1169 And Counting.....

Friday, April 21, 2006

National 90th Anniversary Rally , Saturday , 22nd April 2006 : Assemble Garden of Remembrance , 2pm .
Musical Night , Saturday 22nd April 2006 : 'Saints and Sinners' pub , North King Street , Dublin . Doors open 8.30pm . Admission EURO 10 .
"Damn your concessions , England . We want our country!"

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

In 1962 , Cathal Goulding was at an extraordinary IRA Convention (a meeting of IRA Volunteers) at which the dropping of abstentionism was brought up ; to do so would allow Sinn Fein elected representatives to take their seats in Leinster House , Stormont and Westminster . Cathal Goulding was later to say of this proposal -

" We wanted to clear the ground (in the North) for politial action . In other words to gain freedom for political manoeuvrability . The first thing we needed was civil rights . " Goulding was then the acknowledged Chief of Staff of the IRA . Roy Johnston returned to Ireland in 1963 and involved himself with the Wolfe Tone Society ; he became 'Education Officer' for the Republican Movement , as well as its political commissar .

Roy Johnston , Cathal Goulding and Tomas MacGiolla developed their own version of 'Marxism' , peculiar to the Irish situation . They had few links with international groups , and they began to develop the perspective - in the light of the failed military campaign - which the Workers' Party espouses today . That perspective still has very few international connections , and embodys a form of 'Marxism' which is , as stated , unique to the Irish situation .......
(MORE LATER).

GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE.......?
Close analysis of television news film of incidents last month at Emyvale suggests a garda's gun went off accidentally . But that is not what the Minister of Justice told the Dail .
GENE KERRIGAN looks at the evidence.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1987 .

On Wednesday , May 11th , 1987 , Gerry Collins (Fianna Fail) told Leinster House that as well as firing the Uzi in the air , Detective Sergeant Joe Darwin from Monaghan "...drew his handgun and fired one further shot over the heads of the crowd in an effort to make them disperse . "

Collins' statement seemed to reflect an inadequate and inaccurate briefing ; apart from stating that the revolver shot was deliberately fired he also stated that the Uzi was discharged after the car was pushed into the stream - television film clearly showed the garda firing the Uzi before the car was pushed into the stream . Detective Darwin was trying to frighten away the crowd pushing the car .

Gerry Collins also stated that the revolver was fired after the trapped garda was released from the over-turned car : television film shows that the revolver discharged before the garda was freed . These latter inaccuracies are unimportant except in so far as they raise doubts about the credibility of Gerry Collins' statement , although this is not intended to suggest that he deliberately misrepresented the situation . The important point is that the accidental discharge of the weapon was in the official account turned into a deliberate warning shot .......
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

Commenting in December 1933 , on the life and times of Liam Mellows , Cumann na mBan stated :

" Writing of transport and the banking system , Liam Mellows wrote - " All transport , railways , canals etc will be operated by the State - the Republican State - for the benefit of the workers and the farmers . All banks will be operated by the State for the benefit of industry and agriculture , not for the purpose of profit-making by loans , mortgages etc . That the land of the aristocracy (who support the Free State and the British connection) will be seized and divided amongst those who can and will operate it for the nation's benefit ."

Cumann na mBan continued - " Eleven years have passed since Liam Mellows was silenced forever by a British bullet . Eleven years of native rule ! In those years our pillar boxes have changed from red to green , our enemies' uniforms have changed from khaki to green , and may become grey . Our coins have changed from king's head to pigs and hens , and our very name has changed from Ireland to the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland , and may shortly be christened a 'Republic' . Yet fundamentally the organisation of the people's lives has remained unchanged : the same hunger , want , insecurity and man-made misery stalk through the length and breadth of Ireland ....... "
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, April 20, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

Sean Garland's involvement goes back more than thirty years ; towards the end of 1955 , when he was in the IRA , he was involved in an aborted attempt to free Cathal Goulding , a senior member of the organisation , from a British jail , using a hired DC3 airplane .

He also joined the British Army to gather intelligence for an IRA raid on Gough Barracks , and in 1956 , took part in the raid on Brookborough Barracks , during which two IRA men , Sean South and Fergal O' Hanlon , were killed , and Sean Garland was hit in the leg . When he returned south of the border he was arrested and given six months in jail for refusing to answer questions !

