1169 And Counting.....

Saturday, March 08, 2008

"...disease, together with the privations of other kinds which they endure, before long carry them off.."

Mass evictions or "clearances" will forever be associated with the 'Great Hunger' in Ireland : "It has been estimated that, excluding peaceable surrenders, over a quarter of a million people were evicted between 1849 and 1854. The total number of people who had to leave their holdings in the period is likely to be around half a million and 200,000 small holdings were obliterated ."
Under a law imposed in 1847, called the "Gregory Clause", no tenant holding more than a quarter acre of land was eligible for public assistance. To become eligible, the tenant had to surrender his holding to his landlord. Some tenants sent their children to the workhouse as orphans so they could keep their land and still have their children fed.
Other tenants surrendered their land, but tried to remain living in the house; however, landlords would not tolerate it - "In many thousands of cases estate-clearing landlords and agents used physical force or heavy-handed pressure to bring about the destruction of cabins which they sought."

Many others who sought entrance to the workhouses were required to return to their homes and uproot or level them. Others had their houses burned while they were away in the workhouse.

"When tenants were formally evicted, it was usually the practice of the landlord's bailiffs - his specially hired 'crowbar brigade' - to level or burn the affected dwellings there and then, as soon as the tenants effects had been removed, in the presence of a large party of soldiers or police who were likely to quell any thought of serious resistance. These helpless creatures are not only unhoused, but often driven off the land, no one remaining on the lands being allowed to lodge or harbor them. Or they, perhaps, linger about the spot, and frame some temporary shelter out of materials of their old homes against a broken wall, or behind a ditch or fence, or in a bog-hole, places unfit for human habitations .... disease, together with the privations of other kinds which they endure, before long carry them off.

As soon as one horde of houseless and all but naked paupers are dead, or provided for in the workhouse, another wholesale eviction doubles the number, who in their turn pass through the same ordeal of wandering from house to house, or burrowing in bogs or behind ditches, till broken down by privation and exposure to the elements, they seek the workhouse, or die by the roadside. There were hoards of poor on the roads every day. The Catholics who could gave some little they had to these, a saucer of oatmeal, a handful of potatoes, a drink of milk or a little bottle of sweet-milk to carry away with them. It was not unusual to see a woman with two, three or four children half-naked, come in begging for alms, and often several of these groups in one day, men too. If the men got work they worked for little or nothing and when they were no longer needed they took to the road again. These wandering groups had no homes and no shelter for the night. They slept in the barns of those that had barns on an armful of straw with a sack or sack or some such thing to cover them......."
(From here.)

It is from the likes of the above that republicanism was born : not to seek 'revenge' , but to obtain Justice. That same quest for true justice continues to this day and will continue - for as long as necessary - until the root cause of the injustice is removed .
Please help us, if you can : we are a small but significant organisation , as politically determined as we always were but we need your help.......
Go raibh maith agat!

Sharon.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

Ernie O' Malley's reputation was made while in his early twenties : by 1939 , aged 41 , he was seen as a legendary figure from the past , and at his death in 1957 'The Sunday Press' newspaper praised him as the very type of the resistance , exceptional even amongst exceptional men .

Ernest Bernard O' Malley came from a respectable and middle-class Catholic family , which accepted the Union and did well by it , yet he showed an early dislike of authority . When British King Edward VII visited Dublin to the cheers of most of his Catholic 'subjects' , the very young O' Malley refused to remove his hat and would spell 'King' with a small 'k'. The second son in a large family , he was a first-year medical student at University College Dublin when the Easter Rising first moved him towards Irish nationalism and republicanism , which he was later to define as "...not only the urge of the people to possess the soil and its products , but the free development of spiritual , cultural and imaginative qualities of the race.."

It was not a sudden conversion - no 'flash of light on the road to Damascus' , no immediate enthusiasm . Involvement and understanding came slowly out of what was at first an unwilling interest : belief grew slowly and was unencouraged by those around him , but eventually , aged just nineteen , he left home and university to become a full-time member of the IRA . And , in a sense , he would be 'on the run' for the rest of his life.......
(MORE LATER).

BALLYMUN INTERVIEW....... "Ballymun is just like any other working-class area in Dublin , or even in Belfast , I suppose . It's just that Ballymun isn't houses , it's flats..."
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

The kids from the flats have it tough , too . 'Pat' and 'Mary' said - " There's nowhere for the kids . The flats are no place for them . You know , when there was a housing shortage they just put up this place to put all the people . It was just a dumping ground . Most people just live for pay-day and then they go out and get a few drinks . During the week most of them just stay in and watch television . The drink is a sort of safety valve for people . It's an escape , isn't it ? "

Asked about how the Catholic Church helps out in Ballymun Flats , 'Mary' replied - " The only 'facility' that's being built out here is churches . The Church control everything , even the youth clubs . They have their lackeys running things for them , but they reap the profits . We're all living in boxes - thousands of families - but the local priest's living in a house , with his housekeeper and a maid . His lackeys run the bingo for him , and they'll come around and ask us to do things like bake cakes and give them groceries , and then they'll have a garden fete or a sale of work and sell the stuff back to us again ! "

The Gardai , too , have no time and little interest in those that 'live' in the flats.......
(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

" A TERRIBLE BEAUTY...."

"Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born...."
(From here.)

Details on those in Dublin intending to commemorate this "terrible beauty" can be found here, here and here.
Sharon.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

British ambassador Christopher Ewart-Biggs : a willing pawn for his 'empire'.

ONE WELL-KNOWN ATTEMPT BY WESTMINSTER TO USE THE DEATH OF A 'FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE' AS A 'BARGAINING CHIP' . (Or - ' We have no permanent friends or permanent enemies , only permanent interests...')

British ambassador Christopher Ewart-Biggs CMG OBE was assassinated in Sandyford , Dublin , by the then IRA , on July 21 , 1976. Westminster and its agents attempted to use his death as a 'bargaining chip' in its dealings with Leinster House ....

