BOBBY SANDS COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 5TH MAY 2012 : BRIEF REPORT AND PICS.

HUNGER-STRIKERS COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN , 5TH MAY 2012.

Lectern front used by RSF in Dublin , 5th May 2012.

The Annual RSF-organised Bobby Sands Commemoration was held today in Dublin on the traffic-isle in front of the GPO , watched by a crowd of about two-hundred people in total - not counting the ten uniformed State Garda members and eight of their plain-clothed colleagues. One Garda driver , in particular, must have been afraid of getting a ticket or clamped , maybe, as the only 'safe spot' he could find for his van was six feet away from the speakers lectern.

The parking 'problem' was one of two incidents which RSF had to cope with on the day : the other one was when a lady , recently released from Mountjoy Jail , and fresh from a pub between there and the GPO , insisted that Irish Republicans were "wrong" and she was "right" (in relation to everything, apparently...) but such was the foul language used by this woman she quickly drew upon herself the (unwanted) attention of the Gardai , who 'escorted' her off the traffic-isle and returned her safely to oblivion. The only other possible 'fly in the ointment' was the weather , as it's almost impossible to 'keep the crowd' in an open-air situation like that should the Heavens open which , thankfully , they didn't : we had a cool breeze throughout , overcast at times, but no rain. God , or Bobby , was looking down on us.....!

Anyway - enough chit-chat !

The RSF 'warm-up' speaker - John Horan , Dublin - asked , at 1.35pm, that the RSF 'A Team' ('Amplification Team' !) turn off the music system and turn on the amp equipment : he introduced himself to the crowds , and introduced a 'twist' to proceedings - Irish Republican female hunger-strikers. In his speech , John concentrated on one woman in particular - Dorothy MacArdle - and outlined in good detail her own history , including the fact that , in 1923, Dorothy MacArdle was one of 340 Irish Republican women who went on hunger-strike. He did reference parts of her life story which he and many others - myself included - believe she should have handled differently , but he stressed that those "transgressions" do not take away from the fact that it is not only Irish Republican men who have undertaken a hunger strike.

At about 1.45pm , led by Séan the Piper , an RSF Colour Party , uniformed representatives from Na Fianna Éireann and Cumann na mBan ,the Parade left the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square and marched down O'Connell Street to the GPO , where a small stage with a speakers lectern on top , an amplification system and a separate music system had been set-up : the three uniformed groups were instructed by the Chairperson , Paddy Tidd , to 'form up' facing the pillars of the GPO , following which Paddy introduced himself to the crowd and welcomed and thanked them for attending the Commemoration - he then named each of the twenty-two hunger-strikers who , between the years 1917 and 1981 , died in this on-going struggle. RSF Vice-President , Fergal Moore , and Ard Chomhairle member Cait Trainor also addressed the crowds from the stage , both delivering hard-hitting , in-depth yet concise synopses of the political situation as it exists today in this warped State. We publish with these few words some pics from the event today , and a full report - including the text of the main speeches - and more pics will be published in the June issue of 'Saoirse' , which goes to print on Wednesday 30th May 2012. Incidentally , myself and the other members of the 'Leaflet Team' were correct in our assesment regarding the amount of leaflet 'packs' that could be distributed at this Hunger-Strike Commemoration - we had 700 such 'packs' but wanted (and needed !) at least 1,000 : we all received a call on our mobile phones just before 2.30pm requesting that , between us , we keep at least 50 'packs' , as two girls who live beside the venue where the ballad session is being held tonight wanted same to do a 'door-to-door' with in the area. But , at that stage, we had less than thirty 'packs' left between us.....!

Finally : great job today by RSF members and Colour Party , Séan the Piper , Na Fianna Éireann , Cumann na mBan , Paddy , Fergal , Cait and John and the two-hundred-or-so people that stood with us , despite the heavy State presence - a very fitting tribute was paid to the twenty-two men that were remembered. Few pics now , more in the June 2012 issue of 'Saoirse' :

The RSF Commemoration parade arriving at the GPO , Saturday 5th May 2012.

RSF Colour Party member and Na Fianna Éireann.

Paddy Tidd , Chairing the proceedings.

Cait Trainor , one of the speakers at the Hunger-Strike Commemoration in Dublin today , Saturday , 5th May 2012.

Thanks for reading,

Sharon.

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INNER CIRCLES OF CORRUPTION.

'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....' By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.

Trade union leaders in Dublin were undoubtedly on friendly terms with IRA officers , who trusted them absolutely : trade union rooms were used for IRA meetings , which wanted men attended , and Tom Johnson wrote the draft for the Democratic Programme of Dáil Éireann. The Labour Movement did , indeed , demonstrate independently that it had ends of its own to serve - it celebrated the first anniversary of the Russian Revolution by an overflow meeting in the Mansion House in Dublin and it staged demonstrations against British crimes in Ireland ('1169...' Comment : ....whereas today trade unions will avail of the services offered by those same British criminals..) and Tom Foran , General President of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union , publicly described those demonstrations as dress rehearsals for 'The Workers' Republic'. As an official of Foran's and O' Brien's union , I came within hearing of the buzz of excited talk around union headquarters at Liberty Hall : I was lucky enough , while a student teacher in training in Dublin , 1911-1913 , to become interested in Labour papers and run into Labour meetings. It was my good luck that just then an uncle of mine , Peter Rodgers , home from Butte , Montana , where he was an active 'Wobblie', was on hand to sharpen , still further , my awareness of the class struggle. It did not seem strange to me , therefore , that the people I met at Liberty Hall should emphasise that the real fight would begin when the middle-class tried to duck out of the Republican struggle on terms that would suit them , but betray the Revolution. When that time came the Labour movement - to me that always meant the trade union movement - would take on the role which the Citizen Army played in the period of confusion on the eve of the 1916 Rising : it would be the point of rally for the independence movement in its second hour of crisis. I accepted this view of things eagerly..... (MORE LATER).


THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig. From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

" The Committee of Public Accounts had asked the Manager why documents had been released from the account when the banks re-opened despite the fact that the police had been making enquiries and the Manager's reply was that a request from the Department of Finance to retain all documents did not come until afterwards ie in late September or October. But , as I explained earlier, I had made this request for the retention of documents in the previous May and had been given to understand from the Group Law Agent that the bank would co-operate. The Committee's questioning of the Manager was sharp and his replies and actions in some other respects were commented on. The Report of the Committee has strictures ; on page 59 it has this to say - '.....moreover , the evidence given on behalf of this bank was unsatisfactory and the Committee did not receive from this bank the assistance it had a right to expect in tracing the money that passed through these accounts...' . If the Committee had had knowledge of my request , on behalf of the Minister for Justice , in May 1970, their strictures would , doubtless , have been ever more severe......." (MORE LATER).


INNER CIRCLES OF CORRUPTION.....

.....wheels within wheels greased :

Sean Fitzpatrick and Lar Bradshaw were great friends at the time - 'golf buddies' - and each was seen by their wannabe 'golf buddie' admirers as 'occupying the space' where they , themselves, hoped to exist one fine day : a 'Captain of Industry' , with connections to political bosses , property speculators and the so-called 'Leaders' of society. Life was good for Sean and Lar.

The jobs ('Positions') they held in their respective fields were extremely well paid and included a huge expense allowance as it was recognised , by their Boards , that 'entertaining clients' was an important part of their working day. Sean was a Bank Boss , in charge of 'Anglo Irish Bank' and moved in circles that were even too rich for him - one of his best known 'business deals' that , like 'his' bank , went sour on him , was an investment he made with, amongst other such luminaries , the 'King' of Morocco - both were involved in a (failed) casino and theme park operation in Macau , a so-called 'SAR' of China.

Anyway , back to this particular aspect of his dealings in Dublin : Sean was a Board Director of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) , where his 'golf buddie' , Larry Bradshaw , was the boss and, by pure coincidence , Larry was a Board Director of Anglo Irish Bank , where Sean was the boss ! In 2006 , with hundreds of millions of taxpayer-supplied Euro at his 'disposal' , Larry thought it would be a good idea to spend €412 million to purchase a (contaminated) 25-acre site in Ringsend , Dublin , and Sean's bank (!) was , fortunately (!) on hand to part-finance the 'deal' : the rest , as they say , is history , and is but one signpost on the crooked road that has taken this poxy State to the position it's in - a financial and moral basket case , with our interchangeable 'leaders' in Leinster House - who would be no strangers to lifting their little fingers on a golf course with the likes of Sean and Lar - completely uninterested in any aspect of the above and similar scandals : their one and only concern is to ensure that they remain in Office long enough to qualify for their pension.

But even at this late stage , there is a solution - the alternative is to carry-on as we are , changing the colours every few years of the political and business criminals that have elbowed their way to the taxpayer-funded pension-trough that State politicians and their property-speculating business friends are up to their worthless , non-productive necks in. We owe it to future generations to take a stand now.....

400 X 3 + 250 X 4 + 50 X 5 = 2,450......

RSF leaflets for 5th May 2012.

RSF Head Office has prepared 2,450 Republican leaflets for distribution at this years Bobby Sands Commemoration which will be held in Dublin on Saturday 5th May 2012 : these leaflets have been assembled in 'packs/booklets' , 400 of which will contain three leaflets , whilst 250 will have four leaflets and 50 will have five leaflets , giving a 'pack' total of 700. It was suggested by Head Office that any 'packs' left over be distributed at the function that same night in 'The Barn House' pub , to which the leaflet team replied "God Bless your innocence...." !

Experience has proven to myself and the rest of the leaflet team that the 700 'packs' we have will be gone before the Commemoration is over and , had we had 1,000 packs , we could have distributed them no problem. So , if you're looking for an 'RSF Leaflet Pack' on Saturday 5th May 2012 , your best chance to get one will be between O' Connell Bridge and the Ambassador from 12.30 pm to , hopefully , about 2.30pm. After 2.30pm , your chances are slim to none ! See you in Dublin City Centre that afternoon , or at the gig that night....

Thanks for reading,

Sharon.

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WESTMINSTER CONTINUES ITS SECRET WAR IN IRELAND.

BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND 'LOST' IRISH FILES....

Interesting article here in connection with the on-going 'dirty tricks' campaign which Westminster is running in relation to its political and military interference in Ireland : "The first claims came from those illegally arrested during internment in 1971 and those subjected to "deep interrogation". The (British) MoD decided to settle out of court when crown counsel advised them that they would be likely to lose if a case was brought before a judge. New evidence from the National Archives shows the (British) army continued harming civilians even after the disasters of internment, deep interrogation and Bloody Sunday.... the British preference for claiming to operate within the law, yet bending the meaning of the law to allow repression – as documented in the colonial archives we have now seen – carried on into Northern Ireland... (sic) "

This is not a 'revelation' as far as Irish Republicans are concerned - rather , it is confirmation of our position ie that in order to start to repair the damage she has caused and is causing in Ireland , Britain must first announce a date for its complete military and political withdrawal. No other offer will be entertained.

Thanks for reading,

Sharon.

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GOMBEENS AFRAID TO CONDEMN FELLOW GOMBEENS.....

UNPRINCIPLED KEEPERS OF THE BIG HOUSE.

