1169 And Counting.....

Saturday, March 03, 2007

IRISH BLOG AWARDS , SATURDAY MARCH 3 , 2007.

Congratulations to all those attending the Award Ceremony in The Alexander Hotel in Dublin today !

We were almost there ourselves but were fouled by the opposition (ie they got more votes than we did!) but intend to use this non-award time in the best possible way - by working on Monday's blog ! In the words of a favourite author of mine - " Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend , but it requires a very fine nature - it requires , in fact , the nature of a true individualist - to sympathise with a friend's success ."

Once again , Bloggers - enjoy your day !

Sharon .

Friday, March 02, 2007

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

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

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : " On that point , how can you justify supporting the IRA's violence ? "

GERRY ADAMS : " Well , first of all , Sinn Fein's position is much more honest and logical than Fianna Fail's position . If Charlie Haughey says to you - ' The six county state is not a viable social or economic entity , the British government have no right to be there and British troops should leave ...' , the honest and logical conclusion to that is : ' If you live there * and you want to have a clatter at them , I wouldn't object ' . ('1169...' Comment - why confine "having a clatter at them" to those that live in the Six Counties ? It's an issue which effects everyone on the isle .) Now we take the view that the Irish people have the right to national self-determination . We think that people around the world , which includes the Irish , have the right to decide their own tactics (....once Messers. Ahern , Blair , Bush and Paisley approve , of course..) and to use armed struggle if need be. Other parties say its all right to do it in El Salvador , Nicaragua , Palestine or South Africa , but 'you can't do it in Ireland' . We say it's not only ok for all those people , but it's also ok for Irish people. "
(MORE LATER).

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

Raymond Gilmour's sister stood up in the court : " Your honour , can my mother not speak to Raymond ? She hasn't seen him for a year . " The RUC moved quickly to where she was standing : " Your honour " , she repeated , clearly and not shouting , " can my mother not speak to Raymond ?" The RUC were on top of her by now , grabbing her , pulling her , pushing her , and she shouted in protest and one of them lifted her bodily off the bench and stumbled with her down the aisle , and she was pulling his hair and his cap was falling to the ground and her splayed body was horizontally blocking the doorway but RUC reinforcements pushed and shoved and punched her through the doorway , with great noise .

The second sister was by now on her feet , pleading that her younger sister be left alone , the plea turning into shouted fear and anger , and even as she shouted the RUC were rushing towards her , descending on her , coming at her from both sides , pushing and punching , not able to grab her whole body because she was in the middle of the row , with friends on either side , but for one long dreadful moment her arms were tugged out on either side of her , like a crucifixion without a cross or nails and then she was pulled head first over the benches and down , over the head of the third sister who had by now risen to her feet too , and was trying to stop the passage of her sister's body above her , but she was also grabbed by the RUC and the two of them were beaten in a melee of RUC uniforms out of the door.

Meanwhile , John Gilmour , the eldest boy in the family , was on his feet in the courtroom.......
(MORE LATER).

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

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

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

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY ('IN DUBLIN' magazine) : " The so-called 'northern question' is one of the main planks of Sinn Fein's policies . But do you think , Gerry , that people in the twenty-six counties either know anything about it or , more importantly , care about it ? "

GERRY ADAMS (politician) : " Well , it depends on what part of the country you're in , but there's absolutely no resentment towards us . I have canvassed extensively in Dublin and found no antagonism against Sinn Fein at all . There are people who disagree with us - but with only two exceptions , I haven't come across any rudeness . For example , we were getting a good response in Dun Laoghaire, which is a traditionally Fine Gael area . The point that I've been making is that people think we have two heads and when they discover we haven't it comes as a pleasant surprise . Now that doesn't mean they become enthusiastic republicans but it does mean that there's no problem in Sinn Fein coming along and saying - 'Yeah , we support the IRA' . I think we have come to the stage where there is no abhorrence , but neither is there wild enthusiasm . "
(MORE LATER).

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

Martin McGuinness, elected (abstentionist) Sinn Fein Assembly member for Derry , had earlier escorted Mrs Gilmour to a seat which afforded a relatively central view of her son , whom she had not seen for twelve months . Everybody else including her other son and three daughters was herded into a section against the wall , well to the blind side of , and behind , the witness box . The RUC had been posted one to each end of the vacant rows , in the other section , like recalcitrant theatre-goers refusing to let people pass once the show has started . McGuinness and Mrs. Gilmour , though excepted , were immediately marooned in a sea of green uniforms . ('1169...' Comment - .....and , once again , McGuinness finds himself 'marooned' with the RUC for company . But this time he's on their side .)