' We should use this event to seek gestures from Dublin...'
Four days after the death of Ewart-Biggs , the then 'Acting Ambassador' , a John Hickman , wrote in a memo to the 'Northern Ireland Office' (that is , the British political 'Front Line' in Occupied Ireland) that he could not imagine "...a better time than the present for the Irish government (sic) to bring itself to make some specific gesture of good-will towards Britain . The biggest single benefit which we could expect to derive from the Irish people's sense of shame and responsibility (sic : it's Westminster that should feel "shame" and take full "responsibility" for its murderous outrages on this isle) ..." would be an official decision by Leinster House not to pursue the state case at Strasbourg concerning the inhuman and degrading treatment of suspects being interrogated by British forces in the North-East of Ireland ! Hickman also toyed-around with the idea of using the death of Ewart-Biggs as an opportunity to secure from Leinster House cross-border 'rights' for armed British forces that is , to allow those armed thugs to freely cross the imposed border whenever they wanted ! But then the good 'acting ambassador' changed his mind , stating - " The overall benefit (of 'cross-border rights') would certainly not be comparable in political terms to the removal of the prospect of Her Majesty's government being nagged and pilloried over the state case (ie the Strasbourg 'Inhuman and Degrading Treatment' case) for a long time to come..." In other words - 'We (Westminster) can get better value out of the death of our friend and colleague Ewart-Biggs by using it as a you-owe-us-one to convince Dublin to turn a blind-eye to the way we abuse suspects in the North'.

' I told Dublin that they owe us big...'
John Hickman stated that , on July 22 , 1976 , he told Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael party) that "...there would never be a time when the inhibiting effects of public opinion on the Irish government's (sic) freedom of action would be less than now ." Hickman then reported back to political officials in the 'Northern Ireland Office' , stating - " As time goes on , the psychological opportunity to speak in specific terms (ie 'to use the death of Biggs to get exactly what we want') to the Irish government (sic) will pass . It might not be possible to indicate to them (Leinster House) that the onus is on them to respond to the present situation (that is , the death of Biggs) by making a significant political gesture." He was of the opinion that Leinster House would issue "...an agreed statement.."
( 'agreed' , that is , between Westminster and the political misfits in Leinster House) that "...(the Irish government) do not intend to take further action.." on any Strasbourg report into the ill-treatment of suspects and/or detainees by British forces in the North !

' Any such deal for profit might be in bad taste...'
However - on hearing of Hickman's intentions , an un-named 'senior civil servant' at Westminster's 'Foreign And Colonial Office' voiced his un-ease over such a 'deal' : on July 28 , 1976 , this 'conscientious objector' wrote in an internal memo : " To canvass the idea of a 'bargain' , however tactfully and obliquely , on the lines adumbrated by Mr Hickman , would appear to be in bad taste , especially to the Irish who , if one may generalise , tend to treat death and funerals with more attention than we do." But the 'Northern Ireland Office' disagreed with their "in bad taste" colleague and , on July 29 , 1976 , a meeting was held by the 'NIO' to discuss , as they put it , 'How Her Majesty's Government might best profit from the situation .." It was actually during that same meeting that word came through that Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael) had contacted Roy Hattersley , the then British Minister of State at the British Foreign And Commonwealth' Office , to say that his administration might postpone the publication of the Strasbourg report , but 'NIO' officials were already having second thoughts about looking for such a postponement , fearing that the report would actually have a greater impact if it became known that they had tried to 'hush it up' .

' Use the death to tell the Irish it's time to forget the past...'
In the summer of 1976 , Hickman reported back to Westminster : " Even the assassination of a British ambassador in Ireland has not been enough to persuade Irish opinion that the time has come to forget the past (sic- it's still a live and on-going political issue in Ireland) and unite to destroy the common enemy.." What he meant by 'the common enemy' was the IRA which , at the time , was indeed an 'enemy' of Westminster's plans for and intentions in Ireland , instead of the anti-republican militia which that organisation is today . Hickman added - " The goodwill passed as quickly as it came " , meaning that Westminster had believed that the opportunity to 'spin' the death of Christopher Ewart-Biggs and make politicl capital from his death , was their's for the asking at some stage .

' Let's get money from the Irish in compensation ...'
In December 1976 , the Leinster House administration (under Cosgrave , Fine Gael) handed over a sum of £65,000 sterling to Westminster in 'compensation' in relation to the death of Ewart-Biggs , but the 'NIO' wanted more : British Officials insisted that the Dublin Administraton should also pay for the transportation costs incurred by its people in relation to travelling to Dublin in connection with the Biggs case ! Apparently , it never got that 'claim for expenses' from Leinster House - probably only due to misplaced paperwork or some such 'innocent' reason , as it's not like those servile political idiots in that institution to say 'No' to Westminster !

Footnote : Britain invaded and occupied more than 56 countries , and murdered an estimated six million native people in those countries who resisted their 'presence' . It is the opinion of this blog , and an opinion shared by true Irish Republicans wherever they might be , that the only solution to that British presence is to remove it , by whatever means necessary . So-called 'Treaties' and/or 'Agreements' only prolong that vile presence , making the native lackies rich and 'respectable' in the process . For Ireland to 'Move On' , politically , Westminster will have to 'Move Out' .

Sharon.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

When the truce of July 1921 took effect between the Irish Republican Army and British Crown Forces , a young IRA leader wrote to a fellow Republican Officer - " What do you think of the Peace Move ? There seems to be something in it whatever it is . Perhaps Dev would accept a Republic with the exclusion of Ulster . We are very much worried as we don't know what way the game is going . The number of real Republicans , even in the IRA is small - that is , of men who will see the Republic through to the bitter end. " That young IRA leader's name was Ernie O'Malley and he had been so active in the war that , in recognition of his energy , organising ability and outstanding personal courage , he was appointed Officer Commanding of the 2nd Southern , the second-largest IRA Division in the country .

Early in 1921 , RIC reports from Dublin Castle had named O' Malley as " ...a notorious rebel..". Late in 1922 , the Free State's military command would claim that " The capture of Ernie O' Malley should mean the complete breakdown of their ('Irregular' ie Irish Republican Army) organisation in the North Eastern area ." Ernie O' Malley was acknowledged by all to be an Irish Republican par excellence.

If it is now again fashionable in some circles to denigrate 1916 and all the Easter Rising ever sought , then by contrast the Civil War that followed the 1916-1921 fighting has been tacitly ignored . And yet the year 1922 was a watershed for Ireland . During that crucial year Ernie O' Malley had a prominent part in what he called , in a letter he sent to a Dublin newspaper while hunted and on the run in August 1922 , "...a just and holy Cause : namely , the defence of the Republic to which we have sworn to be faithful.." Ernest Bernard O'Malley, Soldier of Oglaigh na hEireann , was much more than 'just' a soldier.......
(MORE LATER).

BALLYMUN INTERVIEW : "Ballymun is just like any other working-class area in Dublin , or even in Belfast , I suppose . It's just that Ballymun isn't houses , it's flats..."
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

Aged in their twenties , with four young children , 'Pat' and 'Mary' have been living in their three-bedroom flat for about four years , and hope to move although they expect to have to wait at least two years . Even then they will have no choice where - Tallaght or Blanchardstown : " You need too many points for the other areas." They have asked that we not use their real names .

On the heating system in the block of flats that they live in , they said - " The hot water goes off when the heating breaks down . And it's always breaking down . The shortcoming of the system was that they didn't give each flat a controller to regulate the heat . It just comes up through the floor , if it's on everyone gets it . It's even too warm here in the winter ."

The lifts that are supposed to serve each floor are another source of grief- " They've hired a private maintenance company to fix the lifts , instead of replacing them . It probably wouldn't be in their interests that the lifts keep working , you know ? It'd put them out of a job . " Speaking about jobs and work , 'Pat' says - " If you go for a job and give a Ballymun address it's hard - this area has a bad name . You can't even get car insurance , it's a 'high risk' area . If you go for a hire purchase scheme to pay for something and give a Ballymun address you won't get the deal . And then there's shopping - there's only one supermarket and they charge what they like. " The kids from the area have their own problems , too.......
(MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC.......
Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals .
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

The RUC didn't like the fact that republicans had let it be known that they , too , were capable of disrupting funerals , if need be . So when at the end of April 1987 , the (P)IRA shot dead the UVF second-in-command William 'Frenchie' Marchant, whom the (P)IRA named as "directly involved" in the killing of Larry Marley , the RUC could not afford an embarrassing repeat of the Bingham funeral , when they were seen to stand back and just observe as UVF leader John Bingham was buried with full paramilitary trappings . The RUC pressurised the UVF into giving up the customary military funeral and William Marchant was buried privately . Even so , there was no RUC 'show of strength' , no riot gear , no attempt to stop mourners forming-up behind the Ulster-flag draped coffin .

On May 6th , 1987 , as (P)IRA Volunteer Finbarr McKenna was being buried , British 'Direct Ruler' Tom King made a well-publicised call for the "whole community" to support the RUC whose aim was , he claimed , to offer "...a just and impartial service to the community.." . That same day , acting under orders from Tom King and others , the RUC were batoning and firing lethal plastic bullets at unarmed civilian mourners at Finbarr McKenna's funeral . Tom King's remarks stand as a text-book example of Britain's real contempt for the opinions of ordinary nationalists .

The 1985 Hillsborough Treaty (the 'London-Dublin Agreement') and its promises of 'better times for Northern nationalist' was propaganda aimed essentially at a narrow sector of the Nationalist middle-class , and at public opinion outside the Occupied Six Counties . Tom King was not the only cynic - as the 'Irish establishment' broke its long silence over RUC attacks on funerals , the SDLP's Joe Hendron predicted out of the blue that the Free State government would "...intercede.." on behalf of Northern nationalists - using the Hillsborough Treaty , of course ! And of course a general election was almost upon us and Joe Hendron was one of the SDLP's candidates.......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, February 23, 2008

"...and STAY DOWN , Anne.."

The anti-'royal' picket held today (Saturday 23 February 2008) by Republican Sinn Fein at the entrance to Croke Park - which Anne Windsor flew over in her helicopter - was very well received by most of the thousands of people who were in the area . Unusual (!) for a republican event , proceedings began a half hour earlier than advertised (ie 3PM rather than the advertised time of 3.30PM) due to no reason other than everybody was actually ready before time!
Between 3PM and 4.45PM , about fifty republicans took part in a noisy , colourful and successful street protest opposite Quinns Pub , near the Clonliffe Road entrance to Croke Park . The thousands of passers-by were left in no doubt about the reason for the demonstration - the presence on Irish soil of a member of the British 'royal family',Anne Windsor (given the title 'Princess Royal' in 1987 , and tenth in line of 'succession' to the British throne) , whilst the administration , establishment and parliamentery structure which she represents continues to claim jurisdictional control - militarily enforced - over six Irish counties.
Over eight hundred leaflets were distributed , dozens of copies of the 'SAOIRSE' republican newspaper were sold and good contacts for future use were made.
It was a valuable political exercise made in pursuit of a valuable objective - that of demanding a complete British military and political withdrawal from this isle. We publish four photographs from todays event with this report , while four more can be viewed on this thread and three more here. A full report and more photographs will be published in the March 2008 issue of 'Saoirse' , which will be published on the fifth of that month .

RSF placard and the Tri-Colour...

The youth get the message...

Special Branch harassment...

RSF anti-'royal' picket , Croke Park , Saturday February 23 , 2008.

Thanks!
Sharon.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

NO WELCOME HERE FOR BRITISH 'ROYALTY'!

Anne Windsor was the Colonel-in-Chief of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment of the British Crown Forces (29th/45th Foot) until it became the 2nd Battalion of the Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) last August. In 1916, the 178 (Forester) Brigade was sent to Dublin in an attempt to suppress the Easter Rising. The same women is presently associated with British political and military imperialism by virtue of the following positions which she holds :
* Colonel-in-Chief, The King’s Royal Hussars
* Colonel-in-Chief, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29/45 Foot)
* Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Corps of Signals
* Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Logistic Corps
* Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Army Veterinary Corps
* Commandant-in-Chief, The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps)
* Colonel, The Blues and Royals
* Royal Colonel, The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland
* Royal Colonel, The 52nd Lowland Regiment, 6th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland
* Rear Admiral and Chief Commandant for women, Royal Navy
* Honorary Air Commodore, RAF Lyneham
* Honorary Air Commodore, University of London Air Squadron
* Royal Honorary Colonel, University of London OTC
* Commodore-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
Join Republicans in opposing the presence of Anne Windsor.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

(For details on the Anne Windsor protest to be held in Dublin on Saturday February 23rd next , click here.)

