship with Seamus Brady (FS Government employee) , Hugh Kennedy ( Bord Bainne rep in Belfast) was elected Public Relations Officer of the 'Central Citizens Defence Committee' (CCDC) , whose Chairperson was the well known IRA activist Jim O'Suillivan ; a staunch supporter of the Cathal Goulding leadership .
In Dungannon , County Tyrone , a jointly-written booklet by Seamus Brady and local Civil Rights activist Aidan Corrigan was produced , entitled - ' Eye Witness in Northern Ireland' ; this too was financed by the Dublin Government Information Bureau and was printed - 5,000 copies - at the Cityview Press in Dublin despite its imprint stating - ' Published and printed in the Province of Ulster ' . The booklet was launched at a press conference in Dublin's Jury's Hotel on October 5th , 1969 . Seamus Brady arranged the press conference .
Brady resigned suddenly from the (FS) Government's Propaganda Squad on September 21st to become a full time activist on a weekly newspaper and a mobile radio station beamed on the North ; the success of illegal stations in the Bogside and Belfast had upset the Dublin Government because of their left wing attacks on them . Seamus Brady set up the weekly 'Voice Of The North' newspaper in consulation with Charles Haughey who initially suggested the title , according to Brady . Final plans for the newspaper were taken at a meeting between Charles Haughey , Captain James Kelly , Aidan Corrigan and Seamus Brady .
Captain Kelly had already organised the distribution of the newspaper and the first edition was due off the press at the Anglo-Celt on October 12th .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .......
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Na Fianna played an active part during the 1913 strike ; the great lock-out of 1913 was the first confrontation between the Irish working-class and the bosses and it saw united actions by Republicans and socialists in defence of the people . Patsy O'Connor , a Fianna Officer , was batoned savagely on the head whilst giving first-aid to an injured worker during a baton-charge by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) on the strikers . He died shortly afterwards .
When the Irish Volunteers (the forerunners of today's IRA) were formed in the same year (1913) the value of the work undertaken by the Fianna became obvious ; the senior Fianna were ready and competent to train the Volunteers and accustom them to discipline . Fianna stewarded the inaugural meeting of the Volunteers and four of their members were elected to the first Executive Council of the Volunteers . The following year , 1914 , saw na Fianna Eireann taking part in the Howth gun-running and shortly afterwards organising a gun-running expedition at Kilcoole .
The history of the Easter Rising in 1916 , when the Republican forces took over the centre of Dublin , proclaimed an independent Irish Republic and held off vastly superior British Army forces for six days , is interwoven with Fianna exploits and Fianna heroes ; Fianna Officers were given command of important sections of the operations . A party of Fianna and Volunteers successfully attacked and destroyed the arms and munitions in the Magazine Fort in Dublin's Phoenix Park , thus signalling the start of the Rising .
Fianna Officers Sean Houston , Con Colbert and Constance Markievicz were in command of the Mendicity Institution , the College of Surgeons and the Marrowbone Lane units ; members of the organisation were also engaged in fighting in other parts of the city where they carried out the dangerous work of despatch-carrying and scouting . Six members of Na Fianna Eireann were killed in the fighting and Fianna Officers Sean Houston and Con Colbert were executed by firing squad on 8th May 1916 .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The Detectives left Midleton Garda Station at 4.30 PM to take up their designated positions : the plan failed miserably - its success hinged on the presumption that the kidnappers were inside the container . It was fundamentally flawed . The most serious omission was the failure to set up roadblocks sealing off the area . Even if the primary aim was merely containment , it was already known the gang was armed ; if it came to a shoot-out , which was a likely possibility , road blocks were essential , not just to keep the kidnappers hemmed in but , more importantly , to keep the civilian population out .
10. COCK-UP AT MIDLETON .
For the previous three-and-a-half-days , John O'Grady had only been outside the container once , for a twenty minute exercise period . Most of the time he spent listening to the radio and reading the newspapers . At regular intervals during the day a man came and knocked on the container and gave the code-word ' Geronimo' ; he would then open up the container and pass in meals . The container was locked from outside ; O'Grady's guards were as much prisoners as himself . Eddie Hogan had returned to the container on the previous evening - that evening , Hogan and another gang member left early . Sometime during the morning O'Grady and the remaining guard heard someone outside the container ; soon afterwards , Hogan arrived and told John O'Grady to dress quickly . He again put on his blacked-out glasses and was handcuffed . They moved to a tunnel close by .
John O'Grady remained in the tunnel for an hour or so listening to the RTE Radio 2 marathon ; suddenly the headphones were grabbed off his head and he was taken out of the tunnel - the gang had spotted Garda Gerard O'Donoghue and his two colleagues examining the container and calling to the house of Mrs. O'Neill . Hogan led him by the hand across a couple of fields to a ditch beside the road . The four men crouched in the ditch eating currant cake , and Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill shared a cigarette .
Meanwhile , the three teams of detectives were moving in to take up their positions , unaware that the kidnappers and John O'Grady had vacated the container . 'Rescue' Team number two payed no part in what followed .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The Irish (sic- Free State) Army's main role after August 15 , 1969 , became one of gathering information about events and people in the North ; the special Garda squads , operating on both sides of the border , had their input , too . The (FS) Government's refugee camps along the border were used as sources of information .
With the trouble dying down in Belfast , the (FS) Director of Army Intelligence , Colonel Hefferon , met the (FS) Minister for Finance , Charles Haughey , in McKee Barracks in Dublin and talked about the requirements on the intelligence front for the future as regards the North of Ireand ; at this meeting the idea developed of using a centre in Monaghan , which had been set up to deal with relief , for intelligence gathering . It was agreed to subsidise the activities of the office and the first £100 was paid over on September 9th , 1969 .
The objective was to pay the cost of maintaining the office and staff and help publish a weekly news-sheet , which would generate contacts in the North and so gather information . At the same time (FS) government employee Seamus Brady had produced a booklet entitled ' Terror in Northern Ireland' for the Central Citizens Defence Committee (CCDC) in Belfast ; Brady had been chosen to infiltrate the CCDC and this publication launched him nicely into his work . The full costs of producing the booklet were paid by the Dublin Government's 'Information Bureau' .
Hugh Kennedy , the Bord Bainne representative in Belfast , was known to Seamus Brady from journalistic work carried out for the Bord , which was then under the control of the (FS) Minister for Agriculture , Neil Blaney . Mr. Blaney was also a member of the Leinster House Government's sub-committee on the North .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Na Fianna Eireann is the youth organisation of the Republican Movement , the revolutionary vanguard of Irish youth . Throughout its long history , longer indeed than that of either Sinn Fein or the IRA , it has been called upon to play an often vital role in the fight for national liberation .
The organisation was founded by Countess Markievicz in 1909 "...to train the youth of Ireand to fight Ireland's fight when they are older .. " . A Gaelic renaissance was sweeping Ireland at the time and the Fianna were to be an Irish and Gaelic answer to the pro-British Baden-Powell scouts : indeed the National Youth Council of Ireland cites Na Fianna Eireann as the first national Irish youth Movement .