Mrs. Gilmour rose now as her son spoke , stepped past McGuinness , past the RUC , out into the ailse , down the stairs and then turned left to the exit door . Her son was gazing at a spot below the magistrate's bench . She was gazing at the door , their backs to each other . " Raymond , " she called softly over her shoulder , but not looking over her shoulder , " Raymond , son , you know I'm here . I can't listen anymore to you saying them things about your friends . " Her head drooped , but even as it drooped and the door opened before her , he was on his feet , on his way out without a backward glance , out by his own 'special door' , which had also opened , accompanied by his two Special Branch minders , the three of them moving in perfect stepped unison , like men who had practised barracks 'square drilling' , and Raymond Gilmour was gone from the courtroom in perfect timed tandem with his mother , though in an opposite direction .

The British magistrate sat as unregarded as any priest on the altar who has watched the congregation walk out before he had given 'permission' . But then Raymond Gilmour's sister stood up and broke that silence.......
(MORE LATER).

NEW DEPARTURES FOR SINN FEIN....... ?
Sinn Fein's recent election success in the North of Ireland have focussed attention on the Provisionals' new turn to political activity at local level . There have been parallel developments in the organisation in the 26 counties .
'GRALTON' magazine spoke to Paddy Bolger , Ard Comhairle member and National Organiser for Sinn Fein ,with special responsibility for Dublin , about the changed perspective .
From 'GRALTON' magazine , August/September 1983 .

'GRALTON' magazine : " You referred earlier to the need to take steps to prevent the rapid influx of people with political expectations you couldn't meet , perhaps looking for some instant success (? ? ?) . Has Sinn Fein had a problem with the turnover of members since those periods , notably during the hunger strike, when it was the focus for young people in Dublin who were looking for action ? Are you now consciously looking for a different kind of recruit ? "

PADDY BOLGER : " Particularly after Francis Hughes died on hunger strike (....even in death the British RUC/PSNI would not let the man rest) there was a lot of young people , particularly from the poorer districts of Dublin , coming on to the demonstrations . Most of them accepted the republican position about keeping the demonstrations peaceful , about keeping militancy controlled . Most of them then went away again when the hunger strike ended . It wasn't all that different from the North , except that up there we have been able to give that support a political focus - because of our dominance in so many areas , to turn it into the beginning of a mass political movement .

The problem in the South is that we haven't been able to provide that focus . A lot of young people who did join the campaign as activists , and not just for the demonstrations , were driven away by the police . We suffer greatly from police harassment. Most of the people we have now as activists are essential activists , the same people as we had in 1977 who weren't scared away by the repression under the Coalition Leinster House administration. Many of the H-Block action groups which might have developed into Sinn Fein cumainn - and that would have been a natural progression - were broken up by police action . Since the successes in the North and since the realisation that we might become a serious political force down here , some of the best of those people have started to come back .

We are quite convinced that if we could make ourselves credible electorally - well , at least initially , electorally - a lot of the support the hunger strike had in Dublin would come to us . The next local government elections are our immediate targets in that regard . "
(MORE LATER).

Monday, February 26, 2007

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

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

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

The medium doesn't match the message at Sinn Fein's offices in Dublin but , having survived the rough and tumble of republican politics in Belfast , this is no bespectacled revolutionary in front of you .

Thirty-three year-old Gerry Adams was born in Leeson Street in the Falls but grew up in Ballymurphy - " That's a large housing estate on the outskirts which would roughly correspond to Tallaght in Dublin, with even fewer facilities , if that's possible " , he says with a wry smile . Aside from politics , his main interests are music and sport : " I'm still waiting for Antrim to win a football All-Ireland, " he says .

Gerry Adams was involved in the civil rights campaign ('1169...' Comment .........and obviously believed that that was what it was all about!) and was interned during the early 1970's. Now President of Sinn Fein ('1169...' Comment .....up until 1986 , when he helped to lead a group of dissident nationalists out of the Movement and in to Leinster House..) , he gave the following interview to 'IN DUBLIN' magazine last month . His growing up in his early years in the West Belfast area are chronicled along with local history in his book 'Falls Memories' (Brandon 1983).

The Sinn Fein vote hovers at around ten per cent in the Six Counties but was under five per cent in Dublin in the local elections in June this year (1985), one of the issues we discussed in the following interview.......
(MORE LATER).