BALLYMURPHY INTERVIEW.......
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

On conditions in the Ballymurphy area since 1954 , Anne Stone said : " It was a slum until they started doing these repairs recently . It was just used as a transit camp . Right enough , there was mass unemployment and the people sort of lost hope . In some ways Ballymurphy has improved since then . We're proud of Ballymurphy . Since the early days we've had every chance to leave it but there's no way we would leave . What I like about Ballymurphy is that it's still part , in some ways , of 'old Belfast' - the people all cling together .

For instance , say someone dies in a middle-class place no-one worries about them , but if someone dies here there would be someone round collecting for their family , and letters of sympathy . " However , in other ways, say the Stones , community spirit has suffered , in particular because of 'the feuds' between republicans and the 'Sticks'.

" I'd like more amenities for the young people , " says Anne Stone , " especially those born since this outbreak of 'the troubles' began . Now , our youngest girl's fourteen , and from 1971 she's been dragged out of her bed thousands of times wrapped only in a blanket , even when she was dying of 'flu on one occasion . These children have seen nothing else , only Brits and RUC coming and dragging them out of their beds during early morning raids ."

[END of 'BALLYMURPHY INTERVIEW']
(NEXT - 'BALLYMUN INTERVIEW' : from 1982)

REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC.......
Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals .
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

The RUC and the British Army had doubled their numbers to prevent Larry Marley (video link here) being buried . It took seven hours of determined resistance , including sporadic fierce fighting , before Larry Marley was at last laid to rest . Several times in North Belfast , the RUC attempted to close in around the hearse , but they were held back by rows of resolute men and women with arms linked . At the bottom of the Falls Road , almost two thousand people waited for several hours for the cortege , while others congregated elsewhere .

The London 'Guardian' newspaper reported that it was - "...the biggest display of republican support since the hunger-strikes . In scenes reminiscent of the mid-1970's , old women shook their fists at British soldiers leading a column of 35 Land Rovers at the front of the funeral procession up the Falls Road . Patients at the Royal Victoria Hospital came out into the streets in their dressing gowns and slippers to give support..." The world's press watched events in Belfast , incredulously . Television pictures of armed RUC men attacking mourners , Soweto-style, flashed round the world .

At last , the Irish 'establishment' spoke : the attacks on the funeral and on the mourners were "...counter-productive.." , said Dungannon priest Fr. Denis Faul, and he was echoed by the SDLP's John Hume and Seamus Mallon. 'Counter-productive' , that is , to their efforts to persuade nationalists to accept this Irish-based British 'police force' . ('1169...' Comment : ...and weak-kneeded nationalists are still calling for that!) They all failed to straightforwardly denounce the RUC . Ignoring the Marley family who, at a press conference, laid the blame on the RUC , Bishop Cahal Daly - balancing on a self-imposed 'fence' - accused both the (P)IRA and the RUC of "...intrusion into a family's grief.." Then a top UVF loyalist was shot dead by the (P)IRA.......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, February 16, 2008

(UPDATE:At present,the available information regarding the visit of Anne Windsor has prompted the organisers of the protest to ask those attending the picket to assemble opposite Quinns Pub , at the entrance to Clonliffe Road , at 3.30PM , on Saturday February 23 next. Any change to these arrangements will be posted here.)

AN ENGLISH QUEEN.

Press Release/Preas Ráiteas
For release
16ú Feabhra/February 2008

British Royals not welcome in Ireland
Statement by the Vice President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton

"Republican Sinn Féin will be actively protesting at the presence of a
representative of the British Crown in Croke Park on February 23. Such a
visit must be seen for what it is, part of the normalisation of British rule
in Ireland.
Anne Windsor will visit Croke Park not as a private individual but as the
representative of the British Crown. This is an institution which claims
sovereignty over six of the nine counties of Ulster, enforcing that claim
with an army of occupation.
For this reason no representative of the British Crown is welcome in any part
of Ireland."
(Details of this protest will be announced shortly....*SEE ABOVE*)
---------------------------------------------------

EASTER REPUBLICAN COMMEMORATIONS IN DUBLIN , 2008 -
For details of the three up-coming Dublin Easter 2008 Republican Commemorations , click here, here and here.

Sharon.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(NOTE : for details of the three up-coming Dublin Easter 2008 Republican Commemorations , click here, here and here.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FROM THIS....

HENRY JOY McCRACKEN :

" It was on the Belfast mountains I heard a maid complain.
And she vexed the sweet June evening with her heart broken strain
Saying "Woe is me, life's anguish is more than I can dree.
Since Henry Joy McCracken died on the gallows tree."

At Donegore he proudly rode and he wore a suit of green
And brave though vain at Antrim his sword flashed lightning keen
And when by spies surrounded his band to Slemish fled
He came unto the Cavehill for to rest a weary head.

I watched for him each night long as in our cot he slept
At daybreak to the heather to MacArt's fort we crept
When news came from Greencastle of a good ship anchored nigh
And down by yon wee fountain we met to say good-bye.

He says "My love be cheerful for tears and fears are vain",
He says "My love be hopeful our land shall rise again".
He kissed me ever fondly, he kissed me three times o'er
Saying "Death shall never part us my love for evermore".

That night I climbed the Cavehill and watched till morning blazed
And when its fires had kindled across the loch I gazed
I saw an English tender at anchor off Garmoyle
But alas! no good ship bore him away to France's soil.

And twice that night a tramping came from the old shore road
Twas Ellis and his yeomen, false Niblock with them strode
My father home returning the doleful story told
"Alas", he says, "young Harry Joy for fifty pounds is sold."

"And is it true", I asked her, "yes it is true", she said.
"For to this heart that loved him I pressed his gory head,
And every night pale bleeding his ghost comes to my side,
My Harry, my dead Harry, comes for his promised bride."

Now on the Belfast mountains, this fair maid's voice is still
For in a grave they laid her on high Carnmoney Hill
And the sad waves beneath her chant a requiem for the dead
And the rebel wind shrieks freedom above her weary head."