Garland was part of the 're-think' that went on within the Republican Movement from 1960 onwards ; so also was Cathal Goulding , and a Marxist computer scientist called Roy Johnston , Tomas MacGiolla and others . Goulding had been elected onto the IRA Army Council - the 'supreme body' of the IRA - in the 1940's and had spent eight years in British jails for his part in the raid on Felsted Barracks when the IRA tried to obtain weapons .

As a result of his imprisonment , he missed the Border Campaign .......
(MORE LATER).

GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE.......?
Close analysis of television news film of incidents last month at Emyvale suggests a garda's gun went off accidentally . But that is not what the Minister of Justice told the Dail .
GENE KERRIGAN looks at the evidence.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1987 .

When the PIRA fired shots over the coffin of Jim Lynagh , a plainclothes garda , Detective Sergeant Joe Darwin from Monaghan , fired several bursts from an Uzi submachine gun , firing in the air in an attempt to stop a crowd from pushing a garda car into a stream . Photographs of the incident show that the garda also fired at body level .

That garda and two uniformed colleagues ended up in the stream ; they wanted to free another garda who was in the over-turned car - the crowd were throwing traffic cones and other missiles at the gardai ; during this incident the plainclothes garda , Detective Sergeant Joe Darwin from Monaghan , drew his revolver . The revolver subsequently appeared to be discharged accidentally .

Towards the end of the RTE News bulletin at 9pm that evening , film of the incident was shown - the gun plainly appeared to be discharged accidentally . Half an hour later the footage was shown on ITN News : both British channels showed the footage the following morning on their breakfast programmes , and it was shown again on RTE that night . Two days later , Fianna Fail's Gerry Collins delivered what many believe to be an inaccurate statement in Leinster House on the incident .......
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

While others saw only the symbol of the oath of allegiance to a foreign king , Liam Mellows understood that the purpose of British policy was to create a political garrison in Ireland to replace the military garrison whose position had become untenable . Mellows saw that out of the revolutionary movement itself , a political party had been formed whose existence was bound up with retaining intact the British system of law , politics and social relations : that the old colonial relationship was preserved in a new form .

The significance and continuing relevance of Liam Mellows is well expressed in the following extract from an article on his life and aims published by Cumann na mBan in December 1933 , the 11th anniversary of his execution :

" Under the Fianna Fail government , industry is organised for the benefit of the British combines or for the British or Irish capitalists . The Fianna Fail government actually boasts of industries being set up under these conditions . Recently it is rumoured that three foreign firms are about to start the manufacture of cement in three different parts of Ireland . Imagine a government of men professing a love of , and an interest in , their country , permitting the private ownership - at this stage of the world - of such a vital necessity as cement ! It is no wonder England is not disturbed at the prospect of losing political control of part of this country while she is assured of the economic domination of the whole country . "
(MORE LATER).

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

EASTER RISING 1916-2006 : 90th Anniversary Events organised by the Republican Movement -

Easter Sunday , 16 April 2006 : Deansgrange Cemetery , Dublin , 1 pm . Assemble at Cemetery gates and march to Republican Plot .
Easter Monday , 17 April 2006 : Assemble Garden of Remembrance , Parnell Square , Dublin , 2 pm . March to GPO .
National 90th Anniversary Rally , Saturday , 22nd April 2006 : Assemble Garden of Remembrance , 2pm .
Musical Night , Saturday 22nd April 2006 : 'Saints and Sinners' pub , North King Street , Dublin . Doors open 8.30pm . Admission EURO 10 .
"Damn your concessions , England . We want our country!"

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

Sean Garland went on to say that "...the enemy today is Anglo-American imperialism . We must all the time be conscious of this fact . " He makes no mention of the fact that the Workers' Party support what could be termed the bastion of ' Anglo-American imperialism' - multinational investment .

Neither did he mention that the Workers' Party are now effectively pro-EEC . Sean Garland is indicative of the Workers' Party today - he epitomises the contradictions and the changes that have manifested themselves . It could be considered a source of wonderment how a party that has changed so much could still be led by the same people . ('1169....' Comment : we could supply a link here to another Leinster House-registered political party which "has changed so much [despite being] led by the same people... " [since 1986 , that is - when they registered themselves as a political party] , but we believe you know to whom we refer!)

What is now the Workers' Party has gone from a position of traditional militant republicanism to espousing an ideology which is ostensibly hard left . They also claim to have severed all links with their military tendency . However , the Official IRA is still active , mainly in Belfast .......
(MORE LATER).

GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE?
Close analysis of television news film of incidents last month at Emyvale suggests a garda's gun went off accidentally . But that is not what the Minister of Justice told the Dail .
GENE KERRIGAN looks at the evidence.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1987 .