Na Fianna looked on the mythological Fianna of Fionn MacCuamhail as their exemplars , and took their motto , " Glaine 'nar gcroi neart 'nar ngeaga agus beart do reir ar mbriathar " (" Purity In Our Hearts , Strength In Our Arms And Truth On Our Lips ") as their own . The legends of old Ireland extolled the courage and the daring , the discipline and the determination of the country's defenders of Cuchulainn and the Red Branch Knights , and of Fionn and the Fianna .
Their own courage and discipline were soon to be tested in the great lock-out of 1913 , the training of the Irish Volunteers throughout 1914 , 1915 and 1916 , and the Easter Rising .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Garda Gerard O'Donoghue and two of his colleagues knocked on the container but got no reply ; they went to an adjacent house where an elderly woman , a Mrs O'Neill , lived : she told them she had not noticed any suspicious activity , so they returned to Midleton Garda Station . The matter might have ended there but for the fact that at 3PM Garda O'Donoghue received new information - on the basis of this O'Donoghue was convinced he had located the kidnap gang .
Garda Superintendent Murray arrived into Midleton Garda Station to take charge at 3.30 PM - he acted quickly ; he telephoned surrounding garda stations to request back-up assistance , and then telephoned Commandant Grey of Collins Barracks in Cork City . Murray briefed Grey and requested a Company of troops and emergency lighting to assist him ; Grey's reply was that it would take two hours to mobilise troops . Twenty minutes later , however , Commandant Grey rang back to say that a Captain Kenneally would be in Midleton in three-quarters of an hour with a party of nine soldiers .
By this stage Garda Detective Inspector Carey had arrived from Union Quay Station in Cork ; over the next twenty minutes Murray and Carey cobbled together a plan - there were sixteen armed gardai of various ranks detailed to implement this plan . The Detectives split into three teams : 'Team One' was to take up a position in a field directly across the road from the container , whilst 'Team Two' and 'Team Three' were to approach the container from two directions behind . The ditches in the fields around the container were to give the surrounding party cover .
The purpose of the plan , according to Superintendent Murray , was merely to contain the gang until the soldiers arrived and roadblocks were set up . Each team was instructed to abandon their transport on farms half a mile away from the target .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The Irish (sic- Free State) Army's main role after August 15 , 1969 , became one of gathering information about events and people in the North ; the special Garda squads , operating on both sides of the border , had their input , too . The (FS) Government's refugee camps along the border were used as sources of information .
With the trouble dying down in Belfast , the (FS) Director of Army Intelligence , Colonel Hefferon , met the (FS) Minister for Finance , Charles Haughey , in McKee Barracks in Dublin and talked about the requirements on the intelligence front for the future as regards the North of Ireand ; at this meeting the idea developed of using a centre in Monaghan , which had been set up to deal with relief , for intelligence gathering . It was agreed to subsidise the activities of the office and the first £100 was paid over on September 9th , 1969 .
The objective was to pay the cost of maintaining the office and staff and help publish a weekly news-sheet , which would generate contacts in the North and so gather information . At the same time (FS) government employee Seamus Brady had produced a booklet entitled ' Terror in Northern Ireland' for the Central Citizens Defence Committee (CCDC) in Belfast ; Brady had been chosen to infiltrate the CCDC and this publication launched him nicely into his work . The full costs of producing the booklet were paid by the Dublin Government's 'Information Bureau' .
Hugh Kennedy , the Bord Bainne representative in Belfast , was known to Seamus Brady from journalistic work carried out for the Bord , which was then under the control of the (FS) Minister for Agriculture , Neil Blaney . Mr. Blaney was also a member of the Leinster House Government's sub-committee on the North .......
(MORE LATER).
NA FIANNA EIREANN .
Their courage and daring , their discipline and determination are an inspiration to their older comrades in Sinn Fein , the IRA and Cumann na mBan .
Each Easter the ROLL OF HONOUR is published ; a list of those who have died in the service of their country in this phase of the struggle for Irish Freedom .
Among those names are the names of eighteen young martyrs - members of NA FIANNA EIREANN . They gave their young lives at different ages (the youngest was twelve , the oldest was eighteen ) and in different ways .
From 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Na Fianna Eireann is the youth organisation of the Republican Movement , the revolutionary vanguard of Irish youth . Throughout its long history , longer indeed than that of either Sinn Fein or the IRA , it has been called upon to play an often vital role in the fight for national liberation .
The organisation was founded by Countess Markievicz in 1909 "...to train the youth of Ireand to fight Ireland's fight when they are older .. " . A Gaelic renaissance was sweeping Ireland at the time and the Fianna were to be an Irish and Gaelic answer to the pro-British Baden-Powell scouts : indeed the National Youth Council of Ireland cites Na Fianna Eireann as the first national Irish youth Movement .
Na Fianna looked on the mythological Fianna of Fionn MacCuamhail as their exemplars , and took their motto , " Glaine 'nar gcroi neart 'nar ngeaga agus beart do reir ar mbriathar " (" Purity In Our Hearts , Strength In Our Arms And Truth On Our Lips ") as their own . The legends of old Ireland extolled the courage and the daring , the discipline and the determination of the country's defenders of Cuchulainn and the Red Branch Knights , and of Fionn and the Fianna .
Their own courage and discipline were soon to be tested in the great lock-out of 1913 , the training of the Irish Volunteers throughout 1914 , 1915 and 1916 , and the Easter Rising .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Garda Gerard O'Donoghue and two of his colleagues knocked on the container but got no reply ; they went to an adjacent house where an elderly woman , a Mrs O'Neill , lived : she told them she had not noticed any suspicious activity , so they returned to Midleton Garda Station . The matter might have ended there but for the fact that at 3PM Garda O'Donoghue received new information - on the basis of this O'Donoghue was convinced he had located the kidnap gang .
Garda Superintendent Murray arrived into Midleton Garda Station to take charge at 3.30 PM - he acted quickly ; he telephoned surrounding garda stations to request back-up assistance , and then telephoned Commandant Grey of Collins Barracks in Cork City . Murray briefed Grey and requested a Company of troops and emergency lighting to assist him ; Grey's reply was that it would take two hours to mobilise troops . Twenty minutes later , however , Commandant Grey rang back to say that a Captain Kenneally would be in Midleton in three-quarters of an hour with a party of nine soldiers .
By this stage Garda Detective Inspector Carey had arrived from Union Quay Station in Cork ; over the next twenty minutes Murray and Carey cobbled together a plan - there were sixteen armed gardai of various ranks detailed to implement this plan . The Detectives split into three teams : 'Team One' was to take up a position in a field directly across the road from the container , whilst 'Team Two' and 'Team Three' were to approach the container from two directions behind . The ditches in the fields around the container were to give the surrounding party cover .