...TO THIS.

As Liam Mellows predicted in the Treaty debate,on 4th January 1922 - "Men will get into positions , men will hold power , and men who get into positions and hold power will desire to remain undisturbed and will not want to be removed."
Poor Mellows - even he could not predict just how low - to discuss the drinking habits of fictional characters in a soap opera - that those 'positioned men' will go in order to integrate themselves with their new-found 'friends'. McGuinness and his like are truly an embarrassment to all things Irish , not to mention the shame they continue to visit on Irish Republicanism . He should stick to 'Drama Critic' comments in future and leave the issue of British interference on this isle to those of us that are still prepared to try and solve that problem . Of which he is a part.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY - PROPPING-UP THE ORANGE STATE........

At a press briefing on May 3rd, 1983, Bishop Cathal Daly declared that a vote for Sinn Fein was 'a wasted vote' , and that people should think seriously before risking being seen as 'supporting violence' . As polling day approached , the rising crescendo of calls from Bishop Daly and other members of the Catholic hierarchy became increasingly explicit in their support for the SDLP. Against the background of this intervention into the arena of nationalist party politics , Patricia Collins sketches the role played by the leadership of the Catholic Church over the past fourteen years against nationalist resistance .
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

In his infamous 1983 'St Anne's Speech' , Bishop Cahal Daly stated - " Just as unionists are fully justified in maintaining their political convictions , they are also justified in believing in the right and the duty under law to defend these political institutions against the threat of overthrow by armed uprising . There are some who choose to do so by service in security forces or in the police force . There are also people , and not all of them are unionists , who believe that in any civilised society there must be normal policing ; and who therefore choose policing as a career of service to the whole Northern Ireland community .

The republican paramilitary campaign of assassination of members of the UDR and of the RUC is equivalent to a campaign of shooting fellow Irishmen simply because they have different political convictions from nationalists . " ('1169...' Comment : the UDR and the RUC [and , indeed , the PSNI] were/are British-sponsored , salaried and armed wings of Westminster , whose function was/is to see to it that the British writ in Occupied Ireland runs smoothly . They were/are prepared to use force to enforce that writ) .

What real effects can all of this rhetoric have on the nationalist community ? Militarily oppressed , at the bottom of the economic and political heap , half a million nationalists cannot take kindly to Bishop Daly's remarks on the 'achievements' of the Stormont regime and the right of unionists under law to 'defend their political institutions....... '
(MORE LATER).

BALLYMURPHY INTERVIEW.......
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

On the early days of getting things organised in the then new Ballymurphy estate , Anne Stone said - " We settled in , grateful to get a house . We had our ups and downs . When we came to the 'Murph I never thought you could have bought a full stone of coal , and many's the stone of coal we have bought since . We enjoyed life , our social life then was working , work and more work , to bring up the family . Our annual holiday was the weekend bus run to the All-Ireland final ."

Asked about the situation in Ballymurphy during August 1969 (British-provoked rioting broke out) , Anne Stone replied : " We arrived back in Ballymurphy on the morning of August 15th . We'd been across in England for our eldest daughter's wedding . The whole place here was ablaze . The people didn't know what was happening then . When we moved into this terrace , of the five houses in it three were non-Catholic . No-one at first knew where they stood or what they believed in , only those who knew what Irish history was all about . "

On their imprisoned son , Liam , she said : " Liam was imprisoned in 1976 on a 15-year sentence , the only man from Ballymurphy still in the Cages, and the longest-serving prisoner from Ballymurphy itself . What's he going to come out to ? All his mates now are in the hell-holes of the H-Blocks. In 1972 he was working three nights a week in Kelly's Bar for pocket money . He was unlucky enough to be there on May 13th , 1972 , when the bar was bombed in a sectarian attack , and he himself was shot . He was in the hospital for three months and came out on crutches . He had been going to St. Mary's grammar school , but when he came out of hospital he just started going to St. Thomas' secondary school . From when he went into Long Kesh our life has been cut in two....... "
(MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC.......
Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals .
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

On Sunday , April 5th , 1987 , members of the (P)IRA's Belfast Brigade fired a volley of shots in final salute to their comrade Larry Marley, who had been shot dead in his home by the UVF on April 2nd . On Monday , the planned day of the funeral , the RUC saturated the Ardoyne area and repeatedly refused to move back from the family home to allow a 20-foot space on either side of the hearse .

On two consecutive days , the family decided to postpone Larry Marley's funeral , because they feared that someone would be killed by the RUC and in order to ensure , in the words of Lawrence Marley Jr , " that my father is buried with honour and dignity ." The RUC pretext for their aggression , once again , was the possibility of a (P)IRA firing party - in fact , photographs of Sunday's firing party were already in circulation . The RUC's real aim still was to humiliate mourners .

Local priests and the Marley family made frantic attempts to contact the Catholic Hierarchy , but got no help . On the second day of the siege , the RUC force was doubled and , by the third day , a sense of crisis permeated nationalist Belfast . Large crowds had attended evening protest meetings in West and North Belfast . On the Wednesday , thousands of people suspended their usual activities , came out of work and journeyed from distant towns , to ensure a dead republican his right to a dignified burial . The British crown forces increased their own numbers in anticipation . Scenes of hand-to-hand fighting were to follow.......
(MORE LATER).

Monday, February 11, 2008

"...young babies and adults , some ninety years of age.."

"Plunket carried out his biggest evictions in November 1860. During the preceding days large numbers of police were drafted into the area. Troops came from the surrounding towns and a company of the 24th Infantry from the Curragh. The local police did not take part. The people were terrified and the scenes of the helplessness and defeat and sadness were indescribable. Such troop movement had never been seen in the area. The eviction process lasted for three days.
On the first day a large eviction force under the command of Col. Knox, the Mayo High Sheriff, proceeded from Cappaduff bridge to begin the grizzly task. The houses were razed to the ground by the crowbar brigade and then handed over to Plunkett's men. Fr Lavelle and the tenants looked on helplessly and made no resistance -- they just accepted the finality of it all. Tenants on adjoining estates were warned not to interfere in any way such as providing shelter or solace to the evicted, so the unfortunates, some as old as ninety years and young babies, had to fend for themselves on the mountainside on a cold, wet November's night.... "
(From here)

"The work of undermining the population is going on stealthily, but steadily. Each succeeding day witnesses its devastation - more terrible than the simoon and more deadly than the plague. We do not say that there exists a conspiracy to uproot the 'mere Irish'; but we do aver, that the fearful system of wholesale ejectment, of which we daily hear, and which we daily behold, is a mockery of the eternal laws of God - a flagrant outrage of the principles of nature. Whole districts are cleared. Not a roof-tree is to be seen where the happy cottage of the labourer or the snug homestead of the farmer at no distant day cheered the landscape. The ditch side, the dripping rain, the cold sleet are the covering of the wretched outcast the moment the cabin is tumbled over him; for who dare give shelter of protection from 'the pelting or the pitiless storm?' Who has the temerity to afford him the ordinary rites of hospitality, when the warrant has been signed for his extinction... ? "
(From 'The Tipperary Vindicator' newspaper , 1844-1849, as quoted here)

"During the famous, or rather infamous, Partry evictions, an old man of eighty and a woman of seventy-four were amongst the number of those who suffered for their ancient faith. They were driven from the home which their parents and grandfathers had occupied, in a pitiless storm of sleet and snow. The aged woman utters some slight complaint; but her noble-hearted aged husband consoles her with this answer: "The sufferings and death of Jesus Christ were bitterer still." Sixty-nine souls were cast out of doors that day. Well might the Times newspaper say: "These evictions are a hideous scandal; and the bishop should rather die than be guilty of such a crime." Yet, who can count up all the evictions, massacres, tortures, and punishments which this people has endured...?"
(From here)
The root cause of the above barbarity is still militarily and politically represented on this isle . Some of the surviving generations of the above victims are determined that the evils which were inflicted on us will not be visited - or , indeed , even have the potential to be visited - on future generations . You can help...

Sunday, February 10, 2008

BOOT-BOYS FOR THE 'UNION' .....

Former British soldier gets 3 years’ jail for urinating on dying woman.

'A man who urinated on a disabled woman and sprayed her with shaving foam as she lay dying in the street was jailed for three years yesterday.
Anthony Anderson, 27, Hartlepool, was sentenced for outraging public decency when he degraded 50-year-old Christine Lakinski, who had collapsed in July this year.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Anderson, a former soldier, was celebrating his 27th birthday on the day he degraded his victim. She had been visiting friends and was walking home with some laminate flooring when she collapsed, striking her head as she fell.
She was spotted by a girlfriend of one of Anderson’s friends and a group gathered around her body. Anderson kicked her on the foot, then poured a bowl of water over her prone body, but she did not respond. Anderson then told his friends he was going to urinate on the woman as one of them filmed it on his mobile phone. In an ordeal lasting around 30 minutes Anderson also used shaving foam from a can to further degrade his victim.
Outside court, Ms Lakinski’s family read a statement, which said: “We would like to thank the judge for his decision to jail Anthony Anderson.
We hope that prison will give him time to reflect on his disgusting actions as well as the opportunity to look at his conscience.
We remain totally shocked that anyone could behave in such an appalling way.”

Anderson was with his friends Scott Clement and Simon Whitehead when the humiliation took place, the court heard. The group left her motionless on the pavement and no-one thought to ring an ambulance until they had got ready to go nightclubbing, some 20 minutes later. Paramedics arrived about an hour after she collapsed, and found no sign of life. A postmortem revealed she died from pancreatic failure. Police traced the 999 call to Mr Clement and Anderson was arrested that night in a nightclub.'
(From here.)

A not unusual example of the calibre and mentality of British 'peace-keepers' that have 'served their country' , and not only on these shores . Not only are they unfit for any other job , but they are unfit to belong to the human race. May that poor woman Rest In Peace .

Friday, February 08, 2008

NOT WELCOME!

"Republicans throughout Ireland are strongly opposed to the impending visit by British Queen Elizabeth, who is also the British head of State, and will protest at this extravagant display of pomp and wealth.

But not alone for these reasons. Queen Elizabeth saw fit to award an OBE to Colonel Derek Wilford, Officer Commanding the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday in Derry when they shot dead 14 unarmed civilians. Not exactly an inspiring role model for women? It matters not a whit that some of those armed forces are leaving Irish soil because their place will be taken by MI5 who are deeply embedded here.

There remains one huge obstacle to reconciliation between us and Britain and that obstacle is Partition. Part of the process of putting the past behind us and moving forward would be the removal of the illegal and unjust border that divides our country and our people. Have the courage Elizabeth Windsor and begin the process of handing back what has never belonged to you - the Six northeastern Counties. That would indeed be called a 'historic event'.

It has nothing to do with maturity on our part that we should welcome the Queen of England to our shores, rather it is the same slavish attitude that has always existed in Ireland. Being an occupied and colonised people for so long can make us willing participants in our own domination.

We reject the fraudulent claims of the English Queen to be 'Queen of Northern Ireland' ".
-statement from Cathleen Knowles McGuirk, Vice-President Republican Sinn Féin , June 26 last year , and still relevant now.
The Dublin Executive of Republican Sinn Fein intends to protest the visit of this English queen by holding a peaceful picket at the GPO in O'Connell Street in Dublin on the day of her visit . All welcome!
"There is always more brass than brains in an aristocracy."
- Oscar Wilde.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY - PROPPING-UP THE ORANGE STATE........

At a press briefing on May 3rd, 1983, Bishop Cathal Daly declared that a vote for Sinn Fein was 'a wasted vote' , and that people should think seriously before risking being seen as 'supporting violence' . As polling day approached , the rising crescendo of calls from Bishop Daly and other members of the Catholic hierarchy became increasingly explicit in their support for the SDLP. Against the background of this intervention into the arena of nationalist party politics , Patricia Collins sketches the role played by the leadership of the Catholic Church over the past fourteen years against nationalist resistance .
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

Bishop Cahal Daly stated - " The armalite and the ballot box cannot be carried together ." ('1169...' Comment : Not so much that they "cannot be carried together" as that sections of those who were involved in this struggle and attempted to do so were quickly overcome by how easier (and financially rewarding) political life was when one joined the constitutionalists full time and deserted the revolutionary path.) Bishop Daly had turned his back on centuries of history and in particular on Irish history between 1918-21 . An IRA statement calling on the Bishop to spell out whether he believed the British presence in the North was morally good , was left unanswered .

Eventually , after more attacks on the Republican Movement , culminating in remarks at the funeral of Judge William Doyle in January 1983 , Bishop Cahal Daly summed up the Catholic hierarchy's political stance on 'violence' and the 'legitmacy of the Northern Ireland state' , in a major speech delivered in St Anne's Cathedral , Belfast , on March 22nd , 1983 . Misquoting the philosopher Karl von Clausewitz about war being the pursuit of political aims through other means ( according to Bishop Daly he said that war is 'diplomacy conducted by other means') the Bishop attempted to prove that since 'war' and 'politics' are - contrary to Clausewitz's view - different in nature , a group such as the Republican Movement *, which upholds the right to take up arms against a foreign occupation , cannot "...honestly and credibly claim to be a political movement.." ('1169..' Comment * not to be confused with the group which left the Movement in 1986 and registered itself as a 'political party' with Leinster House shortly afterwards.)

This intellectual balderdash was a poor attempt , in the words of the song , to 'brand Ireland's fight 800 years of crime' . But the bishop was to sink even lower : after saying that "...nationalists must acknowledge that the Stormont regime had notable successes and achievements to its credit .. " , Bishop Daly went on to openly justify the UDR , RUC and the legitmacy of the six-county state in his infamous St Anne's Speech.......
(MORE LATER).

BALLYMURPHY INTERVIEW.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

William (64) and Anne Stone (55) have been living in their Ballymurphy home since 1954 , and have nine children - five daughters and four sons - aged between 14 and 35 . The eldest son , 26-year-old Liam , has been in the cages of Long Kesh Prison since 1976 .

By Ballymurphy standards , the Stone family have been relatively fortunate in one respect , with William in constant employment . Anne , too , had a part-time job at night in a restaurant , and has been actively involved in the Ballymurphy Tenants' Association since its beginnings . Anne was asked what it was like moving in to the Ballymurphy area : " We were allocated a house in Ballymurphy in 1954 . We lived with our parents at that stage on the Upper Crumlin Road with our four daughters . Just where 'Ballymurphy' was I didn't know . We arrived , and the house was in a deplorable state ."

Asked what were the facilities like at the time , Anne replied - " When we arrived in 1954 we hadn't a school , we had one shop for 600 houses , no bus services . We had nothing . A band of us got together to improve things . We organised voluntary subscriptions , jumble sales , ballots , bus runs - the lot . Ballymurphy was flung up , 600 houses , and it was supposed to have been built for young people with young families ! " Anne was asked about the early days spent getting things organised , and what she witnessed during the 'Civil Rights Riots' . And she was asked about her imprisoned son , Liam.......
(MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC.......
Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals .
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

In March , 1987 , the (P)IRA issued a statement listing 25 funerals since December 1983 at which mourners had been harassed , threatened or physically attacked by the RUC . The (P)IRA statement described British 'Law and Order' Minister Nicholas Scott's words - " Even in war , people are allowed to bury their dead in peace and dignity..." - as "...the height of hypocrisy , coming from the architect of ghoulishness.." , and stated - " The (P)IRA agrees that people should have the right to bury their dead in peace , and operations such as today's * will not recur if the RUC respects nationalist and republican dead." ( * On Friday , March 13th , 1987 , the (P)IRA exploded a bomb at Roselawn Cemetery gates , one hour before an RUC man was to be buried in that cemetery.)

Despite the ritual establishment 'hoo-hah' of condemnation , it was clear that the (P)IRA action at Roselawn accurately reflected the deep anger of many nationalists . It was this anger and the determined and courageous resistance shown by the mourners and bereaved families at three subsequent funerals which finally forced the RUC to retreat .

Initially , the RUC ignored the (P)IRA's warning : the funeral of Derry (P)IRA Volunteer Gerard Logue on March 24th , 1987 , was delayed for two hours by RUC efforts to hijack the coffin . The RUC went to the extent of seizing the keys of the hearse and threatening to drive it themselves . The mourners were squeezed together by the RUC , and then they were brutally batoned by them . The atmosphere throughout was extremely tense , but the determination of the anguished Logue family and of the 3,000 mourners held out , forcing the RUC eventually to back off . But still , the British forces of 'law and order' would not completely abandod their ghoulish policy.......
(MORE LATER).

Monday, February 04, 2008

" DESTROY THE BOATS...!"

'Robert FitzStephen landed at Bannow, near Waterford, in May, 1169, with an army of three hundred archers, thirty knights, and sixty men-at-arms. A second detachment arrived the next day, headed by Maurice de Prendergast, a Welsh gentleman, with ten knights and sixty archers. Dermod at once assembled his men, and joined his allies. He could only muster five hundred followers; but with their united forces, such as they were, the outlawed king and the needy adventurers laid siege to the city of Wexford. The brave inhabitants of this mercantile town at once set forth to meet them; but, fearing the result if attacked in open field by well-disciplined troops, they fired the suburbs, and entrenched themselves in the town. Next morning the assaulting party prepared for a renewal of hostilities, but the clergy of Wexford advised an effort for peace: terms of capitulation were negotiated, and Dermod was obliged to pardon, when he would probably have preferred to massacre. It is said that FitzStephen burned his little fleet, to show his followers that they must conquer or die. Two cantreds of land, comprising the present baronies of Forth and Bargy, were bestowed on him: and thus was established the first English colony in Ireland.....'
(From Here)

Victims of the Great Hunger...
'The Times' editorial of September 30, 1845, warned; "In England the two main meals of a working man's day now consists of potatoes." England's potato-dependence was as excessive as Ireland's. Grossly over-populated relative to its food supply, England faced famine unless it could import vast amounts of alternative food. But it didn't take merely Ireland's surplus food; or enough Irish food to save England. It took more; for profit and to exterminate the people of Ireland. British Queen Victoria's economist, Nassau Senior, expressed his fear that existing policies "...will not kill more than one million Irish in 1848 and that will scarcely be enough to do much good." When an eye-witness urged a stop to the genocide-in-progress, Trevelyan replied: "We must not complain of what we really want to obtain." Trevelyan insisted that all reports of starvation were exaggerated, until 1847. He then declared it ended and refused entry to the American food relief ship Sorciére. Thomas Carlyle, influential British essayist, wrote; "Ireland is like a half-starved rat that crosses the path of an elephant. What must the elephant do? Squelch it - by heavens - squelch it." 'Total Annihilation' suggested The Times leader of September 2, 1846; and in 1848 its editorialists crowed "A Celt will soon be as rare on the banks of the Shannon as the red man on the banks of Manhattan..."