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

A defence solicitor comes to his feet and says that he cannot hear the witness . He can't see him either ! The same solicitor had made the same point two weeks previously about Michael Quigley , another Derryman , who had also informed on Derrymen , many of whom were now in the dock once more , accused by Raymond Gilmour . On that past occasion , British Magistrate John Petrie had disallowed the plea , and Quigley had remained hidden behind his Special Branch 'minders', for " ...reasons of security.." .

Michael Quigley , fully visible only to the press , had given evidence from eleven in the morning until five in the afternoon , and he had kept his eyes trained on a spot below the magistrate , never deviating , and had kept his arms folded , sitting well back in his chair , only unfolding his arms four times during those six hours . The informer Michael Quigley had been under fierce taunting during cross examination and his face had been as immobile as an identikit picture . Raymond Gilmour , though not now under cross examination , sat forward when the solicitor protested and looked at him , and one of his 'minders' moved back into the aisle whilst the other stepped slightly aside so that everybody in the court could see him clearly , if only in profile .

Gilmour did not look beyond or around the protesting solicitor : he said something , his face turned back to the magistrate , so it is certain that he did not see his mother stand up from her seat.......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, February 24, 2007

BRIEF REPORT ON THE TWO DUBLIN PROTEST MARCHES HELD ON SATURDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2007 :

One of the placards carried by an RSF protestor outside Croke Park on Saturday , February 24 , 2007 .
Incidentally - and apparently , under "...Section Eight of the Criminal Justice Bill 2004..." (which was quoted and used by the Gardai against the protestors outside Croke Park) a member of the State Gardai can deem it an 'offence' to put the hood of your jacket up and can not only request , demand and/or insist that you remove your hood , but can - and did at the protest , a number of times - actually physically pull your hood down . The rain on Saturday , February 24 , at Croke Park was heavy and prolonged and the Gardai took great delight in pulling down the jacket hoods of the protestors and telling them that , should they put the hood back up , they would be arrested immediately . However , those with umbrellas were left unmolested.......

John Horan , Republican Sinn Fein , Dublin , photographed today outside the Garden Of Remembrance, Parnell Square , Dublin .

At approximately 12.15pm , RSF members and supporters gathered at the Parnell Monument in O'Connell Street (near Parnell Square) holding banners in support of the 'Shell 2 Sea' campaign , whose protest march was due to leave from outside the Garden of Remembrance at 2pm . There was about one dozen RSF people at the Parnell Monument when , at approximately 1.20pm , a Garda Superintendent and nine of his fellow uniformed colleagues bustled their way into the centre of the RSF people and announced that they were all under arrest for breaching the 'Public Order Act' !

The Gardai were immediately challenged on their assertion , and replied that this particular RSF gathering "....was an illegal street meeting held without notification to the proper authorities.." . 'Verbals' ensued between both groups , with the RSF people insisting that they would not be detered from showing their support for the 'S2S' campaigners , and the Superintendent and his colleagues demanding that the RSF group should proceed to the white Garda 'Transit'-type van (parked outside the Parnell Mooney pub a few metres away) or else they would be man-handled to the vehicle . It should be noted here that no traffic was being blocked by the RSF people , nor was there trouble of any kind , before the Gardai arrived on the scene .
Eventually - after more brief discussion - a compromise was reached : the dozen or so RSF team were 'allowed' by the Gardai to continue with their peaceful picket on a spot which was practically just across the road (nearer to the Ambassador Cinema site than they had originally been) and the Superintendent and his colleagues 'escorted' the RSF people to their 'new' position ! The combined group had barely taken a few steps when the Gardai stood in front of one of the RSF supporters and accused him , amongst other things , of being "cheeky" . The young lad in question was surrounded by the Gardai , roughly searched and told he would be immediately arrested if he was seen in the city centre anytime that day !

In the event , the RSF people decided to add their presence to the numbers already gathered a few metres up the road , nearer to the Garden Of Remembrance . The Superintendent and his men did not object.....