The purpose of the plan , according to Superintendent Murray , was merely to contain the gang until the soldiers arrived and roadblocks were set up . Each team was instructed to abandon their transport on farms half a mile away from the target .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
At the end of the trouble in Belfast , which threatened a major pogrom , the IRA Chief of Staff has issued a press release over his name saying that Active Service Units of his organisation were involved in defence activities in the North . During that period also the 'old brigade' arrived on the scene ; these were 'old' Republicans who had dropped out or resigned over the years because of the IRA's leftward drift and in some cases they dropped out due to lack of interest or laziness .
The atmosphere in the South was fully in favour of aiding 'the minority in the North' with guns - 'Give us guns , bags of guns' was the popular demand . At one rally demanding guns in Dundalk , a Catholic priest was reported to have fired three shots into the air from the platform and everyone cheered . It gained just a few inches in an inside page of the national dailies . But that was the mentality .
The 'old brigade's ' re-appearance on the scene produced some hero-leaders ; people like Daithi O Conaill , a distant relation of Ruairi O Bradaigh , rejoined . He was a hero from the 1956-1962 IRA border campaign , having being wounded in battle - a Corkman living in Donegal , O Conaill became the principal IRA man in the key county of Donegal . This was an appointment that Cathal Goulding would live to regret .
There were similar appointments in different parts of the country ; the IRA Chief of Staff had spent most of the 1956-1962 campaign in a British prison and therefore did not realise that the left wing politics he was pushing would not be taken on board by Daithi O Conaill and others returning to the fold . But it was better to have someone active in an area than to refuse their offer of help . Or so it appeared at the time .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
To date , Unionist Councillors feel they have been carrying the main burden and the policy of endless adjournments have worried many . This month they must strike a rate or be exposed to individual surcharges or replaced by British-imposed commissions .
The small revolts of the old Stormont 'fire eater' Captain Robert Mitchell in Coleraine and of Belfast Official Unionist Councillor Billy Corry may not be omens but they are certainly straws in the wind .
No one , it seems , especially the Unionist leaders , knows where their strategy is headed . After a period of stagnation , we live in stirring times ...
[END of ' THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'NA FIANNA EIREANN' : from 1981.)
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
When John O'Grady was writing his own ransom note , Eddie Hogan was worried that the light from the car would attract attention , even though the windows were covered with blankets . The note warned Dr. Austin Darragh not to contact the police , and instructed that a courier be sent to the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk where a call would come through for a 'Pat Murray' ; the courier was to take the call which would give further instructions .
John O'Grady was then taken from the car and led to a freight container where he was bedded down for the night . Tony McNeill and Fergal Toal resumed guard duties ; Dessie O'Hare and Eddie Hogan left them to it .
9. A BREAKTHROUGH FOR THE GARDAI .
October 26 was a Bank Holiday . Dessie O'Hare was in great form , saying that he was soon to be a millionaire - it was also his birthday . Unknown to him , however , the gardai were about to get their first break in their investigation : Garda Gerard O'Donoghue succeeded in doing what every member of the force from raw recruit to the Garda Commissioner himself wanted to do - he located the kidnappers . O'Donoghue was on plain clothes duty ; the gardai in Midleton had been informed of suspicious activity around a container just outside Midleton , in Ballymascinley .
Attempts to contact the local Garda patrol car failed due to radio interference , so Garda O'Donoghue went out with two of his colleagues in one of their own cars.......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
At the end of the trouble in Belfast , which threatened a major pogrom , the IRA Chief of Staff has issued a press release over his name saying that Active Service Units of his organisation were involved in defence activities in the North . During that period also the 'old brigade' arrived on the scene ; these were 'old' Republicans who had dropped out or resigned over the years because of the IRA's leftward drift and in some cases they dropped out due to lack of interest or laziness .
The atmosphere in the South was fully in favour of aiding 'the minority in the North' with guns - 'Give us guns , bags of guns' was the popular demand . At one rally demanding guns in Dundalk , a Catholic priest was reported to have fired three shots into the air from the platform and everyone cheered . It gained just a few inches in an inside page of the national dailies . But that was the mentality .
The 'old brigade's ' re-appearance on the scene produced some hero-leaders ; people like Daithi O Conaill , a distant relation of Ruairi O Bradaigh , rejoined . He was a hero from the 1956-1962 IRA border campaign , having being wounded in battle - a Corkman living in Donegal , O Conaill became the principal IRA man in the key county of Donegal . This was an appointment that Cathal Goulding would live to regret .
There were similar appointments in different parts of the country ; the IRA Chief of Staff had spent most of the 1956-1962 campaign in a British prison and therefore did not realise that the left wing politics he was pushing would not be taken on board by Daithi O Conaill and others returning to the fold . But it was better to have someone active in an area than to refuse their offer of help . Or so it appeared at the time .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
To date , Unionist Councillors feel they have been carrying the main burden and the policy of endless adjournments have worried many . This month they must strike a rate or be exposed to individual surcharges or replaced by British-imposed commissions .
The small revolts of the old Stormont 'fire eater' Captain Robert Mitchell in Coleraine and of Belfast Official Unionist Councillor Billy Corry may not be omens but they are certainly straws in the wind .
No one , it seems , especially the Unionist leaders , knows where their strategy is headed . After a period of stagnation , we live in stirring times ...
[END of ' THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'NA FIANNA EIREANN' : from 1981.)
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
When John O'Grady was writing his own ransom note , Eddie Hogan was worried that the light from the car would attract attention , even though the windows were covered with blankets . The note warned Dr. Austin Darragh not to contact the police , and instructed that a courier be sent to the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk where a call would come through for a 'Pat Murray' ; the courier was to take the call which would give further instructions .
John O'Grady was then taken from the car and led to a freight container where he was bedded down for the night . Tony McNeill and Fergal Toal resumed guard duties ; Dessie O'Hare and Eddie Hogan left them to it .
9. A BREAKTHROUGH FOR THE GARDAI .
October 26 was a Bank Holiday . Dessie O'Hare was in great form , saying that he was soon to be a millionaire - it was also his birthday . Unknown to him , however , the gardai were about to get their first break in their investigation : Garda Gerard O'Donoghue succeeded in doing what every member of the force from raw recruit to the Garda Commissioner himself wanted to do - he located the kidnappers . O'Donoghue was on plain clothes duty ; the gardai in Midleton had been informed of suspicious activity around a container just outside Midleton , in Ballymascinley .
Attempts to contact the local Garda patrol car failed due to radio interference , so Garda O'Donoghue went out with two of his colleagues in one of their own cars.......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, September 26, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
At that time (ie August 1969) it was felt that any IRA action on the border could lead to a resumption of trouble in Belfast , rather than drawing it off , reasoned the IRA Chiefs ; Cathal Goulding ordered the four IRA Units to withdraw and so the 1969 'Border Campaign' was over without a shot being fired in anger .
On Sunday August 17th 1969 , the Sunday following the Belfast 'mini-pogrom' , a person attached to the Irish Centre in London contacted Cathal Goulding with the news that he could be put in contact with people who had an unlimited supply of money available for arms purchasing , provided they would be for use only in the North of Ireland . The following morning , Monday , August 18th 1969 , Goulding flew to London where he met the contact . When they met , Goulding was fully satisfied that the contact was indeed representing the Dublin Government .