".......we are angry at being portrayed as self-serving, overpaid, under-worked and dishonest people with overly generous pensions that we don’t pay for. Yes, there are public servants who fit into that category; they are represented by you and your colleagues, not us.....we are angry that we, our children and our children’s children have been sacrificed by this government to protect the people who bankrolled your party and robbed the Irish People. Men like Fingers and Seanie were held up by government as examples of entrepreneurial skill and business acumen but who were nothing more than ‘gombeen’ men. We are angry at the arrogance of a government corrupted by years of power has lost touch with the reality of life on a modest salary; if they ever knew it at all. A government whose only agenda is to protect the economic traitors.....this government is misusing what it means to be Irish as they support a new aristocracy created in their image. This new aristocracy chooses whether to retain state pensions while still working as public representatives, using all means to spend vast resources on the few, while taking pay from the majority. This government have created a new class system......we are angry about NAMA. No, not the entity set up by government to bail out developers and speculators who reneged on their debts, the cost of which you have placed on the shoulders of generations of Irish workers to come. Yes, we are angry about that, but I am talking about the NAMA that the government is, The National Assets Mismanagement Agency......the government of which you are a long serving member has mismanaged the wealth of this country for more than a decade by allowing our assets to be plundered and robbed by bankers and speculators and you are making generations of Irish workers pay the price for this treachery. You did this because bankers and speculators have bought your party, and in return you have sacrificed the greater good and prosperity of the Irish Nation for the benefit of the few – the few who have now taken their ill-gotten gains and secured them in tax havens around the world. Truly, a government of national sabotage......In the face of the unwarranted attack by the government on the workers and unemployed of this country the Garda Representative Association has stood head and shoulders above other trade unions. We have shown leadership, temerity, tenaciousness and courage. We have lead from the front....."

- an extract from a speech prepared , two years ago this month, by Michael O'Boyce , for delivery at a GRA meeting at which Fianna Fail elected representatives were to be present. The speech was not actually read out but it should have been : apart from the usual 'Free Stateism'-type of language ie "...this country....national.....the Irish Nation..." - its tenure is true : the source , however , is as bent , corrupt and unprincipled as that which it almost condemned.

"The front..." which Mr. O'Boyce referenced in his undelivered speech is instantly recognisable to Irish Republicans : it is that which has continually protected those that its leadership describes as the '...gombeen men (and women)....who have sabotaged and robbed the people...' Indeed , two years ago when that undelivered speech first hit the headlines , some of the more innocent amongst us (not Irish Republicans , I hasten to add !) thought (and hoped!) that it heralded the laying-down of a marker to the corrupt Leinster House practices in this society when , unfortunately , all it really represented was the feelings of individuals who , unlike their 'Masters' , had been hit in the pocket - like the rest of us - to bail out the friends of those same 'Masters'.

Disgruntled State employees , in other words , who thought that those they protect would exclude them from the financial 'penalities' they were imposing on everybody else. 'Gombeen men and women' , in short.....

Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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BOBBY SANDS COMMEMORATIVE BALLAD SESSION , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 5TH MAY 2012.

'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....' By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.
There was nothing make-believe , however, about the loyalists' opposition to Sinn Féin * - if union officials took that side their Protestant members , almost to a man, would stampede into a sectarian trade union in the shelter of the Orange lodges. Followers of John Redmond would not bolt - they would sulk , and many would lapse. On the other hand , a decision by trade union officials to put forward Labour candidates who would take their seats in the British Parliament would have caused an uproar. In these circumstances , de Valera's brusque 'Labour must wait' must have sounded like the answer to a prayer - but can anyone see de Valera daring the like were James Connolly alive ? There were men among the trade union officials who saw clearly that to stand aside in the General Election of 1918 was to deny James Connolly : the man among this group who could best communicate Connolly to Irish workers and who , indeed, had Connolly's mandate to go on from where he had been forced to leave off , was William O' Brien , General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union but O' Brien, too , hesitated to take Connolly's place at the rostrum. Could it be that even he was influenced by the danger of confusion in the Hibernian-infested new branches of his union in provincial towns ? It could be , it could well be ; it could be , too , that O' Brien considered he could influence the leaders of the independence struggle through his friendly , personal association with them - that he confused the prompter's stool with a place on the stage**........ (* That was then , but not so today : (Provisional) Sinn Féin and the loyalists are working hand-in-hand , under a writ from Westminster, to 'govern' the Six-County area for Britain.) (** - What an apt description for Provisional Sinn Féin today : on the prompter's stool (ie Stormont) but believing themselves to be 'players' on the Main Stage !) (MORE LATER).


THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig. From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980. " Later , I had a phone call from the Group Law Agent , Rory O' Connor , who suggested that it would be as well to take down what he was about to say so that there would be no error or misinterpretation , and added - 'You may need to read between the lines...' . I said for him to go ahead and after a moment or so I said that he could speak faster. He remarked that I must have very good shorthand and I told him that he was being recorded on tape to which he said , laughingly, that he had no idea that Government Departments were so up to date in method. The general effect of his message was that while the bank could not accept that they had an obligation they would be looking into the matter on their own account and , reading between the lines , I was happy , and reported back to the Minister. Curiously enough , I do not recollect reading a transcript of the recording but this is understandable as I went home early as I was not feeling well. Some days later I heard from the Special Branch that the account in Baggot Street was being examined. When I came back before the Committee of Public Accounts on 12th March 1971 for "consulation" , I did not tell the Committee of my failure to get Murray to intervene and of my own intervention with the AIB authorities to freeze the account - it just did not jump to my recollection and , at the time , I did not attach any particular significance to it . But , much later - in 1975 - when I was reading in Booklet Number 4 the evidence given by Mr Deacon , the Manager of the bank in Baggot Street to the CPA on January 20th , 1971 , I realised that my intervention did have significance and that if I had communicated the facts to the CPA I would have assisted them in their investigations....." (MORE LATER).


BOBBY SANDS COMMEMORATIVE BALLAD SESSION , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 5TH MAY 2012.

On Saturday , 5th May 2012 - the 31st Anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands , one of the twenty-two Irish Republicans who died on hunger-strike between 1917 and 1981 - Irish Republicans will be holding a ballad session in 'The Barn House' pub , Dolphin's Barn , Dublin 8. Admission is only a fiver per person , doors open at 8.30pm , a Republican raffle will be held on the night and Martin Walsh will take to the stage at about 9pm : those intending to attend this function would be advised to get there early , as locals will be vying for space with a crowd from the Bobby Sands Commemoration , which is being held that same day in Dublin City Centre. The entrance tickets alone (see above pic) , which will be available at the door on the night , are worth the price of admission on their own as they are set to become a collector's item.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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'AUSTERITY TREATY' - VOTE 'NO' ON THURSDAY 31ST MAY 2012.