Gardai very rarely fire their guns . When they do , their actions become the subject of public scrutiny ; the facts are required to be explained to Leinster House by the State Minister for Justice .

On Wednesday , May 11 1987 , Gerry Collins gave an account of incidents of two days previously , in Emyvale , County Monaghan , when a garda detective fired both from a submachine gun and a revolver . Collins' account denied the truth of what was evident from the TV news reports seen by hundreds of thousands of people . The garda's revolver was seen to have been discharged accidentally . As a result of what happened , two garda representative organisations have been drawn into conflict with one another over the facts and the interpretation of the facts .

The Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors have tangled with each other publicly as to whether the gun was fired accidentally or not . The incidents happened on the evening of Monday , May 11 , 1987 , at Emyvale , County Monaghan , when the body of James Lynagh , one of the eight IRA members killed in the ambush at Loughgall , was being carried through the town on its route from the North of Ireland to Monaghan . There was a confrontation between gardai and the Provisionals when the latter fired shots over Jim Lynagh's coffin .......
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

On 11th September , 1922 , Liam Mellows wrote to Austin Stack : -
" The unemployed question is acute . Starvation is facing thousands of people ; the official Labour Movement has deserted the people for the flesh-pots of Empire . The Free State government's attitude towards striking postal workers makes clear what its attitude towards workers generally will be . The situation created by all these must be utilised for the Republic . The position must be defined : FREE STATE - Capitalism and industrialism - Empire . REPUBLIC - Workers - Labour . "

There is strong evidence that Liam Mellows was very influenced by James Connolly and certainly they had a lot in common politically as is clear from these documents . For example , the connection between the national and social struggles and the sense of internationalism . As Desmond Greaves points out in his book - " In his analysis of the character of the proposed Free State he must surely have been one of the first to discuss the new methods of imperial domination ... " (subsequently christened 'neo-colonialism') .

His insistence on politics , his demand for a return to the masses as the basis of the revolution , for the political education of republican soldiers , and for the establishment of a new revolutionary government , show him to have been as Peadar O' Donnell justly remarked - " ...the richest mind our race has achieved for many a long day .. "
(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

In April 1987 , Workers Party boss Sean Garland wrote a fifteen-page letter to the editor of 'International Affairs' , a Moscow-based publication , in response to an article about the North of Ireland which had appeared in the paper . In his letter , Sean Garland stated that in 1969 "...the Provisionals began what has continued to this day , a vicious campaign of sectarian assassination .. " but , throughout the letter , there was barely a mention of the Official IRA - the army traditionally aligned to Official Sinn Fein , and what is now The Workers' Party .

In a comment on Bloody Sunday in 1972 , Sean Garland stated that the occasion "...provided the Provisionals and their allies with material to attempt to justify their own terrorist activities .. " . ('1169...' Comment : this ploy [ie the attempt to use the fact that there is opposition to a foreign power as 'justification' as to why that foreign power is there -'to keep the peace'] is still being employed by those in Leinster House against Republicans .) There was no mention of the Aldershot bombing , which was carried out by the Official IRA at the time : at Aldershot , which was the Official IRA response to Bloody Sunday , five cleaning women , a gardener and a priest were killed by a 280 pound bomb at the Parachute Regiment Headquarters .

Neither did Sean Garland tell 'International Affairs' of the fact that the Official IRA shot dead unionist politician Senator Jack Barnhill , or that they attempted to assassinate John Taylor , another unionist politician . Neither did Mr. Garland mention that the Official IRA killed dozens of British soldiers .......
(MORE LATER).

SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .
By Ursula Halligan.

'Magill' magazine understands that Sean O' Callaghan has recently done a volte face on the subject and is now privately denying that he murdered John Corcoran ; on January 5 last (1998) , Eileen Corcoran , widow of John Corcoran , spoke to RTE's Pat Kenny on his morning radio show about her frustration over the failure of the gardai to question O' Callaghan about his claims . Mrs. Corcoran told 'Magill' that she experienced a great response to the interview -

" So many people came up to me and said they heard me . Many said they never realised what I had been going through until then , " she said . However , Mrs. Corcoran said she was disappointed that the gardai had not contacted her following her interview with Pat Kenny .
[END of 'SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE']
(Tomorrow - 'GARDA GUN FIRE : WHO TO BELIEVE?' - from 1987.)