The contact asked if Goulding was supplied with money could the Northern people be supplied with arms ? 'No problem' , said Goulding , provided the money was supplied but the figure would have to be in the region of £50,000 - 'No problem' , said the contact , and handed Goulding £1,500 ; the balance of the £50,000 would be provided within days . Goulding returned to Dublin and put the money into the IRA arms fund . The contact's trip and expenses were paid for out of State funds .
Another contact with the IRA was made back home ; a director of a factory in County Louth contacted a member of the IRA Command Staff from Belfast , at Dundalk . When they discussed the matter , figures of £50,000 to £150,000 for arms were thrown about - but the company director had one big provision : that the arms would not be used South of the border . On the day previous to this meeting the Dublin Government sub-committee had been given £100,000 "...to provide aid for the victims of the current unrest in the Six Counties .. " .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
Catholics living in remote rural areas near Orange Halls have been well aware for months past of the frequent late-night meetings , the lines of cars . The Clubs have developed from a start last August with only a few DUP people willing to get involved - the ever-practical DUP Deputy Peter Robinson of course addressed the first meeting to set up a co-ordinating Ulster (sic) Loyalist Front , side by side with the UDA's John McMichael ; to the position now where the Unionist politicians recognise the necessity to be in there or lose status and dominance entirely to the paramilitaries .
The joint OUP/DUP working party on the 'Agreement' (ie the 1985 Hillsborough Treaty) probably owes its existence to the same pressure . Of the Westminster muddle , the 'Ulster Clubs' said that both Unionist councillors and Assembly-men had come to them to ask for guidance on the next step in the anti-'Agreement' strategy .
For politicians aware that the Clubs only reason for being is to prepare for the day when their strategy breaks down or runs out , that must have been an ominous message . Already they knew that the eternal maverick Belfast Lord Mayor , John Carson , had held a closed meeting of council leaders , mayors and chairmen , to air worries about the strategy .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Manor House , on Brennanstown Road , is in the area for which Dun Laoghaire Garda Station has responsibility and this became the station from which the hunt for the kidnappers was to be co-ordinated . Every piece of information which was turned up was to be collated and analysed at Dun Laoghaire .
At eleven o'clock on the morning of October 15 , Detective Sergeant Neill visited Manor House and showed Marise O'Grady a dozen photographs - she quickly picked out Dessie O'Hare and , from the account given by Mrs O'Grady , the gardai believed the gang to be "...a bunch of amateurs.. " : many detectives spoke of an early breakthrough .
Dessie O'Hare had told Marise O'Grady to pack wellington boots for her husband as he would be kept in the open , so initially searches concentrated on woodlands but that method did not reveal any significant clues .
8. A RANSOM NOTE .
On the night of October 22 John O'Grady was asleep in the shed when he was woken up by Dessie O'Hare ; wearing the blacked-out glasses he was led out of the shed down a slope covered in gorse and bushes . His chains kept catching in the undergrowth and progress was slow . There were two cars waiting for them . O'Grady was given a cup of tea , then they drove for about ten minutes until they reached Ballymascinley , just outside Midleton , in Cork . Dessie O'Hare handed John O'Grady paper , a felt pen and a book to lean on and was told to move his glasses up on his forehead .
O'Hare dictated a ransom note addressed to Dr. Austin Darragh , demanding a million pounds sterling and half a million in punts .......
(MORE LATER).
( To 'Joe's great grand-daughter' : thank you for the visit and the comments - I hope I did not include any material which your family were not already aware of . Thanks again , Sharon .)
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
At that time (ie August 1969) it was felt that any IRA action on the border could lead to a resumption of trouble in Belfast , rather than drawing it off , reasoned the IRA Chiefs ; Cathal Goulding ordered the four IRA Units to withdraw and so the 1969 'Border Campaign' was over without a shot being fired in anger .
On Sunday August 17th 1969 , the Sunday following the Belfast 'mini-pogrom' , a person attached to the Irish Centre in London contacted Cathal Goulding with the news that he could be put in contact with people who had an unlimited supply of money available for arms purchasing , provided they would be for use only in the North of Ireland . The following morning , Monday , August 18th 1969 , Goulding flew to London where he met the contact . When they met , Goulding was fully satisfied that the contact was indeed representing the Dublin Government .
The contact asked if Goulding was supplied with money could the Northern people be supplied with arms ? 'No problem' , said Goulding , provided the money was supplied but the figure would have to be in the region of £50,000 - 'No problem' , said the contact , and handed Goulding £1,500 ; the balance of the £50,000 would be provided within days . Goulding returned to Dublin and put the money into the IRA arms fund . The contact's trip and expenses were paid for out of State funds .
Another contact with the IRA was made back home ; a director of a factory in County Louth contacted a member of the IRA Command Staff from Belfast , at Dundalk . When they discussed the matter , figures of £50,000 to £150,000 for arms were thrown about - but the company director had one big provision : that the arms would not be used South of the border . On the day previous to this meeting the Dublin Government sub-committee had been given £100,000 "...to provide aid for the victims of the current unrest in the Six Counties .. " .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
Catholics living in remote rural areas near Orange Halls have been well aware for months past of the frequent late-night meetings , the lines of cars . The Clubs have developed from a start last August with only a few DUP people willing to get involved - the ever-practical DUP Deputy Peter Robinson of course addressed the first meeting to set up a co-ordinating Ulster (sic) Loyalist Front , side by side with the UDA's John McMichael ; to the position now where the Unionist politicians recognise the necessity to be in there or lose status and dominance entirely to the paramilitaries .
The joint OUP/DUP working party on the 'Agreement' (ie the 1985 Hillsborough Treaty) probably owes its existence to the same pressure . Of the Westminster muddle , the 'Ulster Clubs' said that both Unionist councillors and Assembly-men had come to them to ask for guidance on the next step in the anti-'Agreement' strategy .
For politicians aware that the Clubs only reason for being is to prepare for the day when their strategy breaks down or runs out , that must have been an ominous message . Already they knew that the eternal maverick Belfast Lord Mayor , John Carson , had held a closed meeting of council leaders , mayors and chairmen , to air worries about the strategy .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Manor House , on Brennanstown Road , is in the area for which Dun Laoghaire Garda Station has responsibility and this became the station from which the hunt for the kidnappers was to be co-ordinated . Every piece of information which was turned up was to be collated and analysed at Dun Laoghaire .
At eleven o'clock on the morning of October 15 , Detective Sergeant Neill visited Manor House and showed Marise O'Grady a dozen photographs - she quickly picked out Dessie O'Hare and , from the account given by Mrs O'Grady , the gardai believed the gang to be "...a bunch of amateurs.. " : many detectives spoke of an early breakthrough .
Dessie O'Hare had told Marise O'Grady to pack wellington boots for her husband as he would be kept in the open , so initially searches concentrated on woodlands but that method did not reveal any significant clues .