PAYBACK'S A BITCH !

The same small , dedicated Clondalkin-based group of people that RSF worked with in 'N.O.T.A.' campaigns have produced a 'Vote No' leaflet in connection with the 'Austerity Treaty' vote which will be held in this State on Thursday 31st May 2012.

This co-operation has, once again , proved mutually beneficial to both groups , as the 'Pro NOTA / Anti Austerity Treaty' campaign group have had, so far , at least three times the amount of leaflets distributed than that which they themselves could have managed and RSF has upped its profile in Clondalkin and surrounding areas and made new contacts which will prove useful in the future. Also , RSF has used this opportunity to highlight a new website which they set-up in connection with the 'Austerity Treaty' and , in the same door-to-door , pub , club etc leaflet 'drop' , they have distributed thousands of their own leaflets. 'Win' or 'lose' on May 31st next , both groups have used the occasion to spread an anti-capitalist , pro-democracy message , and are to be congratulated for doing so !
Thanks for reading ,
Sharon.

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BOBBY SANDS COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 5TH MAY 2012.

'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.

How does one account for the failure of the Irish Labour Movement to demand its quota of candidates in the General Election of 1918 , so as to reflect the pattern of the Rising ? The simplest explanation is , like as not, the true one - Labour leaders could not make up their minds what road to take. They were a bothered lot of men who gave themselves one task above every other * , to hold the branches of the trade unions together in a period of high controversy. (* ...whereas today , their objective is to stay in power as long as it takes for their pension entitlements to kick-in...)
I was a teachers' representative on the Derry Trades and Labour Council before I joined the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union as an organiser , and I had a good view of their problem. I was there when the council chose it's side on conscription for army service , probably the only delegate who was not a representative of a cross-channel union.
Billy Logue , who was, I think , Chairman - he certainly was the greatest , single influence in the council - worked his way carefully into the anti-conscription corner by making the case that labour conscription would be round the corner should this other succeed , and he insisted he was not influenced by politics. It was a transparent enough piece of make-believe , but it got by, for it suited the 'loyalists' on the council....... (MORE LATER).


THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig. From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.
" I reported the 'traffic light' conversation immediately to the Minister who was closetted with Assistant Secretary Mr. Ward , of the Department of Finance , to ask the AIB authorities to put a stop order on this account ; I told him that criminal charges were in contemplation and that once preferred the police would be in a position to apply to the High Court for an Order under the Banks 'Book Evidence Act' and that , meanwhile, we wanted to ensure that documents would not be released from the account , but Murray refused to act and I could not stir him.
I then asked if he would ring Niall Ebrill , the General Manager, to introduce me - I said that I would ring Ebrill and make an appointment for myself once he had introduced my name. I wanted this introduction so that Ebrill would be in no doubt that the Department of Finance were aware of my purpose. Murray said yes , he would do that. "
MAY 22ND 1970 :
" Next morning , accompanied by Mr. Ward , I went to AIB Headquarters where I met Niall Ebrill , General Manager, and the Group Law Agent , Rory O' Connor. I gave them a guarded outline of the situation and said that as the account 'Belfast Fund for the Relief of Distress' had been opened through the instrumentality of Mr. Tony Fagan of the Department of Finance and as the moneys received into the account through the medium of the 'Irish Red Cross Society' were , in sizeable bulk , State money , the Minister for Justice was anxious that documents were not released from the account pending police enquiries which might result in an application in Court for discovery of documents. Mr. Ebrill said that the matter would be considered and referred , in a detatched manner , to the Bank's obligation to maintain , and to be seen to maintain , confidentiality with customers......" (MORE LATER).

BOBBY SANDS COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 5TH MAY 2012.

Those attending this annual Republican Sinn Féin-organised Commemoration are requested to fall-in behind the Republican Colour Party at the Garden of Remembrance and march from there , at 1.45pm , to the GPO in O' Connell Street where , on the traffic isle facing same, a small stage , a speakers lectern , music system and amplification system will be set-up , under the direction of a young man from the Ballyfermot area of Dublin , who will Chair the proceedings. More details to follow , including details of the function which will be held that same night in Dublin. Also , those interested in the above will be interested in attending the 'Who Fears To Speak Of Easter Week' seminar which will be held on Saturday 21st April 2012 in the 'Ireland Institute' in Pearse Street , Dublin City Centre : details here.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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CABHAIR RAFFLE , EASTER SUNDAY 8TH APRIL 2012 : HORSE STILL RUNNING......

'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.
When James Connolly preached Irish Independence he drew on himself the notice of men as dedicated as he to that cause and startled them with the intensity and urgency of his views. Basing himself on the Irish Citizen Army , fashioned within a trade union in the great lock-out of 1913, he made no secret of his plans for an armed uprising , and he and Padraig Pearse found common ground easily , within the situation created by the outbreak of war in 1914.
To Pearse , and those around him , England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity and so , too , with James Connolly - but Connolly looked farther afield. The failure of the Socialists in Britain , France , Germany etc to make a stand against imperialist war was to him a great crime. He saw in an armed uprising in Ireland , in that setting , not merely a chapter in Ireland's fight for freedom , but a page in the story of world revolution - a signal to the workers within the warring nations that the hour for civil war had struck.
There were those who argued that in sharing leadership in the Rising , Connolly turned aside from socialism into nationalism but people who urged that view understood neither the national question nor socialism - but such a view was inevitable: British Socialists had to rationalise their failure to make a serious effort to save him from execution , and there were those in Ireland , too, who needed to excuse themselves for denying him....... (MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.
MAY 21ST 1970 :
" At this time there was a general bank strike and accounts were frozen. Events were shaping in the direction of criminal charges being preferred , and the police feared that if the strike ended suddenly , bank documents would be cleared , and they were anxious to examine the accounts in the Baggot Street Branch of Allied Irish Bank to scrutinise the movements of moneys from the account 'Belfast Fund for the Relief of Distress'.
As I was returning from lunch in Leinster House to my office in 42/46 St. Stephen's Green South , I walked along the East Side of the Green to the traffic controls at the corner of Leeson Street where I stopped as the lights were red : a man , whose face was vaguely familiar but whose name I did not know , stopped beside me and spoke to me. I thought that he was a civil servant from the Office of Public Works or from Government Buildings. He expressed sympathy for the rough treatment that I had been given in the Dail debates earlier in the month in which Deputy Kevin Boland had named me.
As the lights changed and we were separating , he said - "If you want to know when the money for arms is coming , look under the names of 'White' and 'Agnes Kelly' in the AIB bank in Baggot Street." Then he muttered that it galled him that people paying sixty guineas for suits of clothes were mixed up in this......" (MORE LATER).