PLEASE HELP US TO GET A TRUE RESOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF BRITISH INTERFERENCE IN IRISH AFFAIRS .
Thank You ,
Sharon.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

JANUARY 2008 : (C)IRA TRIBUTE TO DAN KEATING .

In an action that Dan himself would have appreciated , armed Irish Republican Volunteers paid a fitting tribute to life-long Irish Republican Dan Keating, who died at the grand age of 105 on October 2nd ,2007. As stated before , the authors of this blog met Dan on many an occasion and always found the man inspirational. His loss to Irish Republicanism is still being felt , but the legacy he left with us is closely nurtured and will be passed-on to future generations .
Ni seoinini sinn go leir!
(Dan's history and a tribute to the man can be read here and here.)

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

(Unrelated Comment : Once again, we have 'got our foot in the door' : thanks to whoever it was 'out there' who put us forward for nomination - much appreciated ! Now we have to find a 'Blog Awards Judge' to bribe . Or a couple of them....!)

THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY - PROPPING-UP THE ORANGE STATE........

At a press briefing on May 3rd, 1983, Bishop Cathal Daly declared that a vote for Sinn Fein was 'a wasted vote' , and that people should think seriously before risking being seen as 'supporting violence' . As polling day approached , the rising crescendo of calls from Bishop Daly and other members of the Catholic hierarchy became increasingly explicit in their support for the SDLP. Against the background of this intervention into the arena of nationalist party politics , Patricia Collins sketches the role played by the leadership of the Catholic Church over the past fourteen years against nationalist resistance .
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

After years of Bishop William Philbin's obtuse conservatism , Bishop Cahal Daly, it was expected , would be welcomed as a breath of fresh air . Fr Des Wilson was re-installed in his priestly faculties , while some of the most prominent 'Bishop Philbin's men' were removed , including Fr Toner , who had played an infamous role in trying to demoralise the hunger-strikers.

Four days after the succession of Bishop Daly to the diocese of Down and Connor , the election results - especially in West Belfast and Fermanagh/South Tyrone where Sinn Fein topped the poll - came as a reminder to the Catholic hierarchy of the extent of support for those they called 'the men of violence' . The Church attempted desperately to rationalise the result in two ways : firstly , they implied that Sinn Fein had conned some voters by playing down its support for the armed struggle ('1169...' Comment - ....which the Provisionals now deem as ' unnecessary ' , as is to be expected : the armed campaign seeks to change the state structures of the Six County area , a structure which the Provisionals are now salaried to maintain !) , ignoring the reality that the media had focussed exclusively throughout the campaign on the theme of 'the armalite and the ballot box' .

Secondly , the Church tried to explain the 64,000 people who voted for Sinn Fein in the same way as the SDLP, saying that economic deprivation pushes idle and frustrated young people 'into the hands of the paramilitaries'. The Church was struggling to make up lost ground : while Cardinal Thomas O Fiaich and Dr Edward Daly, Bishop of Derry , issued token statements protesting against strip searches of prisoners and 'security forces excesses' , and Bishop Cahal Daly gave no less than eight major political addresses or interviews in his first seven months of office . His inaugural address had provided the code words - 'turn away from the men of violence' (the IRA) and 'support the men of vision' (the SDLP) . ('1169...' Comment : today that 'code' would read (the RSF organisation) and (Provisional Sinn Fein) respectively...)
(MORE LATER).

THE POLITICS OF REPRESSION .......

Repression is not just bullets and the kick on the door at dawn. Repression is an integrated imperialist policy to deal with a risen people which encompasses all facets of social and political life.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

In key areas such as employment , discrimination against nationalists remains at least as bad as was ever the case under the pre-1969 unionist administrations . The six-county statelet is in economic ruin . British troops are still being killed . The murderous use of plastic bullets has again raised international revulsion at Britain's repressive role in Ireland .

And the current British 'Direct Ruler', James Prior, faces an uphill task as he strives to foist another doomed political 'initiative' on the North of Ireland.

[END of 'THE POLITICS OF REPRESSION']
(Next - 'Ballymurphy Interview' : from 1982)

REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC.......
Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals .
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

On February 11th , 1987 , Free State Foreign Minister Peter Barry was claiming , yet again , that the Hillsborough Treaty had "....radically altered the position of Northern nationalists ..." and claimed to have detected "...real progress..." in relations between the British crown forces and Northern nationalists . ('1169...' Comment - these same claims are being made - again , falsely - by the same 'establishment' parties today re the 1998 Stormont Treaty , with one difference : former republicans, now in the service of Westminster , are singing from that same hymn sheet. For shame.)

His remarks could hardly have been directed at those thousands of Northern nationalists who had been to or witnessed any republican funeral in the previous three years !

On Friday , March 13th , 1987 , the (P)IRA's Belfast Brigade exploded a bomb outside the gates of Roselawn Cemetery in East Belfast , explaining that it was "...a warning to the British Government and the RUC to cease their brutality at nationalist (sic) funerals ." That bomb exploded over one hour before the funeral of an RUC man killed in a (P)IRA ambush - a 50-minute warning had been given . The (P)IRA's Roselawn bomb resulted in the tying-up of substantial enemy resources at subsequent funerals of British crown forces executed by the (P)IRA , but its most immediate effect was to expose the hypocrisy of the British : the then 'law and order' British minister , Nicholas Scott, blustered - " Even in war people are allowed to bury their dead in peace and dignity." !
(MORE LATER).