8. A RANSOM NOTE .
On the night of October 22 John O'Grady was asleep in the shed when he was woken up by Dessie O'Hare ; wearing the blacked-out glasses he was led out of the shed down a slope covered in gorse and bushes . His chains kept catching in the undergrowth and progress was slow . There were two cars waiting for them . O'Grady was given a cup of tea , then they drove for about ten minutes until they reached Ballymascinley , just outside Midleton , in Cork . Dessie O'Hare handed John O'Grady paper , a felt pen and a book to lean on and was told to move his glasses up on his forehead .
O'Hare dictated a ransom note addressed to Dr. Austin Darragh , demanding a million pounds sterling and half a million in punts .......
(MORE LATER).
( To 'Joe's great grand-daughter' : thank you for the visit and the comments - I hope I did not include any material which your family were not already aware of . Thanks again , Sharon .)
Friday, September 23, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Surplus Irish (sic- Free State) Army uniforms were widely distributed free in Nationalist areas of the North and were a big hit with the young activists . The main activists of the Dublin Government's action campaign were Seamus Brady and Captain James Kelly , who was already active gathering intelligence along the border .
Captain Kelly was acting in accordance with his military commission and was doing his duty at all times . But for Seamus Brady it was politics ; Charles Haughey appointed him on the 15th August 1969 to the Propaganda Corps and according to the Head of the Government's Information Bureau at the time , while giving evidence to the eventual Dail Committee of Public Accounts - " The first information I had about Mr. Brady's selection and appointment ...was as a result of a casual meeting on Friday , August 15th (1969) , with the then Minister for Finance , Mr. C.J. Haughey , who informed me that he had arranged for Mr. Brady to join the Bureau for the duration , at a fee .. "
When Seamus Brady reported for duty on 19th August 1969 he was the only person in the propaganda squad selected to go into the North ; his first report to the (FS) Taoiseach , Jack Lynch , filed in late August 1969 , had little to do with explaining the Northern situation - it was an intelligence report on the IRA and the various defence groups in the North of Ireland .
Meanwhile , back in IRA 'land' , Cathal Goulding and his GHQ Staff had a retake on the situation in the North : four IRA Units , fully armed , had been sent to the border with the intention of re-staging a border campaign and thereby take the pressure off Belfast and Derry - but the pogrom situation in Belfast had eased with the arrival of the British Army and it was clear to the 'top brass' in the IRA that the action planned could now back-fire on them .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
It will be interesting to watch the Provos develop their response to the situation created by the Anglo-Irish Agreement (ie 1985 Hillsborough Treaty) : though they reject any suggestion that IRA violence has been stepped up because of that 'Agreement' , IRA statements have been contradictory enough for that denial to be ignored .
A policy of 'goading' the Unionists into even fiercer opposition by keeping up the campaign against off-duty* UDR men and mortar attacks on RUC stations still looks likely . ( * ' 1169 ... ' Comment - The UDR , like the present-day RUC/PSNI , are never "off-duty" : in or out of uniform , they are the 'eyes and ears' of the British 'establishment' . )
If the Provos cannot bring down the 'Agreement' themselves , then they will push the Protestant community - the only people who can defeat it - to do the job for them , the argument goes . The Provos' official answer to that charge is to point out that Loyalists seem to need no further 'goad' than the 'Agreement' itself ; loyalism , meanwhile , is claiming ever more loudly to be united while trying to cover the cracks in the joint party facade , but there is no doubt at all that a unity of disgust with the Hillsborough Treaty remains .
When the 'Ulster Clubs' weighed in recently with their call to the fourteen Unionist MP's to withdraw from Westminster , it was perhaps the clearest sign yet that "ordinary" (ie grassroots) Unionists have become worried by the lack of clear leadership . it took the quite spectacular dithering about how many MP's should leave Westminster , and when , to produce the Clubs' unmistakeable message - they spoke with the authority of almost fifty branches spread across the North and a probable 8,000 members , made up of UDA men , UVF men , almost all the DUP's twenty-one Assembly members and half a dozen Official Unionist Assemblymen .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O' Hare was formally expelled from the INLA , and the IRA were also looking for him in connection with guns he had stolen from them ; he was now totally marginalised . The three bank robberies had yielded only £7,000 . He could count those he could rely on in single figures . Eddie Hogan was released from jail in October and immediately took up with O'Hare .
Tony McNeill was the most unlikely member of the gang ; from Belfast , he studied for a diploma in electronic engineering and came south in 1980 after the RUC allegedly issued a death threat to him through his sister . He got a job as a nurse's aide in Palmerstown Hospital . He was friendly with Gerry Wright , a barber in Dublin , whom he introduced to Dessie O'Hare . Wright was not a member of any group but had 'sympathies' , and considered the differences between the Official IRA and the INLA and the Provisional IRA to be only notional . His brother had been a member of the Official IRA in the 1970's but had been shot dead by a fellow member of the organisation after he made a statement in police custody implicating fellow members in a bank robbery .
Gerry Wright agreed to co-operate with Dessie O'Hare when O'Hare said he would shoot Billy Wright's killer , whose identity was well known . Wright was obsessed with his brother's death . In early October the O'Hare gang killed Jimmy McDaid ; O'Hare alleged that he had misappropriated money - his family claims that he was shot because he wanted to disassociate himself from O'Hare , who liked to think of himself as leading a disciplined group who acted under military orders ; the reality was far different .
7. " A Bunch Of Amateurs.. "
The Garda investigation , now well into its second week , had yielded little . After Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill had left John O'Grady's house at 1.50 PM on the first day of the kidnap , Marise O'Grady contacted her father Austin Darragh ; they discused what to do and after some deliberation decided to contact the gardai , who arrived at the house shortly after nine o'clock that night .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Surplus Irish (sic- Free State) Army uniforms were widely distributed free in Nationalist areas of the North and were a big hit with the young activists . The main activists of the Dublin Government's action campaign were Seamus Brady and Captain James Kelly , who was already active gathering intelligence along the border .
Captain Kelly was acting in accordance with his military commission and was doing his duty at all times . But for Seamus Brady it was politics ; Charles Haughey appointed him on the 15th August 1969 to the Propaganda Corps and according to the Head of the Government's Information Bureau at the time , while giving evidence to the eventual Dail Committee of Public Accounts - " The first information I had about Mr. Brady's selection and appointment ...was as a result of a casual meeting on Friday , August 15th (1969) , with the then Minister for Finance , Mr. C.J. Haughey , who informed me that he had arranged for Mr. Brady to join the Bureau for the duration , at a fee .. "
When Seamus Brady reported for duty on 19th August 1969 he was the only person in the propaganda squad selected to go into the North ; his first report to the (FS) Taoiseach , Jack Lynch , filed in late August 1969 , had little to do with explaining the Northern situation - it was an intelligence report on the IRA and the various defence groups in the North of Ireland .