PAT Ó SNODAIGH AND AENGUS DOHERTY !

Pat Ó Snodaigh and Aengus Doherty (!) are two career politicians that have more in common than the desire to hang-on to their lucrative 'jobs' in an ex-Republican party which is presently occupying seats in two anti-Republican institutions in Ireland , Stormont and Leinster House - both also share a liking for the black (and otherwise coloured!) stuff , and we're not talking about Guinness (or lager!) .
In April 2006 -the same month in which Aengus acquired , free-of-charge to himself , more than €2700 worth of taxpayer-supplied ink cartridges (despite Leinster House being closed for 2 weeks Easter Holidays that same month)- the then four-years-in-the-'job' Deputy Ó Snodaigh apparently took offence that those in charge of the Leinster House stationery stores were then recording all withdrawals of material and , on April 27th , he sent them an 'official' PSF-headed letter , featuring his own photograph, querying why they now recorded such information : in mid May he received a reply to his query telling him that in March that year (2006) it was decided by those in charge of printer ink and associated material that, as it is taxpayers money that is being (ab-)used to purchase those supplies , a record should be kept as per ".....acceptable standards of internal control (procedure)..."

Up until March 2006 (ie in 2002 , 2003 , 2004 , 2005 and in January and February 2006) no such records were kept , so perhaps some of those who, up until March 2006, had helped themselves, unrecorded, to as much printer ink etc as they (and others!) wanted , took offence at then being asked to sign for it?
Finally - when this issue first drew ink to paper (!) in February of this year , Aengus attempted to defend his position by claiming that ".....nobody ever contacted me from Leinster House , the staff or anybody else....nobody ever raised with me , in Leinster House, the cost of it or that it was excessive or anything else.." And we suppose he has a point : when you 'earn' €1930 a week like he does (not counting 'expenses' and nixer/freebies!) you don't have to concern yourself with the price of things. Especially when it's the State taxpayer that's footing the bill.....

CABHAIR RAFFLE HELD ON EASTER SUNDAY , 8TH APRIL 2012 , IN A VENUE ON THE DUBLIN-KILDARE BORDER : AND NOT IN TIPPERARY.......

On Easter Sunday last , whilst some of our colleagues were holding an Easter Commemoration in Deansgrange , Dublin , and others were 'dry running' the 'props' required for Easter Monday (ie assembling the stage , lectern , music and amplification systems in a workshop in Dundrum , Dublin, for fault-finding purposes) , myself and five others were safely (and warmly !) secured in a hotel on the Dublin-Kildare border , preparing to hold a 650-ticket raffle for the CABHAIR organisation.
I'm told that a soccer match and two rugby games were being played elsewhere that day (....or was it two soccer matches and one rugby game ? Or was the horse-racing still on...?) but , whatever and/or whichever combination it was , the hotel lounge was practically standing room only - which was great for bar business and great , also, for our wee 'enterprise' as well , to the extent that a good few 'punters' were offering us more than twice face value per raffle ticket - even if we did have some left for sale , which we didn't (130 sold in forty minutes!) we wouldn't have sold them for more than the two Euro price per ticket. Now for the "Tipperary" connection : James , Marie , and their young lad , Derek , from Clonmel in Tipperary , were in the hotel for a family gathering and took a gamble with us - and it was a 'good bet' , as Marie won the first prize , €200, on ticket number 258 , her hubby James won second prize , €100 (tkt 257) and the young lad , Derek , won third prize , €40 (247). And we had a mini-party afterwards to prove it.....!
Aishling , from Ballyfermot , who bought her ticket from Pat M , won fourth prize of €20 (311) , Eddie D. won fifth prize , €20 , on ticket number 182 , which he bought from Jimmy , prize number six , €20, went to M M ,on ticket 558 , 'Nomlas' bought ticket number 462 from Paddy Mac and won seventh prize of €20 and the last prize was won by 'Loin' , €20 , ticket 634 , sold by B+A.
We enjoyed ourselves no-end in the hotel , in fantastic , lively and loud company , we 'spread' a good few bob around the place and , most importantly , raised a tidy sum of money for the CABHAIR organisation , which sends every cent - no 'expenses' taken - directly to the families and/or dependants of the Irish Republican Prisoners which it looks after. All-in-all , a great way to spend three hours , even if I'm none the wiser as to who won the soccer match. Or the rugby game. Or if my horse is still running......!
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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RSF EASTER WEEKEND , DUBLIN , 2012.

EASTER WEEKEND , DUBLIN , 2012.

Tómas delivering the main oration.

On Easter Saturday , 7th April 2012 , Republican Sinn Féin in Dublin set up a stall at the GPO in O'Connell Street , Dublin City Centre , from which T-shirts , 'Saoirse' newspapers , Republican leaflets and metal and ordinary Easter Lilies were sold/distributed : the two-hour event received a fantastic response from the hundreds of people that were in the area and, indeed , such was the success of the venture , that it may become a regular feature of RSF activity in Dublin for future Easter weekends.
On Easter Sunday , the usual Republican Commemoration was held in Deansgrange Cemetery where , apart from a touch of bad weather and the usual State monitoring ,all went according to plan : full details of both of these events will be published in the May 2012 edition of 'Saoirse' , which goes to print on Wednesday 2nd of that month.