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

In a modified version of these documents addressed to Ernie O' Malley there are added two further sub-sections , one suggesting the immediate drafting of a Republican Constitution , presumably as an alternative to the Free State constitution , and the other headed 'Military' which declares the outstanding important questions to be intelligence , arms and ammunition , communications , and England . Liam Mellows wrote a further letter to Austin Stack on 11th September 1922 -

" A propos to what I wrote to you sometime ago : the events of the last few days have , I think , made it more clear that what I suggested should be done - it has done more , it has made it imperative . The Free State has shown by Saturday's performance that it was the Provisional Parliament provided by the Free State Act , and not the Third Dail that met .

Therefore the question arises at once - where is the Government of the Republic ? It must be found , Republicans must be provided with a rallying centre , and the Movement with a focussing point ....... "
(MORE LATER).

Monday, April 17, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

Belfast Workers' Party councillor Seamus Lynch last week called for full support for the RUC ; another Workers' Party spokesperson in Belfast , Mary McMahon , has consistently called for full support and co-operation with the RUC by nationalists . ('1169...' Comment : the 'Workers' Party' left the Republican Movement in 1969 and slowly began the metamorphosis into not only an anti-Republican political party , but an actual pro-British criminal gang : such was the price demanded for their admittance to the 'establishment' . Those same demands are being made again to a slightly different grouping , and will be conceeded to , again .)

But the current positions of both McMahon and Lynch contrast sharply with what De Rossa has said : in an interview with 'Gralton' magazine in October 1983 , * Prionsias De Rossa (* '1169....' Comment : who was then still with the 'Workers Party' - ie before he helped to form 'Democratic Left' and also before he joined the 'Labour Party' . That is , when he was only 'slightly constitutional' ... ) said - " We have policy , developed as far back as 1975 , of demanding the de-militarisation of the RUC . So we , in fact , give only qualified support to the RUC , with demands that it be reformed , de-militarised and have a complaints procedure etc " . This volte face , while it may appear insignificant on the surface , goes to the heart of the contradictions within the Workers' Party . ('1169....' Comment : the issue of 'policing' in the Six Counties is again causing contradictions for those who now follow in the footsteps of the 'Workers Party' . )

The Workers' Party have a tightly structured centralist organisation , with more or less the same people running the show for the past twenty-five years . One of the most influential of these has been Sean Garland , current General Secretary of the Workers' Party .......
(MORE LATER).

SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .
By Ursula Halligan.

Sean O' Callaghan , who has been living in Britain since his release from jail , told 'Magill' magazine he was always available to speak to the gardai and that his mobile phone number had been available to journalists for the last 12 months . In early December , 'Magill' gave the gardai his mobile-phone number . The garda who spoke to Sean O' Callaghan is the officer who was appointed over a year ago to investigate claims , first made by O' Callaghan in 1988 and repeated in interviews with 'The Sunday Times' and 'The Boston Globe' newspapers , that he murdered John Corcoran and that he warned the gardai several times that John Corcoran's life was in danger .

In the interview with 'The Sunday Times' in 1992 , O' Callaghan said he informed the gardai about Corcoran's abduction and where Corcoran was being held captive : he said - " When I returned , I removed Corcoran to a shed . I had him quiet and calm . He thought it was going to be a press conference . I wanted him to think that , because I fully expected gardai to arrive and all of us to be arrested and questioned . The police did not come , and three hours later I put a Beretta machine-pistol to Corcoran's head and shot him dead . "

However , when interviewed by 'Magill' in December 1997 , Sean O' Callaghan would neither confirm nor deny the previous accounts he gave to newspapers on how he murdered John Corcoran .......
(MORE LATER).

Friday, April 14, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .......
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

Tomas MacGiolla was born in Nenagh in 1924 and worked for the ESB between 1948 and 1977 . During the IRA Border Campaign of 1956-1962 he was interned for twenty-one months : publicly there was very little known of his military involvement during this period , if any .

It was he who led the party to the breakthrough * it achieved by getting 'TD's' elected in the November 1982 election , but the party has failed to capitalise on its initial successes ** and remains with only four elected members in Leinster House . ( */** '1169...' Comment - 'breakthrough' and 'success' ? For the personal wealth of those involved , certainly , but definitely not for any improvement in the political situation regarding Britains imposed border on this isle . A development that was to happen again.)

Prionsias De Rossa , hotly tipped as the next leader of the Workers' Party , was born in 1940 and joined the junior wing of the IRA when he was twelve . In 1957 , he joined Sinn Fein and worked to get Tom Mitchell elected to parliament ; Mitchell was a prisoner in Crumlin Road jail in Belfast at the time . De Rossa is respected within the Workers' Party , but he has gone on record with views which might be taken to be at odds with others within his organisation .......
(MORE LATER).

SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .
By Ursula Halligan.

IRA informer John Corcoran was an epileptic father of eight and a low level garda informant whose body was found in March 1985 in a field in south Kerry ; he had been shot in the head .

The Christmas issue of 'Magill' magazine revealed evidence that gardai knew in advance about plans for the murder but failed to intervene ; there was also evidence of garda reluctance to investigate the murders , including their failure to question Sean O' Callaghan while he was held in prison in the North for eight years for the murder of two members of the British 'security forces' and following his release in December 1996 .

'Magill' has now learned that last Monday , 19 January 1998 , a senior garda officer spoke to Sean O' Callaghan on Mr. O' Callaghan's mobile phone and requested an interview : Mr. O' Callaghan agreed , and it is expected that senior garda will travel to Britain next week to interview him about his role in the murder . Up until now , gardai have told 'Magill' that they were unable to contact O' Callaghan because they did not have his phone number. * ( * '1169...' Comment - Note to self : in order to avoid being 'contacted' by the gardai in future , make sure they don't have your phone number !)
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

" 5. Fianna : We must concentrate on youth - salvation of the country lies in this - both boys and girls . Fianna never get proper help or encouragement , yet the Fianna ideal can save the future . The reason for so many young soldiers going wrong is that they never had a proper grasp of the fundamentals : they were absorbed into the Movement and the fight - not educated into it . Hence no real convictions .

6. Food Control : Food supply will present a serious problem soon . The obstruction of roads , railways and communications will be intensified ; towns will feel it the worst . Some plan of rationing will have to be thought out and some person (a Labour man for preference) put in control . If the Republic is to win out against the Free State and the British we shall have to face the idea of people suffering many privations , but if the 'Food Control' scheme was worked out it will not be so bad . In fact , it would compel a change from the present wretched economic outlook and make them rely on their own resources .

Many things that are now looked on as necessities would have to be done without - tea , sugar , foreign flour etc - but oatmeal , oatflour , barley and other wholesome food would be used . As a matter of fact , Ireland suffered nothing (comparatively speaking) either during the Great War or our war . English people (and English women) cheerfully put up with severe deprivations and we Irish think our Cause worth putting up with anything . But do we ? Judging by the whines and grumbles , one is tempted sometimes to say 'Certainly not' " .
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, April 13, 2006

MacGIOLLA's GUERRILLAS .
Fifteen years ago , the leadership of the 'Official Republican Movement' (now 'The Workers' Party') stated that their armed wing , the 'Official IRA' , went out of existence .
Today , the 'Official IRA' is alive and well and living mainly in Belfast and Newry . In the days when both organisations were operating in an overt way , the leadership of 'The Workers' Party' and the 'Official IRA' overlapped to a certain degree .
Tomas MacGiolla , the man who led the 'Official IRA' for the last twenty-five years has always maintained the position that the 'Official IRA' went out of existence in 1972 . But the 'Official IRA' still march on , not an army fighting the British , but as a fund-collecting agency .
DEREK DUNNE traces the roots of the 'Official IRA' and 'The Workers' Party' .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , October 1987 .

Tomas MacGiolla took his organisation through some extraordinary changes in the quarter of a century that he was President : he was elected President of Sinn Fein without opposition in 1962 , and recently announced his imminent departure from the Presidency of the Workers' Party .

He presided over a party which had changed its name and its policies on a number of occasions , and has given the party a clean image * in the South at any rate . ('1169...' Comment : * .....a 'cleaner' image with some , perhaps : but never a 'clean' image.) His party came through the sixties with its sister , the IRA , and emerged into the 1980's to take seats in Leinster House .

It is arguable that it was time for Tomas MacGiolla to go , that he could bring the party no further , and that it was time for a younger man to take over . The party has always maintained that the Official IRA went out of existence in 1972 , after a ceasefire was called .......
(MORE LATER).

SEAN O' CALLAGHAN : AN UPDATE .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .
By Ursula Halligan.

State Justice Minister John O' Donoghue has received the garda report he ordered six months ago into claims by Sean O ' Callaghan , the IRA informer , that he murdered another IRA informer , John Corcoran , in 1985 . A spokesman said the minister received the report last week .

However , 'Magill' has learned that the gardai only contacted Sean O' Callaghan for the first time on Monday 19 January and that , at the time of going to press , he has still not been questioned by gardai . Following controversy early last year about the failure of the gardai to question Sean O' Callaghan about his role in the murder , the then opposition Fianna Fail spokesman , John O' Donoghue , promised to have the matter fully investigated on the party's return to power .

Two months ago , on December 8 (1997) , a spokesman for the minister told 'Magill' that the minister had sought a full report on the case from the garda authorities within weeks of coming into office and that a report was "...imminent....... "
(MORE LATER).

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

ON THE TAKE....... !
The question is no longer whether there is corruption within our political establishment but whether the political establishment is itself corrupt .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .

Capital Gains tax was reduced from 40 per cent to 20 per cent either to benefit the rich generally - on top of the benefit they gained by the reduction in the top rate of income tax - or perhaps for the benefit of a particular individual : either way , it is a disgrace , and particularly a disgrace given the paucity of the increases in social welfare and the deferral (again) of the implementation of the benefit , such as it was .

In that vivid phrase of the hapless Michael Lowry , the cosy cartels are indeed very cosy : they have three parties to represent their interests - Fianna Fail , the Progressive Democrats and Fine Gael and they have little to fear from a tame Labour Party and a timorous Democratic Left .
[END of 'ON THE TAKE'].
(Tomorrow : 'SEAN O' CALLAGHAN - AN UPDATE' . From 1998.)

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

Resuming his thoughts on propaganda , Liam Mellows wrote -

" (D). Dev's Work in America :
The time has now come for informing the Irish people what miracles de Valera accomplished there ; the attempt to belittle his work for Eire both here and abroad must be defeated . Dealing with America is a stupendous work , and tons of data is needed , but it will be labour well worth performing .

Show how it was the Republic , and the Republic only , that gained such sympathy for us there - that no other cause would have got the slightest hearing - that de Valera changed an ignorant and either apathetic or hostile people into genuine sympathisers in two years . He made the name of Ireland respected where it was despised , and the Irish Cause an ideal where it had been regarded as a political humbug .

Fr. Peter Elias Magennis of the Irish movement in America and the attitude generally of America and Americans towards Ireland at the time of Dev's coming (was all effected by him being there) .

(E). Life of Cathal Brugha :
A brief , but not a scrappy , account of above would , I think , do a lot of good . The account in 'The Bulletin' (Catholic) by Sceilg is splendid , but not detailed enough . The underlying idea should be that of 'Principle' , a word that at one time meant everything to , and conveyed everything of , the IRB . "
(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

THE EXTRADITION SELL-OUT .......
Should it become law as intended on December 1 next , The Irish Extradition Act will adversely affect the rights of many Irish citizens in the future .
COLM KEENA examines the implications of proposed legislation .
From 'In Dublin' magazine , 1 October 1987 .

One man who does not wish to be named says that some members of the Workers' Party might be concerned about being extradited up to the North , especially one member of the Ard Comhairle ('Ruling Body') whose signature closely resembles that of a man who has been signing cheques to do with an account in Newry which is believed to be connected with extortion and racketeering there .

At the end of July 1987 , Paddy Hill , one of the Birmingham Six , wrote a letter from HM Prison Gartree , where he is serving his sentence : he said that recent investigations into his conviction left him with no confidence of a change in the situation , and pointed out that the Dublin government has never expressed its belief in the mens' innocence .

Paddy Hill said that by reneging on their pledge not to implement the Extradition Act , Dublin was condemning "....Irish men and women to a lifetime of abuse and racial discrimination . To hand over Irish men or women to a British Court is to condemn them to a system where they will not receive a fair or impartial trial ; where they will be judged and sentenced by the British media before they even set foot inside a court . "
(MORE LATER).

ON THE TAKE....... !
The question is no longer whether there is corruption within our political establishment but whether the political establishment is itself corrupt .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .

Over the last year alone (ie 1997) the value of the estimated £8 billion worth of shares owned by private investors on the Irish Stock Exchange would have increased by about £200 million : the tax on this realisable gain alone has been cut by £40 million but , of course , the capital gain on such stock would be far greater than £40 million , taking the gain over the last several years .

And this capital gain represents only a fraction of the capital gain generated generally in the economy - it does not include , for instance , the capital gain from investment in property : therefore , the benefit to the rich by this tax reduction is probably of the order of £100 million , although Charlie McCreevy stated that the cost to the State exchequer in a single year was only £19 million ..... !
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

Letter from Liam Mellows , dated 29th August 1922 :
" Continuing mine of 26th inst (Number 1) ; before doing so , however , I wish to point out that the matter of establishing a Provisional Republican Government has become imperative because of the probability of the English taking a hand sooner or later - no doubt they will continue to make use of Irishmen as long as the latter can be duped or dazzled by the Free State idea .

But even to this there will be an end , and then the British will , by using the arguments against the republicans that the Free State now use , cloud the issue greatly ; for the British to calumniate republicans and belittle their cause by besmirching them is one thing , but for Free Staters (and supposed potential republicans) to do it is another - and different , and worse thing .

Because the British will not use British arguments to cloak their actions , but Irish ones - ' out of our own mouths ' - etc . ('1169....' Comment - Westminster and those in Leinster House must be delighted that their 'pet rebels' are doing that job for them today : witness their constant attempted 'dismissal' of Irish Republicans as "dissidents" .) Therefore an object - a target - must be presented for the enemy (Free Staters or British) to hit at : otherwise it becomes a fight (apparently) between individuals . Hence the necessity of getting the Provisional Republican Government established at once ."
(MORE LATER).

Monday, April 10, 2006

THE EXTRADITION SELL-OUT .......
Should it become law as intended on December 1 next , The Irish Extradition Act will adversely affect the rights of many Irish citizens in the future .
COLM KEENA examines the implications of proposed legislation .
From 'In Dublin' magazine , 1 October 1987 .

Professor Mary McAleese is against the Extradition Act in principle , and does not like the 'selling off' of that Act in return for British changes requested by the Dublin government .

A spokesman for the Workers' Party says that the Diplock Courts are hardly much different from this State's Special Criminal Courts , and points out that the Guildford , Birmingham and Maguire cases all happened in jury trials ; and anyway , the WP spokesman says , the Extradition Act is unsatisfactory , and should be amended to include a requirement for prima facie evidence .

That will require a vote in Leinster House ; The Workers' Party and the Progressive Democrats say that they will vote in favour of such an amendment . Mary McAleese stated : " The Irish government (sic) seems to have taken the line of least resistance , which is surprising * in the light of the existing situation " . ( * '1169...' Comment - the only 'surprising' thing about that is that Mary McAleese should find it surprising.)

Republican spokespeople and members of the Anti-Extradition Campaign say they believe that the RUC have a list of some 300 to 600 people living in the 26 County State that they would like to extradite up to the North to 'question' .......
(MORE LATER).

ON THE TAKE....... !
The question is no longer whether there is corruption within our political establishment but whether the political establishment is itself corrupt .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .

The second of these decisions was the refusal to permit the Moriarty Tribunal to investigate the source of all funds in the Ansbacher Accounts - these were held in a Dublin bank , where the holders of the deposits were un-named , where the monies had been routed through London , the Cayman Islands and then back to Dublin !

In this (ie the refusal) Fianna Fail was supported by its partners in government , the Progressive Democrats , and by Fine Gael : Fine Gael is now busily trying to 'rewire' its involvement in that piece of infamy . The third decision was the announcement in the budget of a reduction in the rate of capital gains tax , from 40 per cent to 20 per cent : the scale of this tax change is staggering - in one fell swoop , a government that made such a fuss about reducing the top and standard rates of income tax by two percentage points reduced the tax that most affects the rich by a full 20 per centage points !

At present , private investors on the Irish Stock Exchange own shares to an estimated value of £8 billion.......
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

" The Irish hierarchy are blood-guilty ; they were against the 1916 Easter Rising , with their denunciation of Padraig Pearse , who was the great example of Christian idealism . The hierarchy only opposed Conscription when forced to do so by the attitude of the people . That same hierarchy were against the IRA during 'the Terror' in Ireland - witness Bishop Cohalan's excommunication decree of December 1920 . That hierarchy's abandonment of principle , justice and honour by their support for the Treaty , and the danger caused to Catholicism in Ireland from their bad example : their exaltation of deceit and hypocrisy , their attempt to turn the noble aspect of Irish struggle and bring it to the level of putrid politics , their admission that religion is something to be preached about from the pulpits on Sundays , but never put into practice in the affairs of the Nation , their desertion of Ulster etc . 'Sceilg' could , I think , do the above best !

Excuse the change of writing : I had to get the above copied by someone else from a letter I am sending to Sighle , lest anything should happen to this one . I will close up now , but will continue ideas on propaganda and other things tomorrow . "
Regards , L.O'M .
Provisional Government :
The ideas developed under 3. (A) , (B) and (C) , were continued in a further letter despatched on 29th August 1922 .......
(MORE LATER).

Friday, April 07, 2006

THE EXTRADITION SELL-OUT .......
Should it become law as intended on December 1 next , The Irish Extradition Act will adversely affect the rights of many Irish citizens in the future .
COLM KEENA examines the implications of proposed legislation .
From 'In Dublin' magazine , 1 October 1987 .

The Workers Party and the Progressive Democrats seem to be willing to indulge in the 'selling off' of the new arrangements in return for 'advances' in the cases of the Birmingham Six , the Guildford Four and Annie Maguire . Recently , Labour MP Chris Mullin , who has long been campaigning on behalf of the Birmingham Six , said that he was surprised that the Haughey government was going to implement the new extradition laws while there was still no significant progress in the three cases which have been of concern to * the Dublin government for some time . ( * '1169...' Comment : a good example of their level of 'concern' . )

Chris Mullin said that he had discussed the cases with Charles Haughey and Brian Lenihan in October 1986 , and he was now surprised that they were "...so easily satisfied . I do wish the Irish government would be a bit more robust , " he said . Chris Mullin has long been campaigning to "...tip the balance of inconvenience .. " so as to make it more embarrassing for the British government to keep these people in prison , than it would be to admit that its courts got it wrong .

Professor Mary McAleese said - " The experiences of the Guildford Four , the Birmingham Six and Annie Maguire are precisely the sort of things that a country should worry about when extraditing its citizens to a jurisdiction with that sort of track record . I would be considerably concerned about these matters being outstanding , and the 'Act' going through . "
(MORE LATER).

ON THE TAKE....... !
The question is no longer whether there is corruption within our political establishment but whether the political establishment is itself corrupt .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .

The 'on the take' malaise is represented perhaps best by three extraordinary decisions taken by Fianna Fail-led governments in recent years : the first of these decisions was the tax amnesty of 1993 , whereby tax defrauders were given a total amnesty on payment of just 15 per cent of the tax they owed to the State and a guarantee of absolute confidentiality hereafter !

The scale of this benefit to the richest in society cannot now be quantified , but it may be assumed with confidence that it was massive - but of more concern is what motivated the introduction of the tax amnesty in the first place : was it done to accommodate a single mega-rich taxpayer who was in trouble with the Revenue Commissioners and whose generosity to Fianna Fail and perhaps to individuals within the party was considerable ?

So troubled was the then Minister for Finance , Bertie Ahern , with the proposal to introduce the scheme that he considered resignation , and he was talked out of it only by a representative of the Labour Party , which was then in government with Bertie Ahern's party , Fianna Fail ; how ironic that a Fianna Fail finance minister should be encouraged to accept a measure that was so manifestly unfair by a representative of a party that purports to represent the quintessence of fairness !
(MORE LATER).

LIAM MELLOWS AND THE IRISH CIVIL WAR .......
This is the bulk of a public lecture given at University College , Galway , by Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member and Deputy General Secretary of the 'Local Government and Public Services Union' , Phil Flynn , on December 8th 1982 , the 60th Anniversary of the Free State's execution of Liam Mellows .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

POINT 3 (b) : Work of the Republic -
" To show it was - and is - a reality . This is an antidote to the hypocrites who now pretend that it never existed . Some pamphlets have already been published by direction of the Dail last year showing how the Republic functioned - Courts , Land Settlements , Decrees etc . These were sold for 6d each , I think , and they could be reproduced or used again . The 'Bulletin' , published by D/Publicity all through the war up to the signing of the Treaty does , I think , contain heaps of dates .

POINT 3 (c) : Hierarchy -
Invariably wrong in Ireland in their political outlook ie against the people in 1798 . Frs. Murphy (2) , Roche , Kearns , excommunicated by the then Bishop of Ferns : against Emmet , "condoning outrage" . Against Young Irelanders , "Godless young men " , support of Sadlier and Keogh , against the Fenians - Dr. Cullen , Bishop Moriarty : "Hell not hot enough or eternity long enough ... " . Against Sinn Fein , against the Irish Volunteers . Supported England in European War , 1914 , morally to blame for the deaths of thousands of Irish youths in France , Flanders , Mesopotamia , Gallipoli , Macedonia etc : nothing can condone this - the European War was a hideous holocaust on the alter of Mammon , a struggle between Europe for power . "
(MORE LATER).