Meanwhile , back in IRA 'land' , Cathal Goulding and his GHQ Staff had a retake on the situation in the North : four IRA Units , fully armed , had been sent to the border with the intention of re-staging a border campaign and thereby take the pressure off Belfast and Derry - but the pogrom situation in Belfast had eased with the arrival of the British Army and it was clear to the 'top brass' in the IRA that the action planned could now back-fire on them .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
It will be interesting to watch the Provos develop their response to the situation created by the Anglo-Irish Agreement (ie 1985 Hillsborough Treaty) : though they reject any suggestion that IRA violence has been stepped up because of that 'Agreement' , IRA statements have been contradictory enough for that denial to be ignored .
A policy of 'goading' the Unionists into even fiercer opposition by keeping up the campaign against off-duty* UDR men and mortar attacks on RUC stations still looks likely . ( * ' 1169 ... ' Comment - The UDR , like the present-day RUC/PSNI , are never "off-duty" : in or out of uniform , they are the 'eyes and ears' of the British 'establishment' . )
If the Provos cannot bring down the 'Agreement' themselves , then they will push the Protestant community - the only people who can defeat it - to do the job for them , the argument goes . The Provos' official answer to that charge is to point out that Loyalists seem to need no further 'goad' than the 'Agreement' itself ; loyalism , meanwhile , is claiming ever more loudly to be united while trying to cover the cracks in the joint party facade , but there is no doubt at all that a unity of disgust with the Hillsborough Treaty remains .
When the 'Ulster Clubs' weighed in recently with their call to the fourteen Unionist MP's to withdraw from Westminster , it was perhaps the clearest sign yet that "ordinary" (ie grassroots) Unionists have become worried by the lack of clear leadership . it took the quite spectacular dithering about how many MP's should leave Westminster , and when , to produce the Clubs' unmistakeable message - they spoke with the authority of almost fifty branches spread across the North and a probable 8,000 members , made up of UDA men , UVF men , almost all the DUP's twenty-one Assembly members and half a dozen Official Unionist Assemblymen .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O' Hare was formally expelled from the INLA , and the IRA were also looking for him in connection with guns he had stolen from them ; he was now totally marginalised . The three bank robberies had yielded only £7,000 . He could count those he could rely on in single figures . Eddie Hogan was released from jail in October and immediately took up with O'Hare .
Tony McNeill was the most unlikely member of the gang ; from Belfast , he studied for a diploma in electronic engineering and came south in 1980 after the RUC allegedly issued a death threat to him through his sister . He got a job as a nurse's aide in Palmerstown Hospital . He was friendly with Gerry Wright , a barber in Dublin , whom he introduced to Dessie O'Hare . Wright was not a member of any group but had 'sympathies' , and considered the differences between the Official IRA and the INLA and the Provisional IRA to be only notional . His brother had been a member of the Official IRA in the 1970's but had been shot dead by a fellow member of the organisation after he made a statement in police custody implicating fellow members in a bank robbery .
Gerry Wright agreed to co-operate with Dessie O'Hare when O'Hare said he would shoot Billy Wright's killer , whose identity was well known . Wright was obsessed with his brother's death . In early October the O'Hare gang killed Jimmy McDaid ; O'Hare alleged that he had misappropriated money - his family claims that he was shot because he wanted to disassociate himself from O'Hare , who liked to think of himself as leading a disciplined group who acted under military orders ; the reality was far different .
7. " A Bunch Of Amateurs.. "
The Garda investigation , now well into its second week , had yielded little . After Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill had left John O'Grady's house at 1.50 PM on the first day of the kidnap , Marise O'Grady contacted her father Austin Darragh ; they discused what to do and after some deliberation decided to contact the gardai , who arrived at the house shortly after nine o'clock that night .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, September 22, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The objectives of the Free State Government's 'Northern Sub-Committee' were outlined by Charles Haughey at the 'Arms Trial' : " We were given instructions that we should develop the maximum possible contacts with persons inside the Six Counties and try to inform ourselves as much as possible on events , political and other developments - within the Six County area . "
The Free State Cabinet also decided on appointing a 'Propaganda Corps' to lead an international publicity attack against Britain over partition ; this 'Corps' consisted of 20 public relations men , 18 of whom were drawn from the State or semi-State companies .
In line with their instructions , the 'Northern Sub-Committee' made contact with the Belfast IRA , with Saor Eire elements through the Citizens Committee located in a house in Kildare Street in Dublin (now demolished) the use of which was made available by the New Ireland Assurance Company , and contact was also made with Cathal Goulding , the IRA Chief Of Staff .
The idea was to get involved in the North : to use every possible contact to influence decision making in the Northern Nationalist community . The Dublin Government was not prepared to be compromised by the decisions taken in either the Civil Rights Association or the IRA . The Irish Army (sic - FS) and special Garda intelligence units were deployed on both sides of the border gathering information on activists of all sorts .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
If you did'nt accept Gerry Adams' arguments , the suspicion inevitably arose that here was a man , and a political party , sucked into a process against its purist judgement by the very fact of being there ; that suspicion partially explained the nature of the Sinn Fein campaign , and it would suggest internal trouble ahead for Adams with those who have always seen the election strategy as at best a distraction from the fight , and at worst inevitably destructive of the Republican Movement's real purpose . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - that "election strategy" has resulted in Provisional Sinn Fein sitting in Leinster House and Stormont [Westminster soon ?] and calling on it's own colleagues in the PIRA to not only dis-arm , but to dis-band as well . Career building ... )
It was an odd business , the Provos campaign this time : no money to spend , none of the swarms of young people who so disheartened the SDLP a couple of elections back as they popped up everywhere preaching the Sinn Fein message . Even according to the SDLP , who accuse Sinn Fein of most kinds of skullduggery , there were few allegations of dirty work this time - which many hardened Northerners would regard as an integral part of any energetic election campaign .
Instead the SDLP fretted that Sinn Fein were leaving them to make the running , and wondered why . In Mid-Ulster and Fermanagh-South Tyrone someone had a little go at Sinn Fein's '...dangerous social policies .. ' through the time-honoured method of letters to local papers , and managed to cause Danny Morrison and probably Owen Carron - though he has not been available for comment - some bad moments . Even the faintest whisper of abortion makes your average West of the Bann nationalist turn purple . As Morrison stated - " I was asked at least half a dozen times on the doorsteps or after Mass if it was true Sinn Fein supported abortion . You would'nt know how many other conversations on the subject of 'Morrison-the-baby-killer' those represented .
Then Father Faul joined in with a letter to the 'Irish News' newspaper at the very last minute , meaning I could'nt answer it in time . " Morrison spent time explaining how a motion at the 1985 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis indeed proposed abortion on demand but had been modified by a Sinn Fein Executive amendment . That answer may not have cut much ice on doorsteps in , for instance , Ballynanny .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
In early December 1986 Dessie O'Hare was involved in an attempted bank robbery in Shercock , County Cavan - in dramatic fashion the doors of the bank were smashed down , but the gang left empty-handed . O'Hare was arrested shortly afterwards under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to Dundalk Garda Station for questioning . Detectives interviewing him were impressed by his agile mind ; he told them that he was now a pacifist .