On Easter Monday , Republicans who had gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square marched , at 1.45pm , from there , down O'Connell Street - with a Piper , an RSF Colour Party and uniformed representatives from both Na Fianna Éireann and Cumann na mBan leading the way - and formed-up outside the GPO , where a small stage and lectern , a music system and speaker amplification system had been set up. The proceedings were Chaired by Andy Connolly , Dublin , and Tomás Ó Cléirigh gave the main oration. A Wreath was laid at the GPO by Margaret Mullen , and a message of support from Republican POW's was read out to the crowd. The Easter Statement from the leadership of the Republican Movement was read , as was the 1916 Proclamation. Five hundred 'packs' of Republican leaflets were distributed on the day , between 12 Noon and 3pm , totalling over two-thousand leaflets (150 'packs' with 3 leaflets , 150 with 4 leaflets and 200 with 5) and, had we had more , we could have shifted those as well !
We publish with this brief report a few pics , more of which can be viewed on this 'Facebook' page , as can a couple of videos from the Commemoration and a brief video from the 'Get Together' (!) we had afterwards - also available at that link is a pic from the CABHAIR raffle which we held on Easter Sunday 8th April , the results of which will be posted here tomorrow , in our usual Wednesday offering , included in which will be further details concerning the 'Inkgate' affair , during which we will be introducing 'Pat' , a contender for the inky throne..... So take a peek at our pics and go to that 'Facebook' page for more - and check back with us tomorrow evening for more of the same , more or less !

RSF Colour Party forms-up at the GPO.

NFE at the GPO , Easter Monday , 9th April 2012.

NFE and RSF Colour Party.

Dipping of the Flags.

NFE close-up.

RSF Colour Party faces the GPO.

View from the Front....

...and the view through the Green.

How did this get in here.....bloody tourists (hello Mr and Mrs J!)
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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PRESENTING A BAD 'COMPROMISE' AS A GOAL ACHIEVED.

THIS PERSON 'FEARS TO SPEAK....'

Delivering an 'After Dinner Speech' to the 'Political Studies Association' in the red-carpeted surroundings of Belfast City Hall on Wednesday , 4th April 2012 , this speaker said the following (and much more) : "Republicanism needs to become more intuitive about unionist apprehensions and objections and sensitised in our response. We need to be open to using new language, and consider making new compromises.......our conflict is over......conflict is over and the imperative of creating a better society at ease with itself is a new challenge for us all.......dialogue, using new language and making new compromises to create trust are the seeds of a new nation for us all.........sometimes in politics compromise is a negative word. Even in the past people said it was a dirty word. But we should not be ashamed of the compromises we have made here. I am proud of the compromises I and my party have made to bring about a stable peace.The war is over in the north of Ireland, the conflict is over....." Without a doubt , "the war is over" for him and his like , as people like that have obtained their objective - a 'compromise' which , they believe , allows them to save face with their own (like-minded) nationalist colleagues whilst at the same time presenting their 'achievements' as that which they sought all along. Plus , of course , the financial rewards involved for them personally and the physical and verbal 'pats-on-the-back' they receive from other unprincipled gombeen waste-of-space career politicians. The person in question still attempts to 'trade' as a 'revolutionary-turned-Statesman' and is promoted , presented and introduced as such by like-minded creatures who have already received such 'status' or hope to , as soon as possible. These bottom-feeders offer nothing of any value or worth to society ; indeed , they are of the opinion that that society owes them and they are not behind the door when it comes to 'collecting' what they consider themselves to be 'owed' by that society. They are vain , greedy , self-centered and morally useless , a cancer in the midst of an otherwise decent society.

The person in question - who is 'proud of his compromises' - is Martin McGuinness , pictured above , who never thought to ask if the 'compromise' was his to trade with. The answer to that question is 'No' : that Republican objective is not his to 'bargain' with , nor does it belong to any individual. But being vain , greedy , self-centered and morally useless , he wouldn't understand that simple fact..... Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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EASTER COMMEMORATIONS AND SEMINAR 2012.

'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....' By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963. De Valera was not a Republican in Wolfe Tone's sense - he had none of Tone's scorn of the superstition of royalty and was incapable of seeing the independence struggle as Tone saw it , or James Connolly. He was numb , rather than hostile, to the working-class struggle and was as scared as Arthur Griffith of the gospel of Fintan Lalor. It was inevitable that he and Griffith should come together. The country saw high drama in the incident at a Republican delegate meeting in the Mansion House in Dublin when Father O' Flanagan , reporting on a backstage conference with Arthur Griffith , announced that "Griffith has thrown his lot in with us..." - the delegates got to their feet and cheered , but nobody noticed that Connolly's chair was left vacant : that the place Connolly purchased for the organised Labour movement in the leadership of the independence struggle was being denied ; or reneged. It was made easy for de Valera to call Griffith in and shut Labour out , for the Irish Labour Party did not want a share in the leadership. James Connolly's work , teaching , martyrdom , left no imprint on the policy of Irish working-class movements. Dublin workers uncovered at every mention of his name at a meeting , but nobody preached Connolly to them and , during his short days among them , he spoke to them from a very great height. He was a Marxian Socialist who , as a fighter for Irish Freedom , was dedicated to the proposition that the working-class alone is capable of leading the nation to victory. Any leadership not responsive to working-class needs must make peace short of independence and , in the light of this proposition , he explained the collapse of Daniel O' Connell , the hesitations of the Young Irelanders , the failure* of the Fenians , the Tragedy of Parnell : for that matter he foretold the Treaty....... (* '1169...' Comment : to say that the Fenians "failed" is not the truth - their actions ensured that the desire - the 'flame' - for Irish freedom was kept alive for the next generation.) (MORE LATER).
------------------------------------------- THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig. From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980. MAY 20TH 1970 : " Late on this evening I had a discussion with the Minister and the Attorney General in the Minister's room on the money implications in Tony Fagan's statement and the Attorney General gave me , for reading overnight, a photostat copy of the Department of Finance file dealing with the Grant-In-Aid ; the papers are reproduced in the CPA Report of July 1972 , para. 2574. I read the complete file when I was in bed and I was appalled at what I saw - it seemed to me that there was indisputable evidence that the Irish Red Cross Society had been used to juggle moneys from the Grant-In-Aid funds for the purchase of arms abroad , the equivalent of using ambulances for carrying munitions. I felt that the whole country's name would be blackened internationally if the word got out and , at about 4.00am , I drafted a letter to Murray in which I expressed my horror , and my relief that Grant-In-Aid funds were not subject to the C+A.G's audit as publication would disgrace the whole country. I remember that my letter stated - "Dear Mr Murray , we are looking into an abyss..." . This is the letter which is referred to extensively in the Report of the Committee of Public Accounts - the letter which they were unable to get. The Committee also tried to establish the tape recording of my conversation with Murray on 19th May but they addressed their questions to Mr O Morain who had ceased to be Minister for Justice on 4th May. I was asked by the Committee to "consult" with them on 12th March 1971 - after I had retired - and an account of my consultations is recorded in its proper place. I had a letter from Murray , dated 29th May , I think, in which he ticked me off , saying that he was the Accounting Officer , that it was his responsibility and that he did not accept my interpretation....." (MORE LATER).
----------------------------------------- Full list of Republican 1916 Easter Commemorations 2012:

ANTRIM : Easter Sunday, Belfast, Republican Plot, Milltown Cemetery, assemble 11.30am at cemetery gates. ARMAGH : Holy Saturday, Lurgan, Commemoration, assemble at the top of Kilwilkie at 3pm for march to the Republican Plot, St. Colman's Cemetery. Easter Sunday, Armagh city, assemble 2.45pm at the gates of Sandyhill Cemetery. Holy Saturday, wreath-laying ceremonies at Ballymacnab and Keady. Holy Saturday, wreath-laying ceremony, Republican Plot in Camloch. CARLOW : Easter Saturday, wreath-laying ceremony at the Republican Plot, Carlow Cemetery at 3.30pm. CAVAN/FERMANAGH : Details in April Saoirse. CLARE : Easter Sunday, wreath-laying ceremonies at Kilmurry McMahon and Doonbeg. CORK : Easter Sunday, assemble at Wilton Roundabout, 2pm. Parade to Republican Plot, St. Finbarr's Cemetery. DERRY : Cúchulainn Memorial, City Cemetery, Derry City, Easter Sunday, assemble at 12 noon. Wreath laying ceremonies at the following on Easter Sunday morning: The Loup Cemetery, 9am, at the grave of Brigadier Seán Larkin; and the grave of Tommy Toner in Dungiven, 10.15am at the graves of Vols Kealy, O'Carolan and Kilmartin and hunger striker Kevin Lynch. DONEGAL : Holy Saturday, Doneyloup, Castlefin 7.30pm. Clady Bridge, 11.30am. Drumboe Easter Sunday, assemble Johnson's Corner 2.30pm. DOWN : Easter Sunday, Newry, assemble 10am, gates of St Mary's Cemetery for march to Republican Plot. DUBLIN : Easter Sunday, commemoration at Deansgrange Cemetery, 1pm. Easter Monday, assemble Garden of Remembrance, 1.45pm for march to GPO, O,Connell Street, Dublin. GALWAY : Good Friday, wreath-laying ceremony at the Workhouse Tuam, 5pm. Holy Saturday, wreath-laying ceremony Kilcummin cemetery Oughterard, 7pm. Easter Sunday, assemble at Cathedral for parade to Liam Mellows Memorial, Eyre Square, Galway city, 11am. Republican Plot, Donaghpatrick, Headford, Easter Sunday, assemble Queally's Cross, Caherlistrane, 3pm. GLASGOW : Easter Sunday commemoration and function. Details from Saoirse sellers. KERRY : Holy Saturday, wreath-laying ceremony, Republican Plot Castleisland Cemetery, 2pm. Easter Sunday, Caherciveen, assemble 2.30pm at the Monument, the Square. Tralee, Easter Sunday, assemble at Denny Street at 2pm for parade to Republican Plot, Rath Cemetery. Killarney, wreath-laying ceremony at Republican Monument. Easter Monday, Republican Plot, Listowel, wreath-laying ceremony, assemble at graveyard gates, 12 noon. KILDARE : Easter Sunday, commemoration at the grave of Martin O'Brien, St Corban's Cemetery, Naas, 12 noon. Easter Monday, wreaths will also be laid throughout the county. KILKENNY : Holy Saturday: wreath-laying ceremony at Rathciarin, Mooncoin. LAOIS : Wreaths will be laid on the graves of William O'Connor and James Lacey, Barrowhouse Cemetery; grave of Denis O'Dwyer, Wolfhill cemetery, the Republican Plot, Portlaoise and 1798 Monument, Portarlington. LEITRIM : See April Saoirse. LIMERICK : Easter Monday, Republican Plot, Mount St Lawrence Cemetery. LONDON : Easter Monday, commemoration, Hendon Cemetery, Holder's Hill Road, Hendon, 12.30am. assemble at entrance at 12.15pm. LONGFORD : Easter Sunday, commemoration, Ballymacormack, outside Longford town, 3pm. LOUTH : Dundalk, Easter Sunday, assemble at gates of St Patrick's Cemetery, 2.30pm for wreath-laying ceremony at the Republican Plot. MAYO : Kilkelly, Easter Monday, 12 noon, assemble at Church gate and parade to East Mayo Brigade Memorial on main Sligo-Galway Road. MEATH : Easter Sunday, wreath-laying ceremonies at grave of Séamus Fox, Drumcree, 12 noon; at grave of Niall Fagan, Summerhill, 1pm; at Ballinlough Cemetery, Kells, 2pm. Easter Monday, wreath-laying ceremony at grave of Vol. George McDermott, Ardbracken, 2pm. MONAGHAN : Easter Sunday, commemoration, Urbleshanny Cemetery, Scotstown, at grave of Vol. Seámus McElwaine, 2pm. NEW YORK : Easter Sunday, commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising at the Byrne & Hanrahans 960 Mc Lean Ave., Yonkers NY, 10am. Prior to the Commemoration a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the graveside of Joe Stynes in Woodlawn Cemetery at Webster Avenue & E. 233rd St. in the Bronx, NY. Tickets $25.00 (children under 14 free). Includes Irish Breakfast. OFFALY : Easter Sunday, wreath-laying ceremonies throughout the county. ROSCOMMON : Ballinlough, Easter Sunday, 12 noon, parade to IRA Memorial. Elphin, parade to County Roscommon Memorial after 11.30 Mass. Easter Sunday, County Commemoration 3pm, See April Saoirse. SLIGO : Sligo Town, Easter Sunday, wreath-laying ceremony, Republican Plot, Sligo Cemetery. TIPPERARY : Easter Sunday, Commemoration, Hunger Strike Memorial, Banba Square, Nenagh, 10am. TYRONE : Holy Saturday, Carrickmore at the grave of Frank Ward, 5pm. WATERFORD : Holy Saturday, wreath-laying ceremony at Statue on Quay, Waterford city, 12 noon. WESTMEATH : Easter Sunday, wreath-laying ceremonies throughout the county. County Commemoration: Easter Sunday 12 noon. Assembly at the gates of Cornamagh Cemetery, Athlone, for the short walk to the Grave of I.R.A. Capt. Tom Hughes. WEXFORD : Republican Plot, St Ibar's Cemetery, Crosstown, Easter Sunday, assemble at Cresent Quay, Wexford at 3pm. Mass for all who died for Ireland, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rowe Street, 11.15am. WICKLOW : Holy Saturday, 3pm, wreath-laying Hollywood Cemetery, West Wicklow. I'll be at the Commemoration on Easter Monday in Dublin , as myself and three others have been 'detailed' to distribute the 500 leaflet 'packs' that RSF Head Office have prepared for the day : so keep an eye out for me , somewhere between O'Connell Bridge and the Parnell Monument..... ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ REPUBLICAN SEMINAR , SATURDAY 21st APRIL 2012 , DUBLIN.....

A Seminar entitled 'Who Fears To Speak Of Easter Week' , which has been organised by Republican Sinn Féin , will be held in Dublin on Saturday 21st April 2012 , in 'The Ireland Institute' (formally known as the 'Pearse Institute') from 12 Noon to 5pm : there is no entry charge and those interested in attending can stay for the whole seminar or part thereof. The main speakers are Ruán O' Donnell , Des Dalton and Ruairí Óg Ó Brádaigh , and songs , poems and readings connected to the 1916 Rising will feature throughout the event. The Clár ('Programme') for the Seminar is as follows : 12 Noon - reading of the 1916 Proclamation. 12.05 to 1pm - music and songs of the 1916 Rising. 1pm to 1.30pm - break for lunch. 1.30pm - excerpt from Thomas J Clarke's 'Glimpses of an Irish Felon's Prison Life'. 2pm - Ruán O'Donnell. 2.30pm - Des Dalton , Uachtarán , Sinn Féin Poblachtach. 3pm - Ruairí Óg Ó Brádaigh (a 'Q&A' session will be held after each speaker). 3.30pm - Pádraig Pearse's address at the grave of O'Donovan Rossa. 3.45pm - Thomas MacDonagh's address to his court-martial. 4pm - excerpt from Éamonn Ceannt's court-martial address. 4.10pm - a reading from 'James Connolly'. 4.15pm - 'The Rebel' (Pádraig Pearse). 4.25pm - 'Easter 1916' (WB Yeats). 4.35pm - 'The Rose Tree' (WB Yeats). 'This Heritage To The Race Of Kings' (Joseph Plunkett). 'A Lament For Thomas MacDonagh' (Francis Ledwidge). 'The Ghost of Roger Casement' (WB Yeats). 5pm - CLOSE. The 'Ireland Institute' is located at No. 27 Pearse Street , Dublin 2 - a few doors away from the Trinity Capital Hotel - and, as stated , there is no cover charge for entry to the Seminar , nor is there a requirement that you stay for the full five hours. Hope to see you there ! Thanks for reading , Sharon.

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Approximately 10,000 people , young and old , protested in Dublin yesterday (Saturday 31st March 2012) in opposition to the IMF-enforced implementation of a household tax on houses that either have already been paid for or are in the process of being paid for. Republican Sinn Féin members were amongst those who assembled at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.30pm whilst a second group of RSF members took up position at the Spire monument in O'Connell Street : between both RSF teams , a total of 4,850 leaflets were distributed to the crowds , comprising 450 'packs' with five leaflets per pack and 650 'packs' with four leaflets per pack.

The political police ('Special Branch') made their presence known at the GOR assembly point and , indeed , photographed and recorded the names and addresses of the RSF protestors in O'Connell street , whilst their uniformed colleagues , on foot and on horseback , made it clear to the thousands of protestors outside the Fine Gael Ard Fheis venue that they were on the side , and in full support of , the suited political and business class that were inside the venue discussing future methods by which they could integrate themselves with their paymasters in Brussels and Washington - whenever one or more of those Blueshirted Fine Gael members wanted to access or exit the venue , strong-arm tactics were employed by the State Gardaí to ensure that they had ease of passage ie protestors in the vicinity , or considered to be in the vicinity, were pushed back with such force that some of them lost their balance and fell to the ground and , when those around them attempted to pick them up they , too , fell victim to the 'scrum' and were themselves placed in danger. It should be noted that this happened repeatedly in clear view of the Gardaí present but it was also made clear to all of us present just what their objective was - to ensure the 'comfort' of the Fine Gael politicians and their assorