A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
A peaceful picket outside Armagh Jail in 1979 had just ended and those present were about to leave ; suddenly , the RUC charged into the 50-strong crowd - eleven women eventually stood 'trial' on charges arising out of the picket . All were fined but two opted to serve prison sentences rather than 'acknowledge criminality' .
A Tribunal exposing the conditions in Armagh Jail and publicising the charges against those arrested on the picket was held ; the Tribunal heard disturbing facts about the conditions of the protesting women - a woman who should have been on an ulcer diet was being treated instead with valium . Another , who eventually had to be hospitalised , was told that the pains in her stomach existed only in her imagination !
Meanwhile , Pauline McLoughlin , a woman who was so ill that she vomited constantly and was rapidly losing weight , was not getting adequate care . On February 7 , 1980 , there was what can only be described as mass assaults by male and female prison officers on the women in B Wing , Armagh Jail ; the resultant bruises and swellings were noted by the prison chaplain , Fr. Raymond Murray , and by Bishop Edward Daly who visited the jail on February 13 , 1980 .
The details of those assaults have been documented in both ' On The Blanket' by Tim Pat Coogan and ' The Armagh Women' by Nell McCafferty : the details are harrowing.......
(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 .
As a means of keeping the de jure government - Dail Eireann - in being , the IRA initiated a meeting of Republican deputies who had remained faithful to the Republic ; that meeting was held on September 9th , 1922 and constituted itself as the 'Second Dail' . Eamon de Valera was elected as President and an 'Emergency Government' was appointed . This action , taken by the IRA , was in accordance with a resolution of Dail Eireann which provided for the IRA having the power to proclaim an 'Emergency Government' if enemy action at any time prevented democratic means of securing a Republican government .
This re-constituted Republican government was not able to function - a fact which Liam Mellows was at pains to criticise . Although regarded by a large section of the population as the only de jure government it could do little more than represent the protest against the seizure of power by the pro-Treaty party and place the logical and constitutional facts of the situation on record by means of statements and proclamations .
In May 1923 , the defence of the Republic by armed struggle was suspended : from April 1922 until May 1923 , the fighting had raged throughout the country until the Republican forces , encircled and isolated , were forced to dump arms . The Republican Army had lost some of its best leaders ; the Republican institutions had been smashed and British interests were being protected ".. with an economy of English lives.. " ('1169...' Comment - ...and those in Leinster House have been doing that ever since .)
The Free State government called a general election for August 27th , 1923 ; although 11,316 Republicans were still interned , Sinn Fein contested eighty-seven seats on an abstentionist ticket - because of the oath to the Free State constitution and the English 'king' : the Free Staters moved against the Sinn Fein organisation .......
(MORE LATER).
IN THE SHADOW OF A GUNMAN .
The aspirations of SINN FEIN THE WORKERS PARTY towards socialist respectability are undermined by the continued military operations of the OFFICIAL IRA and that Party's own ideoligical contortions .
From ' MAGILL' magazine , April 1982 .
By Vincent Browne.
Prior to Christmas three years ago a row , involving a full-time Official of Sinn Fein The Workers Party , broke out in a Dublin pub , The Dockers, on Sir John Rogerson's Quay . The row resulted in the party Official stabbing a broken glass in the face of one of two of his antagonists , both of whom were former members of Sinn Fein The Workers Party . Inevitably , there were threats of retribution .
These former members , brothers , had been involved on a number of previous occasions in conflicts with other SFWP Officials - indeed , there had previously been a row with the same SFWP Official at the party's drinking club , 'Club Ui Cadhain' , at Gardiner Place in Dublin city centre . Somebody obviously decided that the Dockers Pub incident was the last straw and that the two brothers would have to be taught a lesson : the Sunday morning after the row two cars carrying eight men drew up outside The Dockers ; the men , several of whom were armed , went into the pub and singed out the two brothers , having warned the rest of the Sunday morning drinking crowd to stand back and mind their own business .
They then beat the two brothers over the head with hatchets , causing them very serious injury . A girl who was with one of the brothers and who was then a current member of Sinn Fein The Workers Party , was beaten when she protested . She had been involved with a senior member of the party some time previously and this may have been an aggravating factor in the dispute . Seven of the eight men were members of SFWP - all were members of the Official IRA , some of them from the Dublin Unit OIRA and some from Belfast , including one of the most notorious 'heavies' of the latter organisation in the North , who is now in jail on an arms offence . The other person from that eight-man gang , who is not a member of SFWP , is perhaps the most interesting of that group .
He occupies a very senior position on the GHQ Staff of the Official IRA , and has been involved in numerous robberies over the last several years , and is believed to have murdered a prominent individual in Dublin in the course of the last five years .......
(MORE LATER).
(We would like to wish the Republican Movement well and congratulate them on their 101st Ard Fheis , which is being held in Dublin this weekend : 100 years of unbroken continuity ! )
Thursday, November 10, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
1976 saw the formation of the Relatives Action Committees ; they were mainly women relatives of political prisoners who , finding the added financial strain of visits and food parcels and the deteriorating situation in the jails going un-noticed , got together to draw attention to what was happening .
The Committees worked hard and long , raising money , spreading information and touring Europe , America and Britain raising support for the prisoners : they were later to form the backbone of the H-Block/Armagh Committees which mushroomed during the hunger-strikes . A group called ' Women Against Imperialism ' , believing that feminists could no longer pretend neutrality on the national question , had broken away from the Belfast Women's Collective .
The 'Women Against Imperialism' group marked the linking of the struggles for women's liberation and national liberation by picketing Armagh Jail on International Women's Day 1979 - it was known that , in May 1978 , following disturbances among remand prisoners , a squad of male prison offices in riot gear had locked the women in the cells for a number of weeks .
The picket in 1979 was attended by about 50 people ; when it had ended and those on the picket were about to leave , the RUC charged into the crowd .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The July 31st , 1922 elections left the country swept by rumour : the IRA were holding on to their garrisoned positions and Belfast was fired by pogroms . Eamonn de Valera awaited a call from Michael Collins to forward the names selected by his party for the coalition cabinet - that call , understandably , never came . Sinn Fein - a nationalist movement more than a doctrinaire Republican party - was broken and while the legitimacy of the First Dail remained intact , de jure legitimacy was to be no match for the de facto control exerted ruthlessly by those who now formed the first Free State government .
For parliamentarian republicans - with the repudiation by the IRA of all civil control and a policy of coercion from the parliament itself - only a limited number of options were available . Some had the view that until the Second Dail was formally resolved no other assembly should be recognised as legal ; among these , some contested that those deputies who had broken their oath by conspiring to overthrow the Republic had forfeited their right to sit in Dail Eireann and that the Dail deputies who had remained faithful to the Republic would have the constitutional right to act as the 'Second Dail' .
Others , including de Valera , believed that Republican TD's should go and claim their seats , whether in a 'Second' or a 'Third' Dail ; he discussed this with Mulcahy (of the Free State government) who insisted that the Treaty must be accepted as a condition for attendence in the parliament . This the parliamentarian republicans rejected .......
(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 told the court that his wife , Claire , had been as much a hostage as John O' Grady had been . Claire O' Hare , who is also charged with the kidnap , had opted for a separate trial .
During his speech from the dock Dessie O' Hare told the court that the only justice in Ireland came through the barrel of a gun ; he faltered at one point when he looked up to the packed public gallery - the family of Jimmy McDaid was staring intently at him . Dessie O' Hare and Eddie Hogan got forty years . Tony McNeill received a fifteen year sentence . Fergal Toal got twenty years . The court treated the fourth accused more leniently - Gerry Wright got just seven years .
[END of ' 23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'In The Shadow Of A Gunman' - from 1982.)
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
1976 saw the formation of the Relatives Action Committees ; they were mainly women relatives of political prisoners who , finding the added financial strain of visits and food parcels and the deteriorating situation in the jails going un-noticed , got together to draw attention to what was happening .
The Committees worked hard and long , raising money , spreading information and touring Europe , America and Britain raising support for the prisoners : they were later to form the backbone of the H-Block/Armagh Committees which mushroomed during the hunger-strikes . A group called ' Women Against Imperialism ' , believing that feminists could no longer pretend neutrality on the national question , had broken away from the Belfast Women's Collective .
The 'Women Against Imperialism' group marked the linking of the struggles for women's liberation and national liberation by picketing Armagh Jail on International Women's Day 1979 - it was known that , in May 1978 , following disturbances among remand prisoners , a squad of male prison offices in riot gear had locked the women in the cells for a number of weeks .
The picket in 1979 was attended by about 50 people ; when it had ended and those on the picket were about to leave , the RUC charged into the crowd .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The July 31st , 1922 elections left the country swept by rumour : the IRA were holding on to their garrisoned positions and Belfast was fired by pogroms . Eamonn de Valera awaited a call from Michael Collins to forward the names selected by his party for the coalition cabinet - that call , understandably , never came . Sinn Fein - a nationalist movement more than a doctrinaire Republican party - was broken and while the legitimacy of the First Dail remained intact , de jure legitimacy was to be no match for the de facto control exerted ruthlessly by those who now formed the first Free State government .
For parliamentarian republicans - with the repudiation by the IRA of all civil control and a policy of coercion from the parliament itself - only a limited number of options were available . Some had the view that until the Second Dail was formally resolved no other assembly should be recognised as legal ; among these , some contested that those deputies who had broken their oath by conspiring to overthrow the Republic had forfeited their right to sit in Dail Eireann and that the Dail deputies who had remained faithful to the Republic would have the constitutional right to act as the 'Second Dail' .
Others , including de Valera , believed that Republican TD's should go and claim their seats , whether in a 'Second' or a 'Third' Dail ; he discussed this with Mulcahy (of the Free State government) who insisted that the Treaty must be accepted as a condition for attendence in the parliament . This the parliamentarian republicans rejected .......
(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 told the court that his wife , Claire , had been as much a hostage as John O' Grady had been . Claire O' Hare , who is also charged with the kidnap , had opted for a separate trial .
During his speech from the dock Dessie O' Hare told the court that the only justice in Ireland came through the barrel of a gun ; he faltered at one point when he looked up to the packed public gallery - the family of Jimmy McDaid was staring intently at him . Dessie O' Hare and Eddie Hogan got forty years . Tony McNeill received a fifteen year sentence . Fergal Toal got twenty years . The court treated the fourth accused more leniently - Gerry Wright got just seven years .
[END of ' 23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'In The Shadow Of A Gunman' - from 1982.)
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
The British policy of 'Normalisation' meant that the trappings of 'democracy' had to appear to be present - a large number of political prisoners would seem inconsistent with 'democracy' , so the hitherto recognised Special Category Status was removed and , to the outside world , the North appeared to undergo an 800 per cent increase in "crime rate" in the space of just seven years !
Internment was gone and people were to be 'processed' through the courts : but the 'trials' were to be held in non-jury courts , following up to seven days interrogation . There were to be special 'scheduled' offences which were to carry especially long , mandatory sentences . People could be arrested without charge and uncorroborated 'evidence' was to be accepted by the 'court' as sufficient proof of guilt.
The only trouble for the British Government was that the prisoners refused to accept the 'status' of "common criminals" ; as the numbers of those convicted under the Diplock (non-jury court) system increased , so too did the number of relatives of prisoners who were becoming aware that anyone who was unfortunate enough to get arrested on the whim of the 'security forces' had little hope of jumping off the conveyor belt which would eventually drop her or him into prison.......
(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 .
A pact was agreed between the Irish Republicans and the (Free State) 'Treatyites' in which it was agreed that the July 31st , 1922 elections would not be considered as deciding the issue of the Treaty but as creating a government to preserve peace .
It provided for a National Coalition Government : Sinn Fein was to put forward a panel of candidates - sixty-six nominated by the 'Treatyites' and fifty-eight by the Republicans . The new government would consist of four Republicans , five pro-Treaty members , a President - to be elected by the Dail (presumably pro-Treaty) - and the Minister of Defence , to be elected by the Army - and therefore most likely to be a Republican , given the (Republican) Army's opposition to the Treaty .
Contrary to the agreements of the pact the new Free State Constitution appeared in the newspapers the following day - this had the obvious and intended consequence of confusing the election results . The Treaty party proclaimed the return of 94 Coalition candidates as an endorsement of the Treaty while the Republican side obviously contested this . The Constitution for the Free State was in fact the British government's interpretation of the Treaty - a diluted 'Home Rule'-type of arrangement and a basis upon which Republicans obviously could not co-operate .
The disaster of becoming involved in the election for the Second Dail had tied the parliamentarian 'republicans' to a semantical debate about the integrity and status of a " Third Dail " which had , in fact , been diluted to a Constituent Assembly , tied to implementing British policy and supplied with British legislation and British guns for that purpose .......
(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 .
When the John O' Grady kidnap trial opened , the decision by the accused to plead guilty was greeted with surprise ; however , given the weight of evidence against them , this was inevitable .
Tony McNeill and Gerry Wright had made statements in custody , admitting involvement . There were dozens of fingerprints of the kidnap gang in Carnlough Road and at the site of the container at Midleton . At Carnlough Road the gang got bored and Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal took photographs of each other armed with shotguns - they had'nt even bothered to wear balaclavas .
Dessie O' Hare was unrepentant ; McNeill , Hogan and Toal were acting under military orders , he told the court . Gerry Wright had been duped into helping them initially by the promise to shoot the man responsible for killing his brother and , later , by threats .......
(MORE LATER).
(Thank you for the kind comments , Cathal - glad we could help ! Sharon.)
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
The British policy of 'Normalisation' meant that the trappings of 'democracy' had to appear to be present - a large number of political prisoners would seem inconsistent with 'democracy' , so the hitherto recognised Special Category Status was removed and , to the outside world , the North appeared to undergo an 800 per cent increase in "crime rate" in the space of just seven years !
Internment was gone and people were to be 'processed' through the courts : but the 'trials' were to be held in non-jury courts , following up to seven days interrogation . There were to be special 'scheduled' offences which were to carry especially long , mandatory sentences . People could be arrested without charge and uncorroborated 'evidence' was to be accepted by the 'court' as sufficient proof of guilt.
The only trouble for the British Government was that the prisoners refused to accept the 'status' of "common criminals" ; as the numbers of those convicted under the Diplock (non-jury court) system increased , so too did the number of relatives of prisoners who were becoming aware that anyone who was unfortunate enough to get arrested on the whim of the 'security forces' had little hope of jumping off the conveyor belt which would eventually drop her or him into prison.......
(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 .
A pact was agreed between the Irish Republicans and the (Free State) 'Treatyites' in which it was agreed that the July 31st , 1922 elections would not be considered as deciding the issue of the Treaty but as creating a government to preserve peace .
It provided for a National Coalition Government : Sinn Fein was to put forward a panel of candidates - sixty-six nominated by the 'Treatyites' and fifty-eight by the Republicans . The new government would consist of four Republicans , five pro-Treaty members , a President - to be elected by the Dail (presumably pro-Treaty) - and the Minister of Defence , to be elected by the Army - and therefore most likely to be a Republican , given the (Republican) Army's opposition to the Treaty .
Contrary to the agreements of the pact the new Free State Constitution appeared in the newspapers the following day - this had the obvious and intended consequence of confusing the election results . The Treaty party proclaimed the return of 94 Coalition candidates as an endorsement of the Treaty while the Republican side obviously contested this . The Constitution for the Free State was in fact the British government's interpretation of the Treaty - a diluted 'Home Rule'-type of arrangement and a basis upon which Republicans obviously could not co-operate .
The disaster of becoming involved in the election for the Second Dail had tied the parliamentarian 'republicans' to a semantical debate about the integrity and status of a " Third Dail " which had , in fact , been diluted to a Constituent Assembly , tied to implementing British policy and supplied with British legislation and British guns for that purpose .......
(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 .
When the John O' Grady kidnap trial opened , the decision by the accused to plead guilty was greeted with surprise ; however , given the weight of evidence against them , this was inevitable .
Tony McNeill and Gerry Wright had made statements in custody , admitting involvement . There were dozens of fingerprints of the kidnap gang in Carnlough Road and at the site of the container at Midleton . At Carnlough Road the gang got bored and Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal took photographs of each other armed with shotguns - they had'nt even bothered to wear balaclavas .
Dessie O' Hare was unrepentant ; McNeill , Hogan and Toal were acting under military orders , he told the court . Gerry Wright had been duped into helping them initially by the promise to shoot the man responsible for killing his brother and , later , by threats .......
(MORE LATER).
(Thank you for the kind comments , Cathal - glad we could help ! Sharon.)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
In 1976 , Westminster introduced a new three-pronged strategy into its illegal occupation of the North-East of Ireland - Criminalisation , Ulsterisation and Normalisation . The latter was the pretence that the contradiction between the demands of the Civil Rights Movement and the intransigent bigotry of the loyalists had been resolved .
In order to make the North appear to be more like a Western-type 'liberal democracy' , the other two strategies were needed . Because having 25,000 British soldiers in Ireland made the situation look more like war than 'peace-keeping' , the British Government set up the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) who would replace some of the British soldiers . The fact that the UDR was composed of some of the most bigoted , anti-Catholic individuals in the Six Counties did not appear to cause any great concern at Westminster .
The fact that they are 'security' personnel enables members of the UDR to take advantage of surveillance to gain the necessary knowledge to carry out sectarian assassinations eg in 1983 an IRSP member was shot dead returning from the dole office on the first day that he had attended at a new time . In this case , and many others , there was inside information . At present , 10 UDR members are awaiting trial for murders of Catholics , some of which were initially claimed by the 'Protestant Action Force' . In addition to setting up the UDR , Westminster made provision for the numbers of RUC (the 'policeforce') to be increased .
The British policy of 'Normalisation' also impacted on the political prisoners .......
(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 .
Sinn Fein split over the December 1921 Treaty of Surrender and , by a majority of seven , Dail Eireann recommended the people of Ireland to surrender the Republic proclaimed in 1916 , ratified by democratic sanction in 1918 and defended since its proclamation by immeasurable effort and sacrifice . Sixty-four TD's voted for acceptance of the Treaty and fifty-seven voted against .
A proper analysis of why this happened - or the bloodshed which followed - is outside the scope of this article , dealing as we do here merely with Republican involvement in the electoral process . While every effort has been made to do this against the outline of the social and political conditions which prevailed (and of the forces at play within both British and nationalist camps) to get a detailed view of this , or any other , period , readers are advised to read any of the many informative studies available .
For our purposes it is sufficient to state that the 'Treatyites' formed a provisional government and prepared to implement the Treaty while the Republicans prepared to defend the Republic ; on March 8th , 1922 , the British Government passed the 'Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill' which , among other things , stipulated that an election should be held before July 31st , 1922 , to elect a provisional parliament which would be ratified and given 'powers' , under a Free State Constitution , by another British Act which was to be passed no later than December 6th , 1922 .
A pact was agreed between the Republicans and the 'Treatyites' in which it was agreed that the July 31st election would not be considered as deciding the issue of the Treaty , but as ' creating a 'government' to preserve peace' .......
(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 new Garda Commissioner , Eamon Doherty , called a secret meeting of all Chief Superintendents at Templemore in Tipperary to discuss what had gone wrong during the kidnap ; 'The Irish Times' newspaper the following day had a detailed report on the 'secret' meeting . The State Minister for Justice had also called for a report from the gardai to establish what had gone wrong , while the opposition parties in Leinster House had called for an independent inquiry .
But the meeting held at Templemore was not concerned with 'probing' - the mood was self-congratulatory ! The Chief Superintendents from Dun Laoghaire , Midleton and Tipperary addressed the meeting , with key sections of their speeches being devoted to rebutting criticism made by the media . However , it was conceded during the Templemore meeting that the need to refer all information to Dublin resulted in the investigation being slowed up . The outcome of the meeting was the setting up of a team of inquiry , led by three Assistant Commissioners known as the 'Three Wise Men' . The Report was ready within weeks ; it 'passed the buck' upwards .
The faults during the kidnap , it concluded , were due to the outdated structures the gardai were operating . The responsibility for this lay with the State Department of Justice - however , the Minister in charge of that Department was unimpressed with the report and was particularly annoyed about the fact that the report had not examined specific 'bungles' during the investigation .
When the trial opened on April 13th the decision by the accused to plead guilty was greeted with surprise ; but it was inevitable that they should , given the weight of evidence against them .......
(MORE LATER).
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
In 1976 , Westminster introduced a new three-pronged strategy into its illegal occupation of the North-East of Ireland - Criminalisation , Ulsterisation and Normalisation . The latter was the pretence that the contradiction between the demands of the Civil Rights Movement and the intransigent bigotry of the loyalists had been resolved .
In order to make the North appear to be more like a Western-type 'liberal democracy' , the other two strategies were needed . Because having 25,000 British soldiers in Ireland made the situation look more like war than 'peace-keeping' , the British Government set up the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) who would replace some of the British soldiers . The fact that the UDR was composed of some of the most bigoted , anti-Catholic individuals in the Six Counties did not appear to cause any great concern at Westminster .
The fact that they are 'security' personnel enables members of the UDR to take advantage of surveillance to gain the necessary knowledge to carry out sectarian assassinations eg in 1983 an IRSP member was shot dead returning from the dole office on the first day that he had attended at a new time . In this case , and many others , there was inside information . At present , 10 UDR members are awaiting trial for murders of Catholics , some of which were initially claimed by the 'Protestant Action Force' . In addition to setting up the UDR , Westminster made provision for the numbers of RUC (the 'policeforce') to be increased .
The British policy of 'Normalisation' also impacted on the political prisoners .......
(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 .
Sinn Fein split over the December 1921 Treaty of Surrender and , by a majority of seven , Dail Eireann recommended the people of Ireland to surrender the Republic proclaimed in 1916 , ratified by democratic sanction in 1918 and defended since its proclamation by immeasurable effort and sacrifice . Sixty-four TD's voted for acceptance of the Treaty and fifty-seven voted against .
A proper analysis of why this happened - or the bloodshed which followed - is outside the scope of this article , dealing as we do here merely with Republican involvement in the electoral process . While every effort has been made to do this against the outline of the social and political conditions which prevailed (and of the forces at play within both British and nationalist camps) to get a detailed view of this , or any other , period , readers are advised to read any of the many informative studies available .
For our purposes it is sufficient to state that the 'Treatyites' formed a provisional government and prepared to implement the Treaty while the Republicans prepared to defend the Republic ; on March 8th , 1922 , the British Government passed the 'Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill' which , among other things , stipulated that an election should be held before July 31st , 1922 , to elect a provisional parliament which would be ratified and given 'powers' , under a Free State Constitution , by another British Act which was to be passed no later than December 6th , 1922 .
A pact was agreed between the Republicans and the 'Treatyites' in which it was agreed that the July 31st election would not be considered as deciding the issue of the Treaty , but as ' creating a 'government' to preserve peace' .......
(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 new Garda Commissioner , Eamon Doherty , called a secret meeting of all Chief Superintendents at Templemore in Tipperary to discuss what had gone wrong during the kidnap ; 'The Irish Times' newspaper the following day had a detailed report on the 'secret' meeting . The State Minister for Justice had also called for a report from the gardai to establish what had gone wrong , while the opposition parties in Leinster House had called for an independent inquiry .
But the meeting held at Templemore was not concerned with 'probing' - the mood was self-congratulatory ! The Chief Superintendents from Dun Laoghaire , Midleton and Tipperary addressed the meeting , with key sections of their speeches being devoted to rebutting criticism made by the media . However , it was conceded during the Templemore meeting that the need to refer all information to Dublin resulted in the investigation being slowed up . The outcome of the meeting was the setting up of a team of inquiry , led by three Assistant Commissioners known as the 'Three Wise Men' . The Report was ready within weeks ; it 'passed the buck' upwards .
The faults during the kidnap , it concluded , were due to the outdated structures the gardai were operating . The responsibility for this lay with the State Department of Justice - however , the Minister in charge of that Department was unimpressed with the report and was particularly annoyed about the fact that the report had not examined specific 'bungles' during the investigation .
When the trial opened on April 13th the decision by the accused to plead guilty was greeted with surprise ; but it was inevitable that they should , given the weight of evidence against them .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, November 07, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
There were over 1,600 political prisoners in the jails in the North of Ireland and this fact was becoming a severe embarrassment to the British government ; attempts were underway to abolish Special Category Status .
While the men set fire to parts of Long Kesh prison , the women in Armagh Jail held a successful blockade of prison officers until Merlyn Rees , the then British 'Secretary of State for Northern Ireland' , gave an assurance that political status would not be tampered with ; that 'assurance' was to prove meaningless and , with the removal of Special Category Status , the (British) Labour Government began the process of 'criminalisation' in 1976 .
All prisoners convicted of 'offences' committed after March 1 , 1976 , were denied political status and classified as 'criminals' ! The Prisoners were now expected to do prison work ; in Long Kesh , 'criminalisation' also meant that male prisoners had to wear prison uniform . In September 1976 , Kieran Nugent refused to wear prison uniform and began the 'Blanket Protest' . The women in Armagh refused to do prison work . The protesting prisoners in Armagh and Long Kesh had begun a struggle for the recognition of their political status which was to end in the deaths of the hunger strikers five years later (ie 1981) .
The British policy of 'criminalisation' was part of a new three-pronged strategy ; the other two aspects were 'Ulsterisation' and 'Normalisation' .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The British 'Better Government of Ireland Bill' came nominally into force on May 3rd , 1921 ; on May 19th , the first Catholic Viceroy of Ireland , 'Lord' Fitzalan , came into office ; he issued a proclamation summoning the 'parliament of Northern Ireland' and the 'parliament of Southern Ireland' to meet in June 1921 . Elections were to take place in the twenty-six counties on May 19th , 1921 and in the six counties on May 24th . The House of Commons of 'Northern Ireland' was to have fifty two members , while that of 'Southern Ireland' was to have one hundred and twenty eight members . The six counties were to be entitled to sent thirteen M.P.'s to Westminster , and the twenty-six counties were to send thirty-three .
While Sinn Fein rejected the 'Better Government of Ireland Act' it fought the elections on the premise that they were to take place as demonstrations of the peoples will (as decreed by the Dail) and were to be regarded as elections for the Second Dail . Elections for the Senate were not to be recognised as the constitution's proposal for these bodies by the British were regarded as undemocratic , a certain number of Senators being nominated by the British Government . The representatives of all Ireland as elected would constitute the Dail and would be permitted to take their seats on subscribing to the Republican oath .
That Sinn Fein contested this essentially partition election was undoubtedly making partition a reality but contest it they did , with 124 Sinn Fein representatives being returned without opposition in any constituency in the twenty-six counties : in the six counties , the Unionists [led by Craig] won forty out of fifty-two seats .
Tyrone and Fermanagh returned nationalist and republican majorities , while Down and Armagh elected republican MP's ; the Unionists formed , as expected , the six county 'government' which was boycotted by the 'Irish Nationalist Party' and Sinn Fein . Stormont was opened by the British 'Monarch' , George V , on June 22nd 1921 . Partition was now a reality and the Truce negotiations which were to follow between the Republican leadership and the British Government merely formalised this arrangement .......
(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 BMW came to a halt after it crashed ; the gunfight had left Martin Bryan dead . Inspector Moriarty and Detective Sergeant O' Rourke approached the car - " O' Hare ! Put both your hands on the steering wheel where I can see them ! " , shouted Moriarty . O' Hare's left hand came slowly onto the wheel . Moriarty shouted again to him to put the other hand up . " I can't ," O' Hare replied , " It's busted. " Detective Sergeant P.J. O' Rourke had sneaked around to the back of the car , and now emerged at the driver's window ; he put his Smith and Wesson revolver into Dessie O' Hare's neck . It was over .
Dessie O' Hare was given a glass of water ; he was muttering - " Fading ...fading ...fading fast .. " It was when he was being transferred to the ambulance he uttered the immortal and infamous line : " Easy , easy . You're hurting me .. " On the journey O' Hare held Inspector Moriarty's hand and complained of pain . At St Luke's Hospital his blood-spattered clothes were cut off with scissors and he was taken to surgery . A wallet had fallen out of his pocket when he was being moved into the ambulance ; the contents included a photograph of John O' Grady , taken immediately after he had severed his fingers , and a list of safe houses , vehicles and people . Later that night O' Hare was transferred to St Vincent's Hospital where he was put on a respirator .
28. THE AFTERMATH .
The gardai were jubilant : all the principals involved in the kidnap were now in custody . Dessie O' Hare was discharged from St Vincent's Hospital on January 8 , 1988 ; before being brought to the Special Criminal Court he was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to the Bridewell Garda Station for questioning . He refused to answer any questions ; the only member of the garda force he acknowledged was Inspector Moriarty who had arrested him in Urlingford and travelled in the ambulance with him after the shoot-out . When Moriarty introduced himself O' Hare smiled and nodded his head from side to side before shaking Moriarty's hand . Then , for no apparent reason , O' Hare stood up , shook his fist in the air and began to shudder . He then sat down and started smiling again .
During his period in the Bridewell , O' Hare objected to going on an identity parade : when the volunteers for the parade were brought in , O' Hare removed his shirt and trousers , exposing dressings covering his wounds . He was worried , it appears , that the parade was likely to admit evidence that might prejudice a fair trial.......
(MORE LATER).
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
There were over 1,600 political prisoners in the jails in the North of Ireland and this fact was becoming a severe embarrassment to the British government ; attempts were underway to abolish Special Category Status .
While the men set fire to parts of Long Kesh prison , the women in Armagh Jail held a successful blockade of prison officers until Merlyn Rees , the then British 'Secretary of State for Northern Ireland' , gave an assurance that political status would not be tampered with ; that 'assurance' was to prove meaningless and , with the removal of Special Category Status , the (British) Labour Government began the process of 'criminalisation' in 1976 .
All prisoners convicted of 'offences' committed after March 1 , 1976 , were denied political status and classified as 'criminals' ! The Prisoners were now expected to do prison work ; in Long Kesh , 'criminalisation' also meant that male prisoners had to wear prison uniform . In September 1976 , Kieran Nugent refused to wear prison uniform and began the 'Blanket Protest' . The women in Armagh refused to do prison work . The protesting prisoners in Armagh and Long Kesh had begun a struggle for the recognition of their political status which was to end in the deaths of the hunger strikers five years later (ie 1981) .
The British policy of 'criminalisation' was part of a new three-pronged strategy ; the other two aspects were 'Ulsterisation' and 'Normalisation' .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The British 'Better Government of Ireland Bill' came nominally into force on May 3rd , 1921 ; on May 19th , the first Catholic Viceroy of Ireland , 'Lord' Fitzalan , came into office ; he issued a proclamation summoning the 'parliament of Northern Ireland' and the 'parliament of Southern Ireland' to meet in June 1921 . Elections were to take place in the twenty-six counties on May 19th , 1921 and in the six counties on May 24th . The House of Commons of 'Northern Ireland' was to have fifty two members , while that of 'Southern Ireland' was to have one hundred and twenty eight members . The six counties were to be entitled to sent thirteen M.P.'s to Westminster , and the twenty-six counties were to send thirty-three .
While Sinn Fein rejected the 'Better Government of Ireland Act' it fought the elections on the premise that they were to take place as demonstrations of the peoples will (as decreed by the Dail) and were to be regarded as elections for the Second Dail . Elections for the Senate were not to be recognised as the constitution's proposal for these bodies by the British were regarded as undemocratic , a certain number of Senators being nominated by the British Government . The representatives of all Ireland as elected would constitute the Dail and would be permitted to take their seats on subscribing to the Republican oath .
That Sinn Fein contested this essentially partition election was undoubtedly making partition a reality but contest it they did , with 124 Sinn Fein representatives being returned without opposition in any constituency in the twenty-six counties : in the six counties , the Unionists [led by Craig] won forty out of fifty-two seats .
Tyrone and Fermanagh returned nationalist and republican majorities , while Down and Armagh elected republican MP's ; the Unionists formed , as expected , the six county 'government' which was boycotted by the 'Irish Nationalist Party' and Sinn Fein . Stormont was opened by the British 'Monarch' , George V , on June 22nd 1921 . Partition was now a reality and the Truce negotiations which were to follow between the Republican leadership and the British Government merely formalised this arrangement .......
(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 BMW came to a halt after it crashed ; the gunfight had left Martin Bryan dead . Inspector Moriarty and Detective Sergeant O' Rourke approached the car - " O' Hare ! Put both your hands on the steering wheel where I can see them ! " , shouted Moriarty . O' Hare's left hand came slowly onto the wheel . Moriarty shouted again to him to put the other hand up . " I can't ," O' Hare replied , " It's busted. " Detective Sergeant P.J. O' Rourke had sneaked around to the back of the car , and now emerged at the driver's window ; he put his Smith and Wesson revolver into Dessie O' Hare's neck . It was over .
Dessie O' Hare was given a glass of water ; he was muttering - " Fading ...fading ...fading fast .. " It was when he was being transferred to the ambulance he uttered the immortal and infamous line : " Easy , easy . You're hurting me .. " On the journey O' Hare held Inspector Moriarty's hand and complained of pain . At St Luke's Hospital his blood-spattered clothes were cut off with scissors and he was taken to surgery . A wallet had fallen out of his pocket when he was being moved into the ambulance ; the contents included a photograph of John O' Grady , taken immediately after he had severed his fingers , and a list of safe houses , vehicles and people . Later that night O' Hare was transferred to St Vincent's Hospital where he was put on a respirator .
28. THE AFTERMATH .
The gardai were jubilant : all the principals involved in the kidnap were now in custody . Dessie O' Hare was discharged from St Vincent's Hospital on January 8 , 1988 ; before being brought to the Special Criminal Court he was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to the Bridewell Garda Station for questioning . He refused to answer any questions ; the only member of the garda force he acknowledged was Inspector Moriarty who had arrested him in Urlingford and travelled in the ambulance with him after the shoot-out . When Moriarty introduced himself O' Hare smiled and nodded his head from side to side before shaking Moriarty's hand . Then , for no apparent reason , O' Hare stood up , shook his fist in the air and began to shudder . He then sat down and started smiling again .
During his period in the Bridewell , O' Hare objected to going on an identity parade : when the volunteers for the parade were brought in , O' Hare removed his shirt and trousers , exposing dressings covering his wounds . He was worried , it appears , that the parade was likely to admit evidence that might prejudice a fair trial.......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, November 04, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
In Ireland and in Britain , tens of thousands of people marched in opposition to the British Government's policy of internment : but the shooting dead of 14 unarmed people without any provocation on Bloody Sunday (January 30 , 1972) spelt out clearly that in the North of Ireland mass political peaceful and even pacifist protest by those supporting nothing more than equal civil rights for Catholics would not be tolerated by the British government .
Internment and particularly Bloody Sunday convinced many young people that the British government had no intention of listening to anyone who could not force them to listen . Armed raids on the Catholic ghettoes continued and , as one woman described it , "...anyone who could walk on two legs was making petrol bombs .. " . Not surprisingly , women began to be sentenced to long terms of imprisonment .
Special Category Status was won in 1973 due to hunger strikes by two male political prisoners in Crumlin Road Jail - this meant that all political prisoners could now wear their own clothing , associate freely , receive food parcels and visits every week , organise their own recreation and education and obtain 50 per cent remission of sentence . In Armagh , Special Category Status allowed women the chance to take education and examinations . CSE and RSA exams were sat and classes in Irish , maths , geography , dressmaking , art , music , physical education and handicrafts were held . The prisoners could walk freely from one side of the prison to the other .
There was a kitchen on the wing , and with twice-weekly food parcels (if relatives could afford them) the demoralising prison food was supplemented . As one political prisoner was later to say - " It was'nt a holiday camp but at least you did'nt feel like you were dying from the neck up ....... "
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The First Dail was making its presence felt , against the background of an increasingly escalating IRA campaign , to the point where even British political commentators were beginning to refer to the Dail and Sinn Fein as the "...de facto government in three-quarters of Ireland .. " . In the local government elections of 1920 Sinn Fein won an overwhelming endorsement of their position : in Ulster , both Tyrone and Fermanagh County Councils , with twenty three town councils , were out of Unionist control ; the Unionists had a majority in only twenty two councils .
In the meantime the British government had passed their 'Better Government of Ireland Bill' - a throw back to the 'Home Rule' days with the added mixture of two domestic bicameral parliaments in Ireland - one for the six north easterly counties and the other for the remaining twenty-six counties . An all-Ireland council with equal representation for the 'two parts' of Ireland was to provide a forum for six and twenty-six county interests and there were to be provisions whereby various functions of both 'parliaments' could be transferred to the all-Ireland Council .
The Westminster Parliament was to retain control of all 'imperial concerns' including trade , customs and excise , defence and foreign affairs . As can be seen , the 'powers' devolved to the two partitionist parliaments were very limited . Finally , the 'Act' declared that if the majority of members of either 'parliament' had not taken their oath of allegiance to the British Crown within fourteen days of the date fixed for the opening of the 'parliaments' , then the assembly in question would be dissolved and that 'part' of Ireland would be administered as a British Crown colony.......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The gardai knew that Dessie O' Hare would be travelling in a green BMW car ; they knew its registration number , and the road it would be on at lunchtime on Friday November 27 (1987) . An armed checkpoint was set up . The BMW was now driving towards that checkpoint . Word spread quickly down the garda line to be ready - members of the State Army were there as back-up .
As the car came nearer it swerved , as if the driver had braked suddenly . Dessie O' Hare was driving , Martin Bryan was in the passenger seat . O' Hare rolled down the window - " How's it going? " Inspector Moriarty asked O' Hare , who nodded in reply . Moriarty asked him where they were coming from . O' Hare muttered "Kilkenny." At this stage Moriarty did not recognise the driver as O' Hare , who was dressed in a grey suit and collar and tie - he looked more like a solicitor than the 'Border Fox' . He had blonde highlights in his hair as well .
Moriarty's hesitation may also have been grounded in the fact that the gardai had been told to expect O' Hare to be in the passenger seat . Moriarty turned his attention to the passenger , Martin Bryan , asking him a couple of questions to which Bryan made no reply . He was then ordered out of the car . Bryan moved as if to open the seat belt but produced a gun : at that very moment Sergeant Joseph D'Arcy , who was behind a wall covering Inspector Moriarty , recognised O' Hare and shouted - " That's him . Get him out of the car ." Moriarty jumped back when Bryan produced the gun ; Detective Sergeant O' Rourke already had his hand on his revolver - the BMW rushed forward in a wheel-spin .
From their concealed positions the State Army and the gardai opened fire ; the BMW came to a halt when it crashed into the garda car and a State Army landrover , which had been spread across the road . There was a pause . Dessie O' Hare pointed a gun out the window and started firing at the State soldiers and the gardai to his right . One of the two shots he managed to fire grazed a Lieutenant's leg : the firing started again . The BMW was hit thirty-six times in all . Dessie O' Hare was slumped over towards Martin Bryan , who was already dead . Inspector Moriarty ordered his men to stay in position , as he and Detective Sergeant O' Rourke approached the car.......
(MORE LATER).
( To the person seeking more information on Tom D : I can only suggest you enter his full name in our 'Searchbox' ...and hope for the best ! Thank you for the visit . Sharon )
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
In Ireland and in Britain , tens of thousands of people marched in opposition to the British Government's policy of internment : but the shooting dead of 14 unarmed people without any provocation on Bloody Sunday (January 30 , 1972) spelt out clearly that in the North of Ireland mass political peaceful and even pacifist protest by those supporting nothing more than equal civil rights for Catholics would not be tolerated by the British government .
Internment and particularly Bloody Sunday convinced many young people that the British government had no intention of listening to anyone who could not force them to listen . Armed raids on the Catholic ghettoes continued and , as one woman described it , "...anyone who could walk on two legs was making petrol bombs .. " . Not surprisingly , women began to be sentenced to long terms of imprisonment .
Special Category Status was won in 1973 due to hunger strikes by two male political prisoners in Crumlin Road Jail - this meant that all political prisoners could now wear their own clothing , associate freely , receive food parcels and visits every week , organise their own recreation and education and obtain 50 per cent remission of sentence . In Armagh , Special Category Status allowed women the chance to take education and examinations . CSE and RSA exams were sat and classes in Irish , maths , geography , dressmaking , art , music , physical education and handicrafts were held . The prisoners could walk freely from one side of the prison to the other .
There was a kitchen on the wing , and with twice-weekly food parcels (if relatives could afford them) the demoralising prison food was supplemented . As one political prisoner was later to say - " It was'nt a holiday camp but at least you did'nt feel like you were dying from the neck up ....... "
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The First Dail was making its presence felt , against the background of an increasingly escalating IRA campaign , to the point where even British political commentators were beginning to refer to the Dail and Sinn Fein as the "...de facto government in three-quarters of Ireland .. " . In the local government elections of 1920 Sinn Fein won an overwhelming endorsement of their position : in Ulster , both Tyrone and Fermanagh County Councils , with twenty three town councils , were out of Unionist control ; the Unionists had a majority in only twenty two councils .
In the meantime the British government had passed their 'Better Government of Ireland Bill' - a throw back to the 'Home Rule' days with the added mixture of two domestic bicameral parliaments in Ireland - one for the six north easterly counties and the other for the remaining twenty-six counties . An all-Ireland council with equal representation for the 'two parts' of Ireland was to provide a forum for six and twenty-six county interests and there were to be provisions whereby various functions of both 'parliaments' could be transferred to the all-Ireland Council .
The Westminster Parliament was to retain control of all 'imperial concerns' including trade , customs and excise , defence and foreign affairs . As can be seen , the 'powers' devolved to the two partitionist parliaments were very limited . Finally , the 'Act' declared that if the majority of members of either 'parliament' had not taken their oath of allegiance to the British Crown within fourteen days of the date fixed for the opening of the 'parliaments' , then the assembly in question would be dissolved and that 'part' of Ireland would be administered as a British Crown colony.......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The gardai knew that Dessie O' Hare would be travelling in a green BMW car ; they knew its registration number , and the road it would be on at lunchtime on Friday November 27 (1987) . An armed checkpoint was set up . The BMW was now driving towards that checkpoint . Word spread quickly down the garda line to be ready - members of the State Army were there as back-up .
As the car came nearer it swerved , as if the driver had braked suddenly . Dessie O' Hare was driving , Martin Bryan was in the passenger seat . O' Hare rolled down the window - " How's it going? " Inspector Moriarty asked O' Hare , who nodded in reply . Moriarty asked him where they were coming from . O' Hare muttered "Kilkenny." At this stage Moriarty did not recognise the driver as O' Hare , who was dressed in a grey suit and collar and tie - he looked more like a solicitor than the 'Border Fox' . He had blonde highlights in his hair as well .
Moriarty's hesitation may also have been grounded in the fact that the gardai had been told to expect O' Hare to be in the passenger seat . Moriarty turned his attention to the passenger , Martin Bryan , asking him a couple of questions to which Bryan made no reply . He was then ordered out of the car . Bryan moved as if to open the seat belt but produced a gun : at that very moment Sergeant Joseph D'Arcy , who was behind a wall covering Inspector Moriarty , recognised O' Hare and shouted - " That's him . Get him out of the car ." Moriarty jumped back when Bryan produced the gun ; Detective Sergeant O' Rourke already had his hand on his revolver - the BMW rushed forward in a wheel-spin .
From their concealed positions the State Army and the gardai opened fire ; the BMW came to a halt when it crashed into the garda car and a State Army landrover , which had been spread across the road . There was a pause . Dessie O' Hare pointed a gun out the window and started firing at the State soldiers and the gardai to his right . One of the two shots he managed to fire grazed a Lieutenant's leg : the firing started again . The BMW was hit thirty-six times in all . Dessie O' Hare was slumped over towards Martin Bryan , who was already dead . Inspector Moriarty ordered his men to stay in position , as he and Detective Sergeant O' Rourke approached the car.......
(MORE LATER).
( To the person seeking more information on Tom D : I can only suggest you enter his full name in our 'Searchbox' ...and hope for the best ! Thank you for the visit . Sharon )
Thursday, November 03, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
Before the 1970's , Armagh Jail was hardly heard of ; it served as hostel/prison/'drying-out' institution for women criminalised for the usual survival 'crimes' such as theft , alcoholism and prostitution . Few prisoners were in the jail : in fact , in 1969 , the total was 8 !
Armagh Jail hit the headlines in 1970 when Bernadette Devlin MP was sentenced to six months for leading the people of the Bogside in Derry against the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) . She was no criminal , nor was she termed one . She carried out her constituency work from her 11 ft by 8ft cell .
A mandatory sentence of six months in jail for anyone whom an RUC member said had been rioting brought a handful of political prisoners to Armagh ; they were allowed two letters per month , one visit per week and no touching of visitors was permitted . Although the Civil Rights Movement had been widely supported internationally and propaganda proclaimed that the British Army was in the North of Ireland to protect Catholics from a bigoted anti-Catholic 'police force' , Catholics - who were perceived as potential Irish nationalists by the Unionists - were gradually being transformed by the propaganda machine into 'the baddies' .
When internment was introduced by them on August 9 , 1971 , the British government locked up hundreds of actual and potential political opponents without any 'crimes' having been proven or even claimed to have been committed .......
(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 .
Early in January 1919 , Sinn Fein representatives convened the constituent assembly promised in their election manifesto ; the successful candidates in all Irish constituencies , of whatever political complexion , were invited to take their seats in Dail Eireann at its opening session on 21st January 1919 ; as expected , only the members of parliament elected as Sinn Fein candidates attended .
They approved a provisional constitution , endorsed a declaration of independence , appointed delegates to the Peace Conference in Versailles , sanctioned a message to the free nations of the world and adopted a democratic programme of social and economic reform .
While , initially , merely a de jure government , the 1st Dail were quickly successful in establishing some really workable ministries . In particular , the Ministry of Finance , which raised £358,000 in a ' Dail Eireann National Loan' . By 1920 virtually all local bodies switched their allegiance from the (British) 'Local Government Board' to the Dail Local Government Ministry , and in agriculture , where a Land Bank , which advanced small loans for land purchase , flourished .
The most successful aspect of the 1st Dail machinery was in the system of 'Dail Courts' or 'Sinn Fein Courts' , which made decisions in various spheres from land to criminal activity and which managed to supplant to a very large degree the British judicial system .......
(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 .
After being interviewed by Free State Detectives , Tony McNeill was handed notes made out by them and 'invited' to sign them - he declined , and asked that a reference to him 'going down for 25 years' be changed to read 'a long time' . McNeill did'nt want to give the trial judges any ideas .
Gerry Wright was a broken man ; he was arrested immediately after the shoot out at Carnlough Road under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act and taken to the Bridewell Station for questioning , where he made statements admitting providing food and shelter for the kidnappers . In the beginning he had become involved because O' Hare and his gang had promised to 'take care' of the man who had shot his brother . As the kidnap progressed the gang had coerced and threatened him , and he was afraid and could see no way out .
27. " Fading , fading , fading fast .. "
It was hard information and very specific - Dessie O' Hare was expected to travel in a green BMW car , registration number 220 EID , on the main Kilkenny to Urlingford road at lunchtime on Friday , November 27 , 1987 . The gardai seem to have got the information around eleven o'clock in the morning . Gardai were recalled from other operational duties and told to report to the Balief Cross , fifteen miles outside Kilkenny to set up a roadblock . The (FS) Army was contacted just after eleven o'clock and asked to provide a company platoon of thirty-two troops as back-up . The roadblock was in position by 12.30 pm .
Nearly an hour later the gardai received a message over the radio to expect the car in the next fifteen to twenty minutes ; there were two garda patrol cars and a (FS) Army landrover blocking the road . Armed gardai and soldiers were in position . Inspector Moriarty from the Tipperary Garda Division and Detective Sergeant P.J. O' Rourke set up a check-point about seventy yards in front of the roadblock . An unmarked patrol car was hidden up a lane further down the road . Once the BMW drove up to the checkpoint the hidden car would move out on the road cutting off its retreat .
They saw the BMW approaching in the distance . " Here we go . This is it , " O' Rourke said to his men .......
(MORE LATER).
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
Before the 1970's , Armagh Jail was hardly heard of ; it served as hostel/prison/'drying-out' institution for women criminalised for the usual survival 'crimes' such as theft , alcoholism and prostitution . Few prisoners were in the jail : in fact , in 1969 , the total was 8 !
Armagh Jail hit the headlines in 1970 when Bernadette Devlin MP was sentenced to six months for leading the people of the Bogside in Derry against the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) . She was no criminal , nor was she termed one . She carried out her constituency work from her 11 ft by 8ft cell .
A mandatory sentence of six months in jail for anyone whom an RUC member said had been rioting brought a handful of political prisoners to Armagh ; they were allowed two letters per month , one visit per week and no touching of visitors was permitted . Although the Civil Rights Movement had been widely supported internationally and propaganda proclaimed that the British Army was in the North of Ireland to protect Catholics from a bigoted anti-Catholic 'police force' , Catholics - who were perceived as potential Irish nationalists by the Unionists - were gradually being transformed by the propaganda machine into 'the baddies' .
When internment was introduced by them on August 9 , 1971 , the British government locked up hundreds of actual and potential political opponents without any 'crimes' having been proven or even claimed to have been committed .......
(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 .
Early in January 1919 , Sinn Fein representatives convened the constituent assembly promised in their election manifesto ; the successful candidates in all Irish constituencies , of whatever political complexion , were invited to take their seats in Dail Eireann at its opening session on 21st January 1919 ; as expected , only the members of parliament elected as Sinn Fein candidates attended .
They approved a provisional constitution , endorsed a declaration of independence , appointed delegates to the Peace Conference in Versailles , sanctioned a message to the free nations of the world and adopted a democratic programme of social and economic reform .
While , initially , merely a de jure government , the 1st Dail were quickly successful in establishing some really workable ministries . In particular , the Ministry of Finance , which raised £358,000 in a ' Dail Eireann National Loan' . By 1920 virtually all local bodies switched their allegiance from the (British) 'Local Government Board' to the Dail Local Government Ministry , and in agriculture , where a Land Bank , which advanced small loans for land purchase , flourished .
The most successful aspect of the 1st Dail machinery was in the system of 'Dail Courts' or 'Sinn Fein Courts' , which made decisions in various spheres from land to criminal activity and which managed to supplant to a very large degree the British judicial system .......