Republican Sinn Fein had approximately fifty members and supporters on the 'S2S' protest march , but left said march early to make their way to Croke Park for the picket which they were holding there to highlight - for one thing - the fact that the visiting team were representative of a country which continues to claim jurisdiction over Irish territory . Again , an 'escort' was provided by about one-hundred Gardai : on arrival at the protest site - by which time the RSF contingent now numbered approximately 100 people - a group of RSF members and supporters , who had travelled separately to that area , brought the number of protestors to between 100 and 150 people . The protest was lively , colourful , loud - and peaceful , despite the predictions of doom announced and forecast by the majority of media commentators . Dozens of flags , banners and posters were held aloft by the protestors in the , by now , heavy rainfall . A letter explaining the reasons for the protest was (as near as possible!) handed in to the GAA Office , and Ruairi Mor O Bradaigh and Des Dalton delivered a fine principled speech and/or interviews to the dozen or so media representatives present .
Also , it was particularly heartening to see a group from the IRSP standing , with their own banner , shoulder-to-shoulder with other Irish Republicans at this protest.
The Garda Riot Squad and their 'ordinary' uniformed colleagues , and their 'betters' in the Special Branch (political police) 'provided' an 'escort' out of the area for the protestors , when the latter had decided that they had made their point .
All in all - apart from the weather (!) it was a day well spent , in putting across a message that needs to be put across : that , as long as any foreign entity claims jurisdiction over any part of this island , there will be those amongst us who will object . No amount of 'sporting fixtures' or other such 'niceties' will change that fact , and no amount of State harassment will prevent us from doing so !

Sharon.

TWO DESERVING PROTESTS TODAY :

Shell to Sea will be holding a national rally in Dublin today ,Saturday 24th March , 2007 .
The march will assemble at the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square at 2pm and proceed down O'Connell St, around D'Olier St and back to the GPO where it will be addressed by speakers from the Trade Union movement, the Rossport community and the Rossport solidarity camp. The event will be chaired by a representative of Dublin Shell to Sea.
All supporters, members and affiliates of the campaign are asked to attend and lend their support.
For further information contact-
dublinshelltosea@yahoogroups.com

CROKE PARK :PICKET ON IRELAND/ENGLAND RUGBY MATCH .

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2007 .

RSF Croke Park protest-
Those wishing to protest at the playing of God Save the Queen (English national anthem) and the flying of the English flag in Croke Park whilst England continues to occupy part of Ireland should assemble at the junction of North Circular Road and Summerhill Parade near the Sunset House pub on Saturday, February 24 at 3.30pm.

Friday, February 23, 2007

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

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

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

The centre of Belfast , with its shopping precincts , resembles Dublin . The iron gates to the shopping areas are unmanned now and most shops have dispensed with searching their customers . The affluent and the trendy shop freely and the atmosphere seems no different to that of the city two hours' train journey away to the South .

This article is an examination of the phenomenon of Sinn Fein north and south of the border and was researched by talking to the party's workers both in Belfast and in Dublin's suburbs . However its major concern is an interview with Mr. Gerry Adams MP , given before the present furore about the BBC's Martin McGuinness (pictured here, with other Westminster employees) interview . A Sinn Fein spokesman last week said it is an 'insult to people's intelligence ' not to screen interviews with Sinn Fein and that people should be let make up their own minds . The interview with Gerry Adams , which we will shortly get to , is published verbatim .

Looking at Gerry Adams MP , you find it hard to visualise him as the political end of the 'Armalites and ballot-box' strategy of the Provisional IRA . Sitting in front of you in short sleeves , steel-rimmed glasses topping a ready grin , he doesn't resemble Michael Noonan's nightmares of Ian Paisley's 'Anti-Christ' . The credibility of 'The Sunday Times's' assertion that he is commander-in-chief of the IRA is also stretched . ('1169...' Comment - ....we now know that Mr Adams was never even in the PIRA, never mind being a leading figure in said organisation . Why the very idea......)
(MORE LATER).

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

If you came from Derry , as all the defendants and their relatives did , and all the defence solicitors did , and two of the journalists did , and Raymond Gilmour did , his halting evidence was like a slow and gentle journey round the town .

First he went to Hugh Duffy's house in Lislane Drive - of course you mentally nod , there's Hugh sitting over there , know that street well , know his mother too - a widow woman , worked as a cleaner for a while in the schools , what's she doing now , you wonder - and then Raymond Gilmour says Hugh sent him over to Ducksie Doherty's house ..... hello Ducksie , instinctively your head nods in greeting to him : grand nick-name that , terrific smile Ducksie , he's all teeth . And then Gilmour ended up in McCann's fish and chip shop down in the Brandywell. McCann's , a location to conjure with , the place where you go after bingo or a dance in the Lourdes Community Hall, a terrific place to hang around on a mild late summer's night , its glass windows comfortingly lit up during the winter .