Over the next ten months he killed , or had killed , five people : he had contacted the GHQ faction of the INLA and had been instructed to form a Unit - this Unit's one and only action against the British 'security forces' , carried out on New Year's Eve , ended in disaster ; the target was a member of the UDR , but the assassins missed and shot his seventy-two year old mother who died soon afterwards .
The INLA feud erupted at the end of January when John O'Reilly and Thomas 'Ta' Power were shot when they attended the Rossnaree Hotel for what they assumed were peace talks . O'Hare was first into bat for the GHQ faction - he was involved in abducting Tony McCloskey , who had his finger , nose and ear cut off before being put out of his misery by a bullet . In the coming weeks O'Hare was to kill two others , both INLA members , one for alleged informing and another in a personal vendetta .
In June he attempted to assassinate Official Unionist Party representative Jim Nicholson . Funds were low and in August he robbed a bank in Ballybay , County Monaghan ; in August he robbed two banks within minutes of each other in Castlepollard , County Westmeath .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The objectives of the Free State Government's 'Northern Sub-Committee' were outlined by Charles Haughey at the 'Arms Trial' : " We were given instructions that we should develop the maximum possible contacts with persons inside the Six Counties and try to inform ourselves as much as possible on events , political and other developments - within the Six County area . "
The Free State Cabinet also decided on appointing a 'Propaganda Corps' to lead an international publicity attack against Britain over partition ; this 'Corps' consisted of 20 public relations men , 18 of whom were drawn from the State or semi-State companies .
In line with their instructions , the 'Northern Sub-Committee' made contact with the Belfast IRA , with Saor Eire elements through the Citizens Committee located in a house in Kildare Street in Dublin (now demolished) the use of which was made available by the New Ireland Assurance Company , and contact was also made with Cathal Goulding , the IRA Chief Of Staff .
The idea was to get involved in the North : to use every possible contact to influence decision making in the Northern Nationalist community . The Dublin Government was not prepared to be compromised by the decisions taken in either the Civil Rights Association or the IRA . The Irish Army (sic - FS) and special Garda intelligence units were deployed on both sides of the border gathering information on activists of all sorts .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
If you did'nt accept Gerry Adams' arguments , the suspicion inevitably arose that here was a man , and a political party , sucked into a process against its purist judgement by the very fact of being there ; that suspicion partially explained the nature of the Sinn Fein campaign , and it would suggest internal trouble ahead for Adams with those who have always seen the election strategy as at best a distraction from the fight , and at worst inevitably destructive of the Republican Movement's real purpose . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - that "election strategy" has resulted in Provisional Sinn Fein sitting in Leinster House and Stormont [Westminster soon ?] and calling on it's own colleagues in the PIRA to not only dis-arm , but to dis-band as well . Career building ... )
It was an odd business , the Provos campaign this time : no money to spend , none of the swarms of young people who so disheartened the SDLP a couple of elections back as they popped up everywhere preaching the Sinn Fein message . Even according to the SDLP , who accuse Sinn Fein of most kinds of skullduggery , there were few allegations of dirty work this time - which many hardened Northerners would regard as an integral part of any energetic election campaign .
Instead the SDLP fretted that Sinn Fein were leaving them to make the running , and wondered why . In Mid-Ulster and Fermanagh-South Tyrone someone had a little go at Sinn Fein's '...dangerous social policies .. ' through the time-honoured method of letters to local papers , and managed to cause Danny Morrison and probably Owen Carron - though he has not been available for comment - some bad moments . Even the faintest whisper of abortion makes your average West of the Bann nationalist turn purple . As Morrison stated - " I was asked at least half a dozen times on the doorsteps or after Mass if it was true Sinn Fein supported abortion . You would'nt know how many other conversations on the subject of 'Morrison-the-baby-killer' those represented .
Then Father Faul joined in with a letter to the 'Irish News' newspaper at the very last minute , meaning I could'nt answer it in time . " Morrison spent time explaining how a motion at the 1985 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis indeed proposed abortion on demand but had been modified by a Sinn Fein Executive amendment . That answer may not have cut much ice on doorsteps in , for instance , Ballynanny .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
In early December 1986 Dessie O'Hare was involved in an attempted bank robbery in Shercock , County Cavan - in dramatic fashion the doors of the bank were smashed down , but the gang left empty-handed . O'Hare was arrested shortly afterwards under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to Dundalk Garda Station for questioning . Detectives interviewing him were impressed by his agile mind ; he told them that he was now a pacifist .
Over the next ten months he killed , or had killed , five people : he had contacted the GHQ faction of the INLA and had been instructed to form a Unit - this Unit's one and only action against the British 'security forces' , carried out on New Year's Eve , ended in disaster ; the target was a member of the UDR , but the assassins missed and shot his seventy-two year old mother who died soon afterwards .
The INLA feud erupted at the end of January when John O'Reilly and Thomas 'Ta' Power were shot when they attended the Rossnaree Hotel for what they assumed were peace talks . O'Hare was first into bat for the GHQ faction - he was involved in abducting Tony McCloskey , who had his finger , nose and ear cut off before being put out of his misery by a bullet . In the coming weeks O'Hare was to kill two others , both INLA members , one for alleged informing and another in a personal vendetta .
In June he attempted to assassinate Official Unionist Party representative Jim Nicholson . Funds were low and in August he robbed a bank in Ballybay , County Monaghan ; in August he robbed two banks within minutes of each other in Castlepollard , County Westmeath .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
With the 'doomsday situation' apparently around the corner the IRA was another influential decision-maker but with their record of destructive involvement in the South , and their left-wing politics , not to mention their constant attacks on Fianna Fail , TACA , and indeed their regular picketing of the homes of several government ministers including the homes of Neil Blaney and Kevin Boland , under different guises , clearly meant that they would be hostile (to the Free State Administration) .
To cap it all the traditional Fianna Fail support body , the 'Nationalist Party' was all but dead since the Stormont Elections ; with the military situation opening up , the IRA was certainly a threatening presence in the North of Ireland . In any case the (FS) Government decided that money would have to be provided to deal with distress and it was essential that it should be spent in a way which would win friends and influence people for the Fianna Fail Government .
Eventually £100,000 from (FS) exchequer funds was agreed and a special sub-committee of the State Cabinet was appointed to deal with the whole Northern 'problem' ; elected to that sub-comittee were Padraig Faulkner , Joe Brennan , Neil Blaney - their constituencies were on the border - and Charles J. Haughey , who was (FS) Minister for Finance and had strong Northern connections , his father having come South to join the Free State Army in the 1920's .
The objectives of that 'Northern sub-committee' were outlined by Charles Haughey at the 'Arms Trial' .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
1983 was Sinn Fein's highest point when they topped the 100,000 votes mark - a year later that total vote dropped to 93,000 . 1985's local government elections brought them back up again over the 100,000 ; to the great though unpublicised relief of Dr. Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael) , then pressing his , and John Hume's , case with Margaret Thatcher that Nationalist alienation must be checked and reversed or Sinn Fein and the IRA would inexorably make headway at the expense of constitutional Nationalists .
To get the perspective straight - over recent years the respective shares of the Nationalist vote have been -
1982 : SDLP 65 % to SF 35 % ;
1983 : SDLP 57.4 % to SF 42.6 % ;
1985 : SDLP 60.3 % to SF 39.7 % ;
1986 : SDLP 64.6 % to SF 35.4 % .
Jim Nicholson , a unionist , in defeat , maintained that Sinn Fein and the SDLP had indeed worked a pact in Newry-Armagh to get him out ; Jim McAllister's compassionate hug for the grey-faced Seamus Mallon in mid-count probably finally convinced Nicholson that he was right . The President of (P) Sinn Fein , Gerry Adams , meanwhile commented that some Sinn Fein voters stayed at home and some backed the strongest horse . As the results came in Adams made an interesting study , batting percentages around like the smoothest commentator and insisting the SDLP gain was no surprise and would not last beyond people's disillusionment with the Anglo-Irish Agreement as an instrument of real change . ( ' 1169.... ' Comment - ...that same charge can now be made against the 1998 Stormont Treaty/'GFA' . )
Those who have been wondering all along whether the Provos' involvement in politics will change the Provos more than the politics must have watched Adams' performance with a special interest ; he was least convincing on Sinn Fein's reasons for fighting an election they called "...a so-called referendum.. " and which they originally suggested Nationalists should boycott .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
At the time of his arrest (late 1979) , Dessie O'Hare was credited by the RUC , without substantiation , with involvement in over twenty killings : he had not yet reached twenty-one years of age .
O'Hare could not adjust to jail ; there were several naive escape attempts right up to within months of his release , costing him remission . He was frequently beaten up by prison warders and had few friends in jail . Eddie Hogan had been sentenced to eight years in 1981 for his involvement in an armed robbery ; Fergal Toal was sentenced in 1984 for his part in an attempted armed robbery in Dundalk . The three , along with Jimmy McDaid , who was serving a sentence for the manslaughter of a British soldier , formed one of the many 'cliques' in prison .
Dessie O'Hare was released from jail in October 1986 and Fergal Toal shortly afterwards . The INLA was in disarray ; initially O'Hare approached a member of the new 'Army Council' faction and proposed that the list of legitimate targets should be widened to include people like Bishop Cathal Daly - who had made a number of statements critical of republicans - and Peter Sutherland , who had been (FS) Attorney General when the (FS) Supreme Court reversed its policy of not extraditing people suspected of involvement in offences while on 'active service' .
The man to whom Dessie O'Hare proposed this was appalled , gave him £500 and told him he would be in touch .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
With the 'doomsday situation' apparently around the corner the IRA was another influential decision-maker but with their record of destructive involvement in the South , and their left-wing politics , not to mention their constant attacks on Fianna Fail , TACA , and indeed their regular picketing of the homes of several government ministers including the homes of Neil Blaney and Kevin Boland , under different guises , clearly meant that they would be hostile (to the Free State Administration) .
To cap it all the traditional Fianna Fail support body , the 'Nationalist Party' was all but dead since the Stormont Elections ; with the military situation opening up , the IRA was certainly a threatening presence in the North of Ireland . In any case the (FS) Government decided that money would have to be provided to deal with distress and it was essential that it should be spent in a way which would win friends and influence people for the Fianna Fail Government .
Eventually £100,000 from (FS) exchequer funds was agreed and a special sub-committee of the State Cabinet was appointed to deal with the whole Northern 'problem' ; elected to that sub-comittee were Padraig Faulkner , Joe Brennan , Neil Blaney - their constituencies were on the border - and Charles J. Haughey , who was (FS) Minister for Finance and had strong Northern connections , his father having come South to join the Free State Army in the 1920's .
The objectives of that 'Northern sub-committee' were outlined by Charles Haughey at the 'Arms Trial' .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
1983 was Sinn Fein's highest point when they topped the 100,000 votes mark - a year later that total vote dropped to 93,000 . 1985's local government elections brought them back up again over the 100,000 ; to the great though unpublicised relief of Dr. Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael) , then pressing his , and John Hume's , case with Margaret Thatcher that Nationalist alienation must be checked and reversed or Sinn Fein and the IRA would inexorably make headway at the expense of constitutional Nationalists .
To get the perspective straight - over recent years the respective shares of the Nationalist vote have been -
1982 : SDLP 65 % to SF 35 % ;
1983 : SDLP 57.4 % to SF 42.6 % ;
1985 : SDLP 60.3 % to SF 39.7 % ;
1986 : SDLP 64.6 % to SF 35.4 % .
Jim Nicholson , a unionist , in defeat , maintained that Sinn Fein and the SDLP had indeed worked a pact in Newry-Armagh to get him out ; Jim McAllister's compassionate hug for the grey-faced Seamus Mallon in mid-count probably finally convinced Nicholson that he was right . The President of (P) Sinn Fein , Gerry Adams , meanwhile commented that some Sinn Fein voters stayed at home and some backed the strongest horse . As the results came in Adams made an interesting study , batting percentages around like the smoothest commentator and insisting the SDLP gain was no surprise and would not last beyond people's disillusionment with the Anglo-Irish Agreement as an instrument of real change . ( ' 1169.... ' Comment - ...that same charge can now be made against the 1998 Stormont Treaty/'GFA' . )
Those who have been wondering all along whether the Provos' involvement in politics will change the Provos more than the politics must have watched Adams' performance with a special interest ; he was least convincing on Sinn Fein's reasons for fighting an election they called "...a so-called referendum.. " and which they originally suggested Nationalists should boycott .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
At the time of his arrest (late 1979) , Dessie O'Hare was credited by the RUC , without substantiation , with involvement in over twenty killings : he had not yet reached twenty-one years of age .
O'Hare could not adjust to jail ; there were several naive escape attempts right up to within months of his release , costing him remission . He was frequently beaten up by prison warders and had few friends in jail . Eddie Hogan had been sentenced to eight years in 1981 for his involvement in an armed robbery ; Fergal Toal was sentenced in 1984 for his part in an attempted armed robbery in Dundalk . The three , along with Jimmy McDaid , who was serving a sentence for the manslaughter of a British soldier , formed one of the many 'cliques' in prison .
Dessie O'Hare was released from jail in October 1986 and Fergal Toal shortly afterwards . The INLA was in disarray ; initially O'Hare approached a member of the new 'Army Council' faction and proposed that the list of legitimate targets should be widened to include people like Bishop Cathal Daly - who had made a number of statements critical of republicans - and Peter Sutherland , who had been (FS) Attorney General when the (FS) Supreme Court reversed its policy of not extraditing people suspected of involvement in offences while on 'active service' .
The man to whom Dessie O'Hare proposed this was appalled , gave him £500 and told him he would be in touch .......
(MORE LATER).
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