(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 .
After being interviewed by Free State Detectives , Tony McNeill was handed notes made out by them and 'invited' to sign them - he declined , and asked that a reference to him 'going down for 25 years' be changed to read 'a long time' . McNeill did'nt want to give the trial judges any ideas .
Gerry Wright was a broken man ; he was arrested immediately after the shoot out at Carnlough Road under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act and taken to the Bridewell Station for questioning , where he made statements admitting providing food and shelter for the kidnappers . In the beginning he had become involved because O' Hare and his gang had promised to 'take care' of the man who had shot his brother . As the kidnap progressed the gang had coerced and threatened him , and he was afraid and could see no way out .
27. " Fading , fading , fading fast .. "
It was hard information and very specific - Dessie O' Hare was expected to travel in a green BMW car , registration number 220 EID , on the main Kilkenny to Urlingford road at lunchtime on Friday , November 27 , 1987 . The gardai seem to have got the information around eleven o'clock in the morning . Gardai were recalled from other operational duties and told to report to the Balief Cross , fifteen miles outside Kilkenny to set up a roadblock . The (FS) Army was contacted just after eleven o'clock and asked to provide a company platoon of thirty-two troops as back-up . The roadblock was in position by 12.30 pm .
Nearly an hour later the gardai received a message over the radio to expect the car in the next fifteen to twenty minutes ; there were two garda patrol cars and a (FS) Army landrover blocking the road . Armed gardai and soldiers were in position . Inspector Moriarty from the Tipperary Garda Division and Detective Sergeant P.J. O' Rourke set up a check-point about seventy yards in front of the roadblock . An unmarked patrol car was hidden up a lane further down the road . Once the BMW drove up to the checkpoint the hidden car would move out on the road cutting off its retreat .
They saw the BMW approaching in the distance . " Here we go . This is it , " O' Rourke said to his men .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
JOHN THOMPSON , jailed for three years at Belfast Crown Court in May 1974 for manslaughter of Phillip Lowrey . The killing was described in court as "...an accident.. " .
GERALD TODD of Belfast , sentenced to one year (suspended) in January 1973 for the illegal possession of a sub-machine gun .
DENIS GEORGE WARTON of Loughgilly , County Armagh , jailed for six months in September 1977 for armed robbery .
PATRICIA SHIRLEY WHYTE , UDR 'Greenfinch' , of Limavady , charged in February 1984 for attempted murder of a local woman in the same month .
WILLIAM MICHAEL WORKMAN of Islandmagee , County Antrim , sentenced to five years in March 1977 for possession of a sub-machine gun and three other guns . Known to be the 'Training Officer' of the East Antrim UVF .
KENNETH YOUNG of Portadown , sentenced to five years in February 1978 for shooting up (Catholic) Obins Street area on July 12 , 1977 .
[END of ' UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'A History of Armagh Jail' : from 1984.)
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The poor people and the young people , always supportive of Irish Republicanism , were voting in greater numbers (in the December 1918 election) than before ; this , allied with the number of prominent nationalists of 'the old school' who came out publicly in support of Sinn Fein candidates and the failure of the 'Nationalist Party' to muster an election machine , in no less than 26 constituencies , meant that these constituencies , representing nearly a quarter of the total Irish electorate , went to Sinn Fein even before polling day .
The Sinn Fein election manifesto made it clear that Sinn Fein stood for an Irish Republic and that its elected candidates , refusing to attend at Westminster , would form a National Assemby in Dublin . The results of the election were Sinn Fein 73 seats , Unionists 26 . The Nationalist Home Rule Party retained only six seats , four of which it held thanks to an electoral pact with Sinn Fein . Of the Unionist vote there was a Unionist majority in only four of the nine Ulster counties and in only one of these , County Antrim , was it as high as two to one .
Equally interesting was that although Sinn Fein with a vote of 485,105 had won nearly all the nationalist seats, 237,293 nationalists voted for the 'Nationalist Party' and , presumably , against Sinn Fein . Despite this , however , for the first time in Irish history a party demanding total sovereign independence for Ireland had received a massive national mandate from the Irish people and the Republic , proclaimed in arms in 1916 , was ratified by popular vote . The old 'Nationalist Party' , which had dominated Irish (constitutional) politics for over thirty-five years and held sixty-eight seats in the British House of Commons had been virtually obliterated , at least in terms of seats .
Sinn Fein won 47 per cent of all votes cast and almost 65 per cent of the votes cast in what afterwards was to become known as ' the 26 counties ' .......
(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 .
A £100,000 reward for the capture of Dessie O' Hare had been offered by the Free State Cabinet ; the gardai , meanwhile , were raiding houses of known INLA sympathisers ; on the morning of November 11 , 1987 , eleven armed Detectives with uniformed back-up support called to a house in Le Fanu Drive in Ballyfermot , Dublin - they knocked on the door but got no reply . Detective Sergeant Michael Carolan kicked the door down . Tony McNeill was asleep in the living room on a couch . He gave the Detectives a false name , but was recognised by some of the raiding party who put it to him that he was 'Anthony McNeill' ; he made no reply . There was a gun in his jacket , and a letter addressed to " ...those I love , especially my mother .. " .
In that letter was a poem dedicated to his three-year-old-son , entitled - ' A Bright Star' . McNeill was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to Ballyfermot Garda Station : once there , he made a half-hearted bid to escape - he was said to be consumed with remorse . " I wish I was dead, " he told Detectives , who claimed that he broke down in tears while in custody and pleaded with them to contact his family to re-assure them that he had played no part in the severing of John O' Grady's fingers and that he had argued against cutting off the fingers and , when it happened , had prayed for John O' Grady .
He was asked if he had tried to prevent the other gang members cutting off John O' Grady's fingers - " No ," he replied , " but when he (Dessie O' Hare) gets wired up nobody could stop him . He acts like he is in Vietnam . " Tony McNeill was said to be co-operative in garda custody , freely admitting his involvement in the kidnap . He refused , however , to discuss specific incidents . " I will have to live with these fellows in Portlaoise, " he told them . One of the detectives asked him " How in the name of Christ did you get involved with O' Hare ? " " I used to think he was a socialist , but I know now he is one dastardly bastard , " he responded .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
JOHN THOMPSON , jailed for three years at Belfast Crown Court in May 1974 for manslaughter of Phillip Lowrey . The killing was described in court as "...an accident.. " .
GERALD TODD of Belfast , sentenced to one year (suspended) in January 1973 for the illegal possession of a sub-machine gun .
DENIS GEORGE WARTON of Loughgilly , County Armagh , jailed for six months in September 1977 for armed robbery .
PATRICIA SHIRLEY WHYTE , UDR 'Greenfinch' , of Limavady , charged in February 1984 for attempted murder of a local woman in the same month .
WILLIAM MICHAEL WORKMAN of Islandmagee , County Antrim , sentenced to five years in March 1977 for possession of a sub-machine gun and three other guns . Known to be the 'Training Officer' of the East Antrim UVF .
KENNETH YOUNG of Portadown , sentenced to five years in February 1978 for shooting up (Catholic) Obins Street area on July 12 , 1977 .
[END of ' UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'A History of Armagh Jail' : from 1984.)
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The poor people and the young people , always supportive of Irish Republicanism , were voting in greater numbers (in the December 1918 election) than before ; this , allied with the number of prominent nationalists of 'the old school' who came out publicly in support of Sinn Fein candidates and the failure of the 'Nationalist Party' to muster an election machine , in no less than 26 constituencies , meant that these constituencies , representing nearly a quarter of the total Irish electorate , went to Sinn Fein even before polling day .
The Sinn Fein election manifesto made it clear that Sinn Fein stood for an Irish Republic and that its elected candidates , refusing to attend at Westminster , would form a National Assemby in Dublin . The results of the election were Sinn Fein 73 seats , Unionists 26 . The Nationalist Home Rule Party retained only six seats , four of which it held thanks to an electoral pact with Sinn Fein . Of the Unionist vote there was a Unionist majority in only four of the nine Ulster counties and in only one of these , County Antrim , was it as high as two to one .
Equally interesting was that although Sinn Fein with a vote of 485,105 had won nearly all the nationalist seats, 237,293 nationalists voted for the 'Nationalist Party' and , presumably , against Sinn Fein . Despite this , however , for the first time in Irish history a party demanding total sovereign independence for Ireland had received a massive national mandate from the Irish people and the Republic , proclaimed in arms in 1916 , was ratified by popular vote . The old 'Nationalist Party' , which had dominated Irish (constitutional) politics for over thirty-five years and held sixty-eight seats in the British House of Commons had been virtually obliterated , at least in terms of seats .
Sinn Fein won 47 per cent of all votes cast and almost 65 per cent of the votes cast in what afterwards was to become known as ' the 26 counties ' .......
(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 .
A £100,000 reward for the capture of Dessie O' Hare had been offered by the Free State Cabinet ; the gardai , meanwhile , were raiding houses of known INLA sympathisers ; on the morning of November 11 , 1987 , eleven armed Detectives with uniformed back-up support called to a house in Le Fanu Drive in Ballyfermot , Dublin - they knocked on the door but got no reply . Detective Sergeant Michael Carolan kicked the door down . Tony McNeill was asleep in the living room on a couch . He gave the Detectives a false name , but was recognised by some of the raiding party who put it to him that he was 'Anthony McNeill' ; he made no reply . There was a gun in his jacket , and a letter addressed to " ...those I love , especially my mother .. " .
In that letter was a poem dedicated to his three-year-old-son , entitled - ' A Bright Star' . McNeill was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to Ballyfermot Garda Station : once there , he made a half-hearted bid to escape - he was said to be consumed with remorse . " I wish I was dead, " he told Detectives , who claimed that he broke down in tears while in custody and pleaded with them to contact his family to re-assure them that he had played no part in the severing of John O' Grady's fingers and that he had argued against cutting off the fingers and , when it happened , had prayed for John O' Grady .
He was asked if he had tried to prevent the other gang members cutting off John O' Grady's fingers - " No ," he replied , " but when he (Dessie O' Hare) gets wired up nobody could stop him . He acts like he is in Vietnam . " Tony McNeill was said to be co-operative in garda custody , freely admitting his involvement in the kidnap . He refused , however , to discuss specific incidents . " I will have to live with these fellows in Portlaoise, " he told them . One of the detectives asked him " How in the name of Christ did you get involved with O' Hare ? " " I used to think he was a socialist , but I know now he is one dastardly bastard , " he responded .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
BRIAN ROBERTS , sentenced to life in January 1983 for killing of Liam Canning at Alliance Avenue on August 9 , 1981 . The killing was claimed at the time by the 'Ulster Freedom Fighters' (UFF) .
THOMAS SIMPSON of Belfast , jailed for 18 months in April 1976 for illegal possession of two rifles and 40 rounds of ammunition . Known to be a member of the UVF .
WILLIAM SMITH of Belfast , sentenced to nine months (suspended) for illegal possession in March 1973 .
DAVID STONE of South Derry , jailed for 12 months in February 1974 for using a gun to intimidate a woman into with-holding from the RUC the names of people involved in an assault .
LAURENCE TATE of Moygashel , County Tyrone , jailed for 12 years in December 1975 for bombing a Catholic pub in Dungannon .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The political atmosphere in Ireland to the British 'Conscription Act' meant that tolerance to IRA activities increased , and increased still further when the British Government arrested Sinn Fein leaders on the 'strength' of a 'German Plot' , which the British Government declared in a sensational proclamation " ...would be put down .. " .
Sinn Fein , having been given notice of the pending arrests through an IRA contact in Dublin Castle , simply made its political leadership open for arrest , while those with military associations went 'on the run' . The result was as they had correctly anticipated and in a by-election in East Cavan , Griffith , back in prison , won easily with a majority of 1,204 .
Continued arrests and harassment increased the popular prestige of Sinn Fein and the Volunteers while the anti-conscription campaign permitted a vehicle for recruitment and spreading Republican influences . The British , temporarily abandoning their conscription idea , initiated a voluntary recruiting campaign and one indication of the weight of nationalist opinion of the old 'Redmonite' school was that , despite an efficient counter campaign by Sinn Fein , 14,013 voluntary recruits were secured for the British Army . The winning over of such nationalist votes was to be the principle task which faced Sinn Fein in the General Election called for December 1918 .
Sinn Fein faced many diverse disadvantages in this election , including censorship and the arrests of consecutive Sinn Fein election directors . But the quickness with which the election was called was certainly in its favour , as was the greatly enlarged new register which almost trebled the previous Irish electorate and the extension of the vote to all males over twenty-one and to women over thirty .......
(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 .
26.. " ONE DASTARDLY BASTARD ..."
Dessie O' Hare had gone to ground ; two days later , on November 8 , 1987 , he resurfaced in Dunleer , County Louth , at around 8.30 PM ; he had been driving through the town with his wife when he decided he wanted a mineral drink . He went into Lorchide's Chip Shop and ordered a tin of coke , attracting the attention of a number of customers who thought he looked a nervous wreck . Suddenly O' Hare threw the can of Coke on the ground ; across the road , Claire O' Hare was out of the car and making a run for it . Dessie O' Hare pulled out a gun and fired a shot from inside the chipper , then he ran out the door and fired down the road , shouting " Come back you bitch ..." .
Dessie O' Hare then went over to the car and took out a shotgun - he fired a shot into the chipper where astonished customers were looking on . A passer-by was told to " ...get out of the fucking way .. " if he did'nt want the same . Meanwhile , Claire O' Hare had run for cover into the Millrace Pub - Dessie jumped into the car and , as the proprietor of the pub came out to the door to investigate , O' Hare fired more shots at the pub from the car , shouting " Get the fucker out .. " - he fired one or two more shots into the pub before driving away . Claire O' Hare was hysterical . Later she was taken to Our Ladys Hospital in Drogheda for treatment , from where she was arrested under ' Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act ' and taken to the Bridewell Station in Dublin .
There was another meeting of the (Free State) Cabinet Committee on Security , this time attended by the (FS) Minister for Finance , Ray MacSharry : there were fears , given the state of his mind , that Dessie O' Hare might make an attempt to kill John O' Grady . The Cabinet sub-Committee offered a £100,000 reward for the capture of Dessie O' Hare .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
BRIAN ROBERTS , sentenced to life in January 1983 for killing of Liam Canning at Alliance Avenue on August 9 , 1981 . The killing was claimed at the time by the 'Ulster Freedom Fighters' (UFF) .
THOMAS SIMPSON of Belfast , jailed for 18 months in April 1976 for illegal possession of two rifles and 40 rounds of ammunition . Known to be a member of the UVF .
WILLIAM SMITH of Belfast , sentenced to nine months (suspended) for illegal possession in March 1973 .
DAVID STONE of South Derry , jailed for 12 months in February 1974 for using a gun to intimidate a woman into with-holding from the RUC the names of people involved in an assault .
LAURENCE TATE of Moygashel , County Tyrone , jailed for 12 years in December 1975 for bombing a Catholic pub in Dungannon .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The political atmosphere in Ireland to the British 'Conscription Act' meant that tolerance to IRA activities increased , and increased still further when the British Government arrested Sinn Fein leaders on the 'strength' of a 'German Plot' , which the British Government declared in a sensational proclamation " ...would be put down .. " .
Sinn Fein , having been given notice of the pending arrests through an IRA contact in Dublin Castle , simply made its political leadership open for arrest , while those with military associations went 'on the run' . The result was as they had correctly anticipated and in a by-election in East Cavan , Griffith , back in prison , won easily with a majority of 1,204 .
Continued arrests and harassment increased the popular prestige of Sinn Fein and the Volunteers while the anti-conscription campaign permitted a vehicle for recruitment and spreading Republican influences . The British , temporarily abandoning their conscription idea , initiated a voluntary recruiting campaign and one indication of the weight of nationalist opinion of the old 'Redmonite' school was that , despite an efficient counter campaign by Sinn Fein , 14,013 voluntary recruits were secured for the British Army . The winning over of such nationalist votes was to be the principle task which faced Sinn Fein in the General Election called for December 1918 .
Sinn Fein faced many diverse disadvantages in this election , including censorship and the arrests of consecutive Sinn Fein election directors . But the quickness with which the election was called was certainly in its favour , as was the greatly enlarged new register which almost trebled the previous Irish electorate and the extension of the vote to all males over twenty-one and to women over thirty .......
(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 .
26.. " ONE DASTARDLY BASTARD ..."
Dessie O' Hare had gone to ground ; two days later , on November 8 , 1987 , he resurfaced in Dunleer , County Louth , at around 8.30 PM ; he had been driving through the town with his wife when he decided he wanted a mineral drink . He went into Lorchide's Chip Shop and ordered a tin of coke , attracting the attention of a number of customers who thought he looked a nervous wreck . Suddenly O' Hare threw the can of Coke on the ground ; across the road , Claire O' Hare was out of the car and making a run for it . Dessie O' Hare pulled out a gun and fired a shot from inside the chipper , then he ran out the door and fired down the road , shouting " Come back you bitch ..." .
Dessie O' Hare then went over to the car and took out a shotgun - he fired a shot into the chipper where astonished customers were looking on . A passer-by was told to " ...get out of the fucking way .. " if he did'nt want the same . Meanwhile , Claire O' Hare had run for cover into the Millrace Pub - Dessie jumped into the car and , as the proprietor of the pub came out to the door to investigate , O' Hare fired more shots at the pub from the car , shouting " Get the fucker out .. " - he fired one or two more shots into the pub before driving away . Claire O' Hare was hysterical . Later she was taken to Our Ladys Hospital in Drogheda for treatment , from where she was arrested under ' Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act ' and taken to the Bridewell Station in Dublin .
There was another meeting of the (Free State) Cabinet Committee on Security , this time attended by the (FS) Minister for Finance , Ray MacSharry : there were fears , given the state of his mind , that Dessie O' Hare might make an attempt to kill John O' Grady . The Cabinet sub-Committee offered a £100,000 reward for the capture of Dessie O' Hare .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, October 31, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
MALCOLM NESBITT of Belfast , sentenced to three years in October 1977 for armed robbery of a pub .
ALBERT MAURICE PARKHILL of Coleraine , suspended sentence in February 1978 for 'robbery' of six rifles from UDR armoury and membership of UVF . Pleaded conversion to Christianity and was suffering from multiple sclerosis .
WILLIAM RAMSEY of Belfast , five years in February 1975 for armed intimidation of Catholics during the UWC strike .
BEN REDFERN , JOHN LITTLE , SAMUEL HUNTER DAVIDSON and GREGORY ALLEN , all from South Derry area , all sentenced to life with an 18-year minimum , in January 1979 , for sectarian murder . REDFERN for murder of John Bolton , James Chivers and Joseph McAuley , the others for murders of Bolton and McAuley . Other concurrent sentences for robbery , arson etc .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The three by-election losses by Sinn Fein in early 1918 (Waterford , South Armagh and East Tyrone) showed that while Sinn Fein was still a very vital political force , its strength lay not in clear policies or organisation but in the enthusiasm , discipline and organisational abilities of the Republican volunteers . The extension , by the British Government , of the Conscription Act to Ireland on April 9th , 1918 , was to make things easier for Irish Republicans .
The Catholic Bishops in Ireland unanimously condemned conscription as did local public bodies all over Ireland and the 'Irish Nationalist Party' left the British House of Commons in a block and returned to Ireland .
Such an endorsement of abstentionism was obviously welcome to Sinn Fein and on April 18th , 1918 , an unprecedented conference representing all sections of nationalist opinion issued - in consultation with the Irish Catholic Hierarchy - a call for " ...all true Irishmen to resist [conscription] by the most effective means at their disposal . " The Catholic Hierarchy , for their part , declared conscription to be "...an oppressive and inhuman law .. " and stated that the Irish people had the right to resist it by all means consonant with the law of God .......
(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 .
24. " T'was the luck of God I did'nt kill him ... "
Eddie Hogan was at liberty for less than twenty-four hours . Shortly after five o'clock gardai in Cahir Garda Station received a report that a suspicious person had been seen walking at Ballydrehid , four miles outside Cahir , Tipperary ; Detective Garda Ignatius Seery and Garda James Lynch drove out in their patrol car . Since his escape , Eddie Hogan had stuck to the fields and had only been on the road a few minutes when the gardai met him . They stopped the car and shouted at him - " Gardai . We want to talk to you . "
By this stage it was perfectly obvious that whatever Hogan wanted to do he did not want to talk to the gardai ; he broke into a run , but was caught by Garda James Lynch . Both gardai accompanied him back to their car , but Hogan tried to break free - a fierce fight followed , during which Hogan kicked Lynch and then head-butted him . There was a struggle in which all three men fell to the ground . Hogan struggled with Seery , trying to get possession of his gun , which went off twice within inches of killing someone .
Seery succeeded in releasing Eddie Hogan's grip on the arm in which he held the gun ; at that point Hogan bit into Seery's right thigh , cutting right through the mans trousers - Seery roared in agony . His legs were straddled over Hogan's shoulders ; he began hitting Hogan on the head with the butt of his revolver and eventually Hogan stopped biting . Lynch and Seery got him lying on his chest and managed to handcuff him .
In custody , Hogan drank tea and smoked cigarettes - he assured the gardai there would be no allegations of brutality : " It was either me or ye out there , " he told them , and inquired about Detective Martin O' Connor whom he had shot at Carnlough Road the previous day . He was relieved to hear that his condition was stable - " T'was the luck of God I did'nt kill him . I'd have been gone for twenty-five years if I had . " The gardai asked him about the cutting off of John O'Grady's fingers . " It's war and everything is justified in war , " they were told .
Both Fergal Toal and Eddie Hogan were questioned extensively about their involvement in the kidnapping of John O' Grady . Neither man replied to any of the questions .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
MALCOLM NESBITT of Belfast , sentenced to three years in October 1977 for armed robbery of a pub .
ALBERT MAURICE PARKHILL of Coleraine , suspended sentence in February 1978 for 'robbery' of six rifles from UDR armoury and membership of UVF . Pleaded conversion to Christianity and was suffering from multiple sclerosis .
WILLIAM RAMSEY of Belfast , five years in February 1975 for armed intimidation of Catholics during the UWC strike .
BEN REDFERN , JOHN LITTLE , SAMUEL HUNTER DAVIDSON and GREGORY ALLEN , all from South Derry area , all sentenced to life with an 18-year minimum , in January 1979 , for sectarian murder . REDFERN for murder of John Bolton , James Chivers and Joseph McAuley , the others for murders of Bolton and McAuley . Other concurrent sentences for robbery , arson etc .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The three by-election losses by Sinn Fein in early 1918 (Waterford , South Armagh and East Tyrone) showed that while Sinn Fein was still a very vital political force , its strength lay not in clear policies or organisation but in the enthusiasm , discipline and organisational abilities of the Republican volunteers . The extension , by the British Government , of the Conscription Act to Ireland on April 9th , 1918 , was to make things easier for Irish Republicans .
The Catholic Bishops in Ireland unanimously condemned conscription as did local public bodies all over Ireland and the 'Irish Nationalist Party' left the British House of Commons in a block and returned to Ireland .
Such an endorsement of abstentionism was obviously welcome to Sinn Fein and on April 18th , 1918 , an unprecedented conference representing all sections of nationalist opinion issued - in consultation with the Irish Catholic Hierarchy - a call for " ...all true Irishmen to resist [conscription] by the most effective means at their disposal . " The Catholic Hierarchy , for their part , declared conscription to be "...an oppressive and inhuman law .. " and stated that the Irish people had the right to resist it by all means consonant with the law of God .......
(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 .
24. " T'was the luck of God I did'nt kill him ... "
Eddie Hogan was at liberty for less than twenty-four hours . Shortly after five o'clock gardai in Cahir Garda Station received a report that a suspicious person had been seen walking at Ballydrehid , four miles outside Cahir , Tipperary ; Detective Garda Ignatius Seery and Garda James Lynch drove out in their patrol car . Since his escape , Eddie Hogan had stuck to the fields and had only been on the road a few minutes when the gardai met him . They stopped the car and shouted at him - " Gardai . We want to talk to you . "
By this stage it was perfectly obvious that whatever Hogan wanted to do he did not want to talk to the gardai ; he broke into a run , but was caught by Garda James Lynch . Both gardai accompanied him back to their car , but Hogan tried to break free - a fierce fight followed , during which Hogan kicked Lynch and then head-butted him . There was a struggle in which all three men fell to the ground . Hogan struggled with Seery , trying to get possession of his gun , which went off twice within inches of killing someone .
Seery succeeded in releasing Eddie Hogan's grip on the arm in which he held the gun ; at that point Hogan bit into Seery's right thigh , cutting right through the mans trousers - Seery roared in agony . His legs were straddled over Hogan's shoulders ; he began hitting Hogan on the head with the butt of his revolver and eventually Hogan stopped biting . Lynch and Seery got him lying on his chest and managed to handcuff him .
In custody , Hogan drank tea and smoked cigarettes - he assured the gardai there would be no allegations of brutality : " It was either me or ye out there , " he told them , and inquired about Detective Martin O' Connor whom he had shot at Carnlough Road the previous day . He was relieved to hear that his condition was stable - " T'was the luck of God I did'nt kill him . I'd have been gone for twenty-five years if I had . " The gardai asked him about the cutting off of John O'Grady's fingers . " It's war and everything is justified in war , " they were told .
Both Fergal Toal and Eddie Hogan were questioned extensively about their involvement in the kidnapping of John O' Grady . Neither man replied to any of the questions .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, October 28, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
EDWARD McILWAINE of Belfast , sentenced to 15 years in February 1979 for kidnapping , assault and possession with intent . One of the Shankill Butchers .
ALASDAIR McKENDRY of Ballymena , charged in August 1983 with armed robbery , illegal possession of arms and UVF membership .
WILLIAM McVEIGH of 7th Battalion UDR HQ , jailed for three years in October 1973 for possession of a revolver in suspicious circumstances .
EDGAR MEEHAN of Castlederg , sentenced (in Dublin) to six months in March 1976 for illegal possession of a sub-machine gun and 35 rounds of ammunition in County Donegal .
RONNIE NELSON 'BILLY' YEARL , SAMMY ANDERSON and BILLY McCLEANAGHAN , all of Cookstown-Maghera area , sentenced to 10 years each in April 1978 for 'robbing' 320 guns , 9,500 rounds of assorted ammunition , grenades and a rocket from Magherafelt UDR armoury , plus robbery and sectarian arson attacks . Also known to be members of the UDA .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
An interesting insight into how the IRA viewed the new Sinn Fein Movement , in which some of them held executive positions , is given in a letter from the IRA Army Executive , which had come to light some months earlier : " The principle duty of the executive is to put the Volunteers in a position to complete by force of arms the work begun by the men of Easter week . The Volunteers are notified that the only orders they are to obey are those of their own executive . "
IRA Volunteers were reminded that , in the past , the conjunction of Fenianism with constitutional politics had led to the abandonment of physical force as a policy * and were warned to join Sinn Fein only in order to propagate the principles of their own organisation which was the only one to which they owed allegiance . (' 1169 ... ' Comment - * - ...it happened again , beginning in 1986 , when a section of people deserted the Movement to enter constitutional politics . The leadership of that group are now paid salaries and expenses by Westminster , Stormont and Leinster House , and will soon be issuing instructions for their followers to 'police' the occupied Six Counties on behalf of Westminster . Their actions can only be described as treachery and , I believe , will be recorded as such by history. )
Sinn Fein , attempting to win 'moderate nationalists' to its side was much embarrassed by this letter and by the increasing actions of armed Volunteers throughout the country : in particular , the actions of groups of IRA Volunteers , especially in the West of Ireland , in commandeering private land (with compensation for the owners ) in the name of the Irish Republic and ploughing it up for food cultivation as a necessary precaution against famine , caused some discomfort to the Sinn Fein Executive , especially , given the criticism of these and other "...ill-considered agitations.. " by the Catholic Cardinal Logue and by many constitutional nationalists .
Against such a background Sinn Fein fought and lost three by-elections in the early part of 1918 ; however , none of these by-elections - a consoling factor for Sinn Fein - could be said to provide a representation of a cross section of the country as a whole . All three defeats were at the hands of the old Home Rule Nationalist Party - one in Waterford and the other two in South Armagh and East Tyrone . None of those three results were seen as decisive defeats for Sinn Fein , given the lack of organisation in the northern counties and the fact that the Waterford by-election , caused by the death of John Redmond , was contested by his son .......
(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 .
23. "They tore the bloody shirt of my back ... "
Catherine Ryan had spent a pleasant evening with her friend Charles Barret ; they had dinner , met friends and finished off the night in Shaughnessy's Pub , in Kilfinane . They left at 10.30 pm and Ryan dropped off Barret at Buttevant - as she drove towards Tipperary she heard on the late news that the search for the two kidnappers was concentrated in Tipperary . She stopped in Ard Patrick and rang her friend , Charles Barret , who re-assured her that there was nothing to worry about . She ended the call by saying she would ring him when she got home safely .
Just outside Tipperary the road was blocked by a tree ; she stopped to clear it out of her way . Fergal Toal appeared and took the car , and he took Catherine Ryan as a hostage . He wanted to drive to Dublin but , after driving around back roads for three hours , he still had'nt left the county of Tipperary . He was chatting away with Ryan in the car and found out that she was a nurse ; he asked her to examine a cut on his little finger which he was concerned about . The finger was grazed and a little bit of the skin was off the knuckle . The radio news gave details of his escape and Ryan asked him if the report was accurate . " They tore the bloody shirt off my back , " Toal replied .
At one point Fergal Toal drove through a roadblock and within minutes was spotted by a garda patrol car which gave chase ; Toal crashed the car which turned over on its roof and skidded for forty yards . He got out of the car and threatened to kill Ryan , but was surprised from behind by Garda Pat Whelan who put one arm around Toal's neck and put a machine gun to his back with his other hand . For Fergal Toal it was all over .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
EDWARD McILWAINE of Belfast , sentenced to 15 years in February 1979 for kidnapping , assault and possession with intent . One of the Shankill Butchers .
ALASDAIR McKENDRY of Ballymena , charged in August 1983 with armed robbery , illegal possession of arms and UVF membership .
WILLIAM McVEIGH of 7th Battalion UDR HQ , jailed for three years in October 1973 for possession of a revolver in suspicious circumstances .
EDGAR MEEHAN of Castlederg , sentenced (in Dublin) to six months in March 1976 for illegal possession of a sub-machine gun and 35 rounds of ammunition in County Donegal .
RONNIE NELSON 'BILLY' YEARL , SAMMY ANDERSON and BILLY McCLEANAGHAN , all of Cookstown-Maghera area , sentenced to 10 years each in April 1978 for 'robbing' 320 guns , 9,500 rounds of assorted ammunition , grenades and a rocket from Magherafelt UDR armoury , plus robbery and sectarian arson attacks . Also known to be members of the UDA .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
An interesting insight into how the IRA viewed the new Sinn Fein Movement , in which some of them held executive positions , is given in a letter from the IRA Army Executive , which had come to light some months earlier : " The principle duty of the executive is to put the Volunteers in a position to complete by force of arms the work begun by the men of Easter week . The Volunteers are notified that the only orders they are to obey are those of their own executive . "
IRA Volunteers were reminded that , in the past , the conjunction of Fenianism with constitutional politics had led to the abandonment of physical force as a policy * and were warned to join Sinn Fein only in order to propagate the principles of their own organisation which was the only one to which they owed allegiance . (' 1169 ... ' Comment - * - ...it happened again , beginning in 1986 , when a section of people deserted the Movement to enter constitutional politics . The leadership of that group are now paid salaries and expenses by Westminster , Stormont and Leinster House , and will soon be issuing instructions for their followers to 'police' the occupied Six Counties on behalf of Westminster . Their actions can only be described as treachery and , I believe , will be recorded as such by history. )
Sinn Fein , attempting to win 'moderate nationalists' to its side was much embarrassed by this letter and by the increasing actions of armed Volunteers throughout the country : in particular , the actions of groups of IRA Volunteers , especially in the West of Ireland , in commandeering private land (with compensation for the owners ) in the name of the Irish Republic and ploughing it up for food cultivation as a necessary precaution against famine , caused some discomfort to the Sinn Fein Executive , especially , given the criticism of these and other "...ill-considered agitations.. " by the Catholic Cardinal Logue and by many constitutional nationalists .
Against such a background Sinn Fein fought and lost three by-elections in the early part of 1918 ; however , none of these by-elections - a consoling factor for Sinn Fein - could be said to provide a representation of a cross section of the country as a whole . All three defeats were at the hands of the old Home Rule Nationalist Party - one in Waterford and the other two in South Armagh and East Tyrone . None of those three results were seen as decisive defeats for Sinn Fein , given the lack of organisation in the northern counties and the fact that the Waterford by-election , caused by the death of John Redmond , was contested by his son .......
(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 .
23. "They tore the bloody shirt of my back ... "
Catherine Ryan had spent a pleasant evening with her friend Charles Barret ; they had dinner , met friends and finished off the night in Shaughnessy's Pub , in Kilfinane . They left at 10.30 pm and Ryan dropped off Barret at Buttevant - as she drove towards Tipperary she heard on the late news that the search for the two kidnappers was concentrated in Tipperary . She stopped in Ard Patrick and rang her friend , Charles Barret , who re-assured her that there was nothing to worry about . She ended the call by saying she would ring him when she got home safely .
Just outside Tipperary the road was blocked by a tree ; she stopped to clear it out of her way . Fergal Toal appeared and took the car , and he took Catherine Ryan as a hostage . He wanted to drive to Dublin but , after driving around back roads for three hours , he still had'nt left the county of Tipperary . He was chatting away with Ryan in the car and found out that she was a nurse ; he asked her to examine a cut on his little finger which he was concerned about . The finger was grazed and a little bit of the skin was off the knuckle . The radio news gave details of his escape and Ryan asked him if the report was accurate . " They tore the bloody shirt off my back , " Toal replied .
At one point Fergal Toal drove through a roadblock and within minutes was spotted by a garda patrol car which gave chase ; Toal crashed the car which turned over on its roof and skidded for forty yards . He got out of the car and threatened to kill Ryan , but was surprised from behind by Garda Pat Whelan who put one arm around Toal's neck and put a machine gun to his back with his other hand . For Fergal Toal it was all over .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, October 27, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
HENRY McCONNELL of Belfast , fined £65 in April 1975 for possession of ammunition in suspicious circumstances .
JOSEPH DENNIS McCONVILLE of Annaghmore , County Armagh , jailed for two years in September 1976 for theft of ammunition from a (British) Ministry of defence firing range .
HENRY McCOSH of Belfast , sentenced to six months (suspended) in February 1974 for possession of a revolver and more than 200 rounds of ammunition in suspicious circumstances .
RODERICK SHANE McDOWELL and RAYMOND THOMAS CROZIER , jailed for 35 years in October 1976 for the Miami Showband massacre . Two other UDR men , WESLEY SOMMERVILLE and HARRIS BOYLE , blew themselves up in the same incident . All four were members of the UVF .
JOSEPH McGRANAGHAN of Belfast , jailed for two years in April 1974 for possession of a revolver (previously 'stolen' from an RUC man) in suspicious circumstances .
JAMES McGUCKEN of Coagh , County Tyrone , fined £100 in December 1976 for assaulting local Catholics .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The turn-out for the funeral of Thomas Ashe (on September 30 , 1917) gave a boost to Irish Republicans ; this was noted by the 'Establishment' in Westminster - 'The Daily Express' newspaper remarked - " The circumstances of Ashe's death and funeral have made 100,000 Sinn Feiners out of 100,000 constitutional nationalists ... " , while 'The Daily Mail' newspaper recalled that , a month earlier , Sinn Fein , despite its electoral successes , had been a waning force . That newspaper said - " It had no practical programme , for the programme of going further than anyone else cannot be so described . It was not making headway . But Sinn Fein today is pretty nearly another name for the vast bulk of youth in Ireland . "
In October 1917 , a Convention in Dublin was able to give more coherence to the political side of the national Movement , when two thousand people including delegates from over a thousand Sinn Fein cumann agreed on a new broadly nationalist constitution and elected a 24-person national executive . Despite the fact that the Movement owed much of its public support to the discipline and organising skill of the Republicans , its weakness , with the election of many anti-physical force constitutionalists to the executive , was becoming obvious to close observers .
However , with the need to build a genuinely broad based national Movement , which drew maximum support from all nationalist tendencies while still permitting the Republicans to manoeuvre in the background , their differences were successfully covered up , at least from the attention of the general populace .
The National Executive contained such diverse personalities as Eoin MacNeill who had tried to cancel the 1916 Rising and Cathal Brugha , an uncompromising Irish Republican who was badly wounded during the 1916 Rising . Interestingly , Eoin MacNeill headed the poll by more than 200 votes over Cathal Brugha who was his closest rival .
Against such political manoeuvrings the IRA stepped-up their raids for arms , and drilling and re-organisation continued .......
(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 .
Fergal Toal was in Garda custody ; all the gardai had heard the instructions to hold him but none of them , in statements made subsequenty , made reference to being told that a second man had escaped ; the gardai in whose care Toal had been entrusted formed quite different opinions of him . Garda Fallon and Sergeant Merrigan stress that he appeared plausible and co-operative . When he had first 'arrived' into the garda station , he had asked for water to take tablets . Garda Moriarty thought he might be a mental patient !
Two Garda , Moriarty and Fallon , got Fergal Toal ready to put him into a cell . Sergeant Merrigan was standing about ten feet away ; Garda Moriarty took £222 from Toal's pocket with his left hand , whilst taking the mans belt off him with his right hand . Garda Fallon was helping Toal to step out of his jacket . " What are you doing with my money ? " , said Toal in his phoney Cork accent . His belt was caught in one of the loops of his trousers - Garda Moriarty turned around for a second to put the momey in his left hand on the table behind him ; when he looked back he saw Toal over at the door letting himself out to the reception area of the station .
Moriarty ran after him , as did Merrigan and Fallon . Fergal Toal crossed the reception to a door leading out to the narrow hallway to the entrance to the station , but Moriarty caught hold of his shirt . To his " great dismay ," as Moriarty later said , the shirt ripped and came away in his hand . The hallway was too narrow for the other gardai to get past : Toal jumped the seven steps leading up to the station and ran . It was the third time that Fergal Toal and Eddie Hogan had escaped from the gardai .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
HENRY McCONNELL of Belfast , fined £65 in April 1975 for possession of ammunition in suspicious circumstances .
JOSEPH DENNIS McCONVILLE of Annaghmore , County Armagh , jailed for two years in September 1976 for theft of ammunition from a (British) Ministry of defence firing range .
HENRY McCOSH of Belfast , sentenced to six months (suspended) in February 1974 for possession of a revolver and more than 200 rounds of ammunition in suspicious circumstances .
RODERICK SHANE McDOWELL and RAYMOND THOMAS CROZIER , jailed for 35 years in October 1976 for the Miami Showband massacre . Two other UDR men , WESLEY SOMMERVILLE and HARRIS BOYLE , blew themselves up in the same incident . All four were members of the UVF .
JOSEPH McGRANAGHAN of Belfast , jailed for two years in April 1974 for possession of a revolver (previously 'stolen' from an RUC man) in suspicious circumstances .
JAMES McGUCKEN of Coagh , County Tyrone , fined £100 in December 1976 for assaulting local Catholics .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The turn-out for the funeral of Thomas Ashe (on September 30 , 1917) gave a boost to Irish Republicans ; this was noted by the 'Establishment' in Westminster - 'The Daily Express' newspaper remarked - " The circumstances of Ashe's death and funeral have made 100,000 Sinn Feiners out of 100,000 constitutional nationalists ... " , while 'The Daily Mail' newspaper recalled that , a month earlier , Sinn Fein , despite its electoral successes , had been a waning force . That newspaper said - " It had no practical programme , for the programme of going further than anyone else cannot be so described . It was not making headway . But Sinn Fein today is pretty nearly another name for the vast bulk of youth in Ireland . "
In October 1917 , a Convention in Dublin was able to give more coherence to the political side of the national Movement , when two thousand people including delegates from over a thousand Sinn Fein cumann agreed on a new broadly nationalist constitution and elected a 24-person national executive . Despite the fact that the Movement owed much of its public support to the discipline and organising skill of the Republicans , its weakness , with the election of many anti-physical force constitutionalists to the executive , was becoming obvious to close observers .
However , with the need to build a genuinely broad based national Movement , which drew maximum support from all nationalist tendencies while still permitting the Republicans to manoeuvre in the background , their differences were successfully covered up , at least from the attention of the general populace .
The National Executive contained such diverse personalities as Eoin MacNeill who had tried to cancel the 1916 Rising and Cathal Brugha , an uncompromising Irish Republican who was badly wounded during the 1916 Rising . Interestingly , Eoin MacNeill headed the poll by more than 200 votes over Cathal Brugha who was his closest rival .
Against such political manoeuvrings the IRA stepped-up their raids for arms , and drilling and re-organisation continued .......
(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 .
Fergal Toal was in Garda custody ; all the gardai had heard the instructions to hold him but none of them , in statements made subsequenty , made reference to being told that a second man had escaped ; the gardai in whose care Toal had been entrusted formed quite different opinions of him . Garda Fallon and Sergeant Merrigan stress that he appeared plausible and co-operative . When he had first 'arrived' into the garda station , he had asked for water to take tablets . Garda Moriarty thought he might be a mental patient !
Two Garda , Moriarty and Fallon , got Fergal Toal ready to put him into a cell . Sergeant Merrigan was standing about ten feet away ; Garda Moriarty took £222 from Toal's pocket with his left hand , whilst taking the mans belt off him with his right hand . Garda Fallon was helping Toal to step out of his jacket . " What are you doing with my money ? " , said Toal in his phoney Cork accent . His belt was caught in one of the loops of his trousers - Garda Moriarty turned around for a second to put the momey in his left hand on the table behind him ; when he looked back he saw Toal over at the door letting himself out to the reception area of the station .
Moriarty ran after him , as did Merrigan and Fallon . Fergal Toal crossed the reception to a door leading out to the narrow hallway to the entrance to the station , but Moriarty caught hold of his shirt . To his " great dismay ," as Moriarty later said , the shirt ripped and came away in his hand . The hallway was too narrow for the other gardai to get past : Toal jumped the seven steps leading up to the station and ran . It was the third time that Fergal Toal and Eddie Hogan had escaped from the gardai .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
UDR'S ROTTEN APPLES.......
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
RICHARD LONG of Comber , County Down , sentenced to life in May 1977 for conspiracy to kill Catholics .
TREVOR LYLE , jailed for one month (suspensed for two years) for illegal possession of firearms in June 1976 . Charge reduced from attempted murder .
JEFFREY LYNN of Tobermore , County Derry , jailed for six months in September 1976 for handling stolen property . Originally charged with September 1975 armed robbery of Knockloughrim Post Office - prosecution witness , William Millar , subsequently murdered by fellow members of LYNN'S '5th Batt. UDR' .
WILLIAM McCLANAGHAN of South Derry , sentenced to eight years in May 1978 for bombing a Catholic-owned shop in Draperstown .
WILLIAM McCOMB of Banbridge , jailed for 10 years in November 1976 for possession with intent and armed robbery on behalf of the UVF .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The election of another Sinn Fein candidate , William Cosgrove , in Kilkenny , by a two-to-one majority , led to more repression from the British ; arrests increased and during a period when some political commentators were noting that the lack of really positive Sinn Fein policies was giving rise to serious second thoughts among nationalist voters , the British governments ill-treatment of those arrested became known .
Over forty Irish Republican prisoners were being force-fed in an effort by the British to break a hunger-strike by the prisoners in pursuance of political status . The Republican prisoners , as part of their campaign , were refusing to work or to wear prison clothes - they had smashed their cell windows , demanded segregation from ordinary prisoners and were generally refusing to co-operate with the prisom regime .
Thomas Ashe died after force-feeding and the brutal details of that force-feeding plus the conditions in which the prisoners were being held were read by an outraged public ; Thomas Ashe was buried on September 30th , 1917 , following a funeral attended by some 40,000 people and marked by a day of mourning throughout nationalist Ireland .
All commentators agreed that a new and much needed stimulus had been given to the Sinn Fein Movement ; the British 'establishment' , and it's supporters in the London media , were startled by this turn of events .......
(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 .
Having escaped to Limerick , Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal hired a taxi to take them to Tipperary ; they passed through three or four garda roadblocks without incident . Just outside Tipperary the taxi passed another roadblock manned by Garda John Conway - they were waved on but Conway became suspicious and contacted a garda patrol car which then followed the taxi into Tipperary town ; that patrol car was manned by Garda Liam Walsh , Garda Tom Neville and Garda Dan Collins . In Tipperary , the gardai instructed the taxi driver to pull in . Garda Liam Walsh loaded his sub-machine gun .
The description that the Tipperary gardai had of Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal did not match the two men in the taxi - both were searched and found to be un-armed . However , Toal was speaking with a fake Cork accent and traces of his northern accent were coming through ; both men were polite and co-operative but , because of the suspicions of the gardai and 'the state of the country at the time' , it was decided to take them to the garda station for questioning . The patrol car stopped forty feet from the station entrance ; as they were walking in , Eddie Hogan bolted ; Garda Neville threw his garda cap on the ground and ran after him . Gardai Walsh and Collins rushed Fergal Toal into the station and handed him over to the station orderly team , Garda Andrew Moriarty and Garda Fallon , in the presence of Garda Sergeant Patrick Merrigan .
Walsh and Collins shouted " Hold him ! Another man has escaped ... " : then they ran off to help Garda Neville to find Eddie Hogan , who had run down the road into the Clanwilliam Rugby Club - he ran the length of the pitch and crossed the goal line with Garda Neville in pursuit ; it was a 'good try' by Neville but Eddie Hogan had already disappeared behind the cover of trees beside the pavilion . He escaped over a wall and was gone . The Clanwilliam Rugby Team , who were training , formed an impromptu search party but without success .
Fergal Toal was now in Garda custody - but not for long .......
(MORE LATER).
Five members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , formerly based at Drummad Barracks in Armagh , have been charged with murder , and the recent visits to this barracks by both the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Thatcher caused an uproar in the North .
But how exceptional are the 'Drummad Five' ? Just how many 'rotten apples' are there in the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' , which is now the principal back-up force to the RUC in the North of Ireland ?
We have chronicled herewith almost one hundred cases where members of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) have been charged with serious offences , mostly involving firearms or explosives . It is a directory of Dishonourable Discharge that is unmatched in the 'security forces' of any country in Europe and probably not even in South America . And even this list does not claim to be exhaustive .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 30 March 1984 .
RICHARD LONG of Comber , County Down , sentenced to life in May 1977 for conspiracy to kill Catholics .
TREVOR LYLE , jailed for one month (suspensed for two years) for illegal possession of firearms in June 1976 . Charge reduced from attempted murder .
JEFFREY LYNN of Tobermore , County Derry , jailed for six months in September 1976 for handling stolen property . Originally charged with September 1975 armed robbery of Knockloughrim Post Office - prosecution witness , William Millar , subsequently murdered by fellow members of LYNN'S '5th Batt. UDR' .
WILLIAM McCLANAGHAN of South Derry , sentenced to eight years in May 1978 for bombing a Catholic-owned shop in Draperstown .
WILLIAM McCOMB of Banbridge , jailed for 10 years in November 1976 for possession with intent and armed robbery on behalf of the UVF .
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The election of another Sinn Fein candidate , William Cosgrove , in Kilkenny , by a two-to-one majority , led to more repression from the British ; arrests increased and during a period when some political commentators were noting that the lack of really positive Sinn Fein policies was giving rise to serious second thoughts among nationalist voters , the British governments ill-treatment of those arrested became known .
Over forty Irish Republican prisoners were being force-fed in an effort by the British to break a hunger-strike by the prisoners in pursuance of political status . The Republican prisoners , as part of their campaign , were refusing to work or to wear prison clothes - they had smashed their cell windows , demanded segregation from ordinary prisoners and were generally refusing to co-operate with the prisom regime .
Thomas Ashe died after force-feeding and the brutal details of that force-feeding plus the conditions in which the prisoners were being held were read by an outraged public ; Thomas Ashe was buried on September 30th , 1917 , following a funeral attended by some 40,000 people and marked by a day of mourning throughout nationalist Ireland .
All commentators agreed that a new and much needed stimulus had been given to the Sinn Fein Movement ; the British 'establishment' , and it's supporters in the London media , were startled by this turn of events .......
(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 .
Having escaped to Limerick , Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal hired a taxi to take them to Tipperary ; they passed through three or four garda roadblocks without incident . Just outside Tipperary the taxi passed another roadblock manned by Garda John Conway - they were waved on but Conway became suspicious and contacted a garda patrol car which then followed the taxi into Tipperary town ; that patrol car was manned by Garda Liam Walsh , Garda Tom Neville and Garda Dan Collins . In Tipperary , the gardai instructed the taxi driver to pull in . Garda Liam Walsh loaded his sub-machine gun .
The description that the Tipperary gardai had of Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal did not match the two men in the taxi - both were searched and found to be un-armed . However , Toal was speaking with a fake Cork accent and traces of his northern accent were coming through ; both men were polite and co-operative but , because of the suspicions of the gardai and 'the state of the country at the time' , it was decided to take them to the garda station for questioning . The patrol car stopped forty feet from the station entrance ; as they were walking in , Eddie Hogan bolted ; Garda Neville threw his garda cap on the ground and ran after him . Gardai Walsh and Collins rushed Fergal Toal into the station and handed him over to the station orderly team , Garda Andrew Moriarty and Garda Fallon , in the presence of Garda Sergeant Patrick Merrigan .
Walsh and Collins shouted " Hold him ! Another man has escaped ... " : then they ran off to help Garda Neville to find Eddie Hogan , who had run down the road into the Clanwilliam Rugby Club - he ran the length of the pitch and crossed the goal line with Garda Neville in pursuit ; it was a 'good try' by Neville but Eddie Hogan had already disappeared behind the cover of trees beside the pavilion . He escaped over a wall and was gone . The Clanwilliam Rugby Team , who were training , formed an impromptu search party but without success .
Fergal Toal was now in Garda custody - but not for long .......
(MORE LATER).
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