Then Raymond mentions a street in the Brandywell , not all that familiar really - the area is being reconstructed by the day , with new housing everywhere - and , as you puzzle this one you are jerked back into the courtroom : the rifle was hidden under a concrete block , "...there was a green tile over the block , lino over the tile , and the cooker was on top of that.." . Raymond says he was taken into the bathroom and shown how to use the rifle : " There was frosted glass in the bathroom window so no one could see through it ..." He named the men and women in that house , in that kitchen , on that day . It could be true , it might not be true . " Sorry , your honour , " Raymond Gilmour says , conversationally , " ....I forgot to mention Cathy Miller and Betty McSheffrey . They had been there , too ....... "
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

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

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

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

Do young people of one religion ever meet those of another socially ? People on all sides looked at me with polite disdain : they all know that they only ever meet in very formal school situations and none believe that contact of this type will solve the 'Troubles' . One nationalist woman told me - " It's like saying 'if you got the children of the contras and the Sandinistas together that the problems of Nicaragua would be solved' " .

When you leave the Sinn Fein offices the reality of Belfast becomes apparent - an eight-man patrol of young , nervous British soldiers weaved their way from side to side up the street , now and then crouching in doorways , their FN rifles at the ready . The few local people about - mostly old , for it's an old area - hurried about their business oblivious to everything that was happening .

If Dublin has been described by some commentators as resembling London in the Blitz, then Belfast , both in the Falls and the Shankill Road , is more like Dresden. Large tracts of land resemble the most tumbledown areas of Dublin's North Quays - old men and women hurry along the streets of terraced houses left standing and small groups of youths gather at the street corners.......
(MORE LATER).

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

Raymond Gilmour shunned looks and he sat concealed , and he did not look up into the public gallery , where his mother sat , and his three sisters and his brother . His father was not there - he was taken into custody (link here - see near end of page) by the Provisional IRA after Raymond Gilmour turned informer , and no one but the IRA knows where he is , and they have said they will kill him if Raymond Gilmour does not retract his evidence .

On Monday morning , July 25 , at twenty minutes past eleven , after the British crown prosecution had outlined the bones of the case , Raymond Gilmour started to give evidence : for one hour he spoke , but not in a rush , and not in an unbroken flow . First the prosecution , taking his cue from a very thick dossier that looked like an unbound novel - Gilmour's statements to the RUC - asked a question - " On the afternoon of ... were you.... " and as he spoke a woman seated below the magistrate typed out the question .

If she did not get the full question she asked the prosecutor to repeat it and he did , and then she read it back to him to be sure . Then Raymond Gilmour answered the question and the woman typed as he spoke , and sometimes she'd ask him to repeat a phrase.......
(MORE LATER).

Monday, February 19, 2007

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

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

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

Barbara De Brun, Sinn Fein's press officer in Belfast , has an office up the winding stairs from where you can see the derelict sites which make up large tracts of West Belfast . The problems of the young in Belfast are exactly the same as those in Dublin - lack of jobs and money , bad housing and few facilities . She says the big difference is that they have to suffer constant harassment from the British army and 'security forces'.

Anyone in Belfast will tell you that the big difference between growing up in the two cities is that young people rarely go into town - nightclubs and cinemas are unused by the young , who fear to leave their own areas , and this is particularly true of the nationalist areas . The 'Fair Employment Agency' there recently reported that , even after all the controversy over employment at the Short Brothers Plant, only one of the eight apprentices taken on this year was a nationalist .

Social workers in the city tell a story of growing deprivation on all sides in the city , with people falling into a vicious circle of more and more debt : they owe money for electricity and this is automatically debited from their welfare payments , leaving them owing more under the 'Payment of Debt (Emergency Provisions) Act', which is only in force in the Six Counties . In areas like the Divis Flats there is high mortality rate for infants , high incidence of spina bifida, and many people suffer from pulmonary diseasea.......
(MORE LATER).

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

Raymond Gilmour did not look like Raymond Gilmour : as lately as twelve months ago he looked just like the prisoners in the dock , the young men and women from the Bogside and the Creggan among whom he had grown up , with many of whom he had socialised , with one of whom he had been drinking in a bar on the night before the RUC came to his Creggan home and loaded him and his wife and children into an armoured car and their furniture into a removal lorry and took them into 'protective custody' .

Later that morning the RUC returned to the Creggan and took away the man with whom Raymond Gilmour had been drinking , charged him with a great many things and charged a great many other people as well . That man and the others in the dock looked now like they had always looked , as Raymond Gilmour had always used to look - like part of a working-class crowd , in tee-shirts and plain sweaters , with plain haircuts , with pale faces or a ruddy complexion , the odd tattoo on a forearm , and jeans and scuffed shoes , which were occasionally visible when they leaned back in their chairs and rested a foot on the rail of the dock .

Raymond Gilmour , fully visible to the press alone , was beautifully dressed in a tailored slim-line dark blue suit : his shirt was a brand new gleaming white one , the striped silver and dark red tie a little too glittering perhaps . His skin was evenly tanned , the newly grown black beard trimmed neatly to his jawline . His hair was glossy , parted in the middle , but blow-dried so that it rose softly above the parting and fell gently on either side . His finger-nails were manicured . He looked , as they say in Derry , a 'credit....'
(MORE LATER).

Friday, February 16, 2007

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS.

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

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

A wet morning in Belfast . The passengers who boarded the eight o' clock train in Dublin turn up their collars against the stubborn drizzle . The drivers of the big black taxis cluster in the concourse of Central Station looking for business - but not my sort of business : " The Falls, that's where you want to go ? " replies one taxi driver on hearing my destination . " Hang on a minute , we'll see if anyone will take you..."

Finally , after a careful examination , one of the dozen drivers agrees to take me there . Sammy , chatty but alert , says few other drivers would take you to West Belfast, and none operate there except the drivers of the Catholic taxis who operate a shuttle service up the Falls Road . Ten minutes later he drops me off with directions on how to reach the city centre on my return and where the best value is for shopping - " You want to watch out , you could get shot around here " , he says , joking . I think .

Sinn Fein's offices in Belfast are in a squat concrete building at 51-53 Falls Road , surrounded by steel grilles and barbed wire . The first step to entering is through an electrically-opened gate then , having been examined , through a heavy steel door . Down the hall there is a room with the notice - 'Ciuneas : rang ar siul' on the door . There the elderly drivers inspect the racing pages while they wait for parcels to be handed in to be brought to Long Kesh for IRA prisoners . Relatives bring newspapers and other items daily . Murals cover the walls of the office showing men in balaclavas and combat jackets carrying machine guns and tributes to 'the men behind the wire' are fixed to the wall beside them.......
(MORE LATER).

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

Magistrate John Fyffe said dispassionately - " If there is any disruption by any member of the public , or any relative - any person guilty of disruption or harassment will be excluded from the court ." He sat back and the door in the wall to his right , a few steps up , opened : three men in civilian clothes came out and down , quickly , smoothly , and were in place below the magistrate , still on his right , within seconds . The third man was Raymond Gilmour.

He could not easily be seen from the body of the court . He sat into the chair in the witness box , effectively at ground level , and the two 'civilians' , members of the RUC Special Branch, stood shoulder to shoulder with their backs against the box , staring out and up into the body of the courtroom . The 28 prisoners in the raised dock , and their relatives packed into benches behind them - that rose even higher like seats in a football stand - were faced with a human curtain.......
(MORE LATER).

NEW DEPARTURES FOR SINN FEIN....... ?
Sinn Fein's recent election success in the North of Ireland have focussed attention on the Provisionals' new turn to political activity at local level . There have been parallel developments in the organisation in the 26 counties .
'GRALTON' magazine spoke to Paddy Bolger , Ard Comhairle member and National Organiser for Sinn Fein ,with special responsibility for Dublin , about the changed perspective .
From 'GRALTON' magazine , August/September 1983 .

'GRALTON' magazine : " Do you not recognise that this concern for electoral achievement imposes certain patterns of work and obligations to engage in 'service politics' ?* Is that a price you reckon you have to pay ?" ('1169...' Comment * ie 'Clientelism' , where a local political representative promises , for example , that he/she can get the street light outside your house fixed faster than the political rep from the other party : in other words , 'jobs' that can be organised by the house-holder themselves if they could be bothered . All Leinster House parties depend on 'Joe and Josephine Soap' NOT being bothered .)

PADDY BOLGER : " The problem that the left here and through-out Europe has to face is that in a non-revolutionary situation - and that's what we have in the 26 Counties - you can't always advance as far along the lines of your programme as you would like . We are very conscious of the dangers of slipping into reformism. At the moment , we are providing in Dublin what could be called a 'clientelism service' , but it is better and more principled (translation: '....we get it done quicker than the other crowd..' !) than the service which the other parties are providing , including the Workers' Party. We see this simply as a means of establishing our presence and our credibility in the areas . People are extremely cynical of all parties .

We do not believe that revolutionary sloganising , however correct its content , will produce results . ('1169...' Comment : depending on how you rate 'playing the constitutional game' [ie a 'success' or a 'distraction from the main issue'] this could or could not be described as "getting results" . We view it, and those pictured , as 'distractions' .) We are now building up our organisation to get ourselves accepted as a credible and locally informed organisation . But we see that only as the basis to build up agitational politics and would also hope to build a base for propaganda work , through publications , seminars and surveys at 26-County level . Our education programme is geared to preventing an influx of new members who don't have a definite ideology (...it didn't work!) but might be attracted to us because of the Northern successes .

We want to prevent such an influx blunting our revolutionary edge, but we have no fantasies about the possibilities for red revolution in the 26 Counties . We know it's a hard slog - the clientelist work is a principled service ('1169...' Comment - a "principled service" to assist in returning the 'server' to power!) , people are in need and even if we only provide a better service than the rest we will be accomplishing something . We need to develop , as the major left parties in Europe have done , an alternative constituency , a body of the working class who just don't accept the strategy that the other parties offer . "
(MORE LATER).

(Please note : we have had to enable the ' Captcha Settings' in our 'Guestbook' , by which we mean that those wishing to leave a comment in same must first verify that comment by copying text from a graphic and placing said text in a small box on the form . We have been plagued , in the last few days especially , by thousands of spam messages - mostly from car companies - and can find better use for the time it took us to delete those 'messages' . Apologises for any inconvenience caused....)

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Shameless 'PLUG AND PLEAD' Post .....!

'1169 And Counting....' has been nominated in the 'Best Political Blog' category of the 'Irish Blog Awards' competition : if you , the reader , deem us worthy of such a nomination , we would ask that you consider visiting this page and voting for us in said category . Voting closes at 5pm this Friday , February 16th . Also , a big 'Thank You!' to the Administrative panel and the members of the IRBB for the thread on that Board in support of our campaign (on the 'Alternative' part of the Board : 'log-in' required) : much appreciated ! Go raibh maith agat !

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE .......
There is substantial evidence that a major crime was perpetrated within the Garda Siochana five years ago .
The evidence for this crime has certainly been available to senior Gardai ever since then , but no enquiry whatsoever has taken place , let alone any Garda being disciplined in connection with that crime .
By Vincent Browne and Derek Dunne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1983 .

It is important for us to state that we are not alleging that any one of these Gardai were in any sense guilty of any wrongdoing , but we are drawing attention to the fact that these promotions took place without any enquiry whatsoever taking place into the very serious and convincing case that some of those Gardai may have been guilty of having ill-treated people in custody and participated in a plot to subvert the course of justice by conspiring to commit perjury .

The fact that the Gardai may have beaten up some people in custody is not of enormous significance to the 'body politic' , nor is even the likelihood that an innocent person (ie Nicky Kelly) may be in jail as a result of irregular Garda procedures : nor is the significance of the case in that a significant number of Gardai engaged in a plot to subvert the course of justice by planning to commit perjury - the primary significance of this case is that brutality , perjury and conspiracy could occur without any investigation taking place whatsoever or without any political controls being place on the Gardai as a result !

The conclusion must be that the Gardai are effectively outside normal political controls , able to engage in illegalities , even criminalities , without investigation , without restriction , even without censure . It has all the makings of a police state , if only in embryonic stage .
[END OF 'THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE']
(Next - 'THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS' : from 1985)

A PEOPLE'S ARMY .......
'IRIS' magazine talks to two active women Volunteers in the Irish Republican Army about their involvement , their political attitudes , and their observations on the role played by women in the liberation struggle. Both Volunteers are from the Free State , where they live , and are in their twenties . 'Mary' comes from a country area and has been in the IRA for six years ; 'Anne' comes from the city and joined the IRA about a year ago .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

'IRIS' magazine : " Finally , what do you say to feminists who regard the national struggle as a diversion from their own struggle for women's rights ? "

MARY : " I suppose most of those who use that argument feel that the war in the North is not geared to getting the support and involvement of all women , they feel that we alienate a lot of women . To a small degree that's true , but I believe that the fight for women's rights cannot be separated , in Ireland , from the fight against imperialism , which has generated the oppression of Irish women . It's part of the system of social domination we've inherited from a foreign enemy ."

ANNE : " So women have a dual role to play in the Movement : to fight imperialism and to educate the men . We're gradually breaking down these attitudes but it's a slow process breaking down several hundred years of mental oppression . "

[END of 'A PEOPLE'S ARMY']
(Next - 'THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR' : from 1983)

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Monday, February 12, 2007

THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE .......
There is substantial evidence that a major crime was perpetrated within the Garda Siochana five years ago .
The evidence for this crime has certainly been available to senior Gardai ever since then , but no enquiry whatsoever has taken place , let alone any Garda being disciplined in connection with that crime .
By Vincent Browne and Derek Dunne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1983 .

Not alone was there no investigation of any kind into the very compelling prima facie evidence that Osgur Breathnach , Nicky Kelly and Brian McNally were beaten up by the Gardai and that a significant number of Gardai conspired to subvert the course of justice by plotting to commit perjury , but no safeguards were instituted to ensure that it would not happen again . This in spite of very specific recommendations by a (State) government-appointment commission .

But the story does not end there - of the 19 members of the Garda Siochana against whom allegations of ill-treatment were made in connection with the Sallins mail train robbery , the following is a progress report on some of their careers since then :

Detective Garda Thomas Ibar Dunne is now a Detective Sergeant ; Detective Sergeant Francis Campbell is now a Detective Inspector ; Detective Garda Thomas Boland is now a Detective Sergeant ; Detective Sergeant Patrick Culhane is now a Detective Inspector ; Detective Sergeant John J. McGroarty is now a Detective Inspector ; Detective Inspector Edward Ryan is now a Detective Superintendent ; Detective Sergeant Cavanan is now a Detective Inspector ; Detective Inspector Courtney is now a Detective Superintendent and Detective Garda Michael Finn and Detective Sergeant Patrick F. Cleary have not been promoted .

Thus at least eight of the 19 Gardai against whom allegations were made were promoted subsequently.......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Friday, February 09, 2007

THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE .......
There is substantial evidence that a major crime was perpetrated within the Garda Siochana five years ago .
The evidence for this crime has certainly been available to senior Gardai ever since then , but no enquiry whatsoever has taken place , let alone any Garda being disciplined in connection with that crime .
By Vincent Browne and Derek Dunne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1983 .

THE INACTION OF GERRY COLLINS.

The allegations of Garda Brutality in connection with the Sallins mail train robbery came to prominence most at the time of the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis in February 1977 - Fianna Fail was then in opposition .

Speaking on the RTE radio programme , the 'News At One-Thirty' on February 18 , 1977 , Gerard Collins said - " The Minister for Justice has a very grave responsibility to immediately set up a judicial enquiry into the allegations made and have the machinery there in operation ready at the push of a button to deal with allegations as they arise.....if there is any truth whatsoever in these allegations those who might be responsible for ill-treatment of persons in custody.....(the Minister should ensure)......would be disciplined as they should be . "

Four-and-a-half months later Gerard ('Gerry') Collins was (State) Minister for Justice himself : he made no attempt to institute an enquiry of any kind into the allegations that he had spoken of in February 1977 ! He did however establish in October 1977 a commission under (State) Justice Barra O Briain to make recommendations for the safeguard of persons in custody and to 'protect the good name of the Gardai' by the same safeguards : the O Briain Committee made a total of 23 recommendations - of these , only one has been implemented and that was only following a (State) Supreme Court judgement.......
(MORE LATER).

A PEOPLE'S ARMY .......
'IRIS' magazine talks to two active women Volunteers in the Irish Republican Army about their involvement , their political attitudes , and their observations on the role played by women in the liberation struggle. Both Volunteers are from the Free State , where they live , and are in their twenties . 'Mary' comes from a country area and has been in the IRA for six years ; 'Anne' comes from the city and joined the IRA about a year ago .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

'IRIS' magazine : " How would you assess women's contribution to the struggle generally ? "

MARY : " Fantastic , given that there's so much against them . In the North it was always women that were out banging bin-lids at four and five in the morning , warning of the Brits coming into the area . Women tend to have more patience and they have the fighting and staying power to see things through . No matter how small their involvement they understand its importance . Looking back through history you have Constance Markievicz and the whole involvement of Cumann na mBan Volunteers, and now you have the women in Armagh Jail. They have always been active in every phase of the struggle ."

ANNE : " Because of the image the Movement tends to be given , women are inclined to think that unless you are out using a gun you're not in the IRA proper . That's wrong . Everything you do is important , no matter how small the thing - it's a vital part of the struggle , and no-one should ever be made to feel they're playing an inferior role . Everyone , doing any job - providing a call house or billet , collecting for the prisoners, doing political work, driving a car - it's part and parcel of the struggle . "
(MORE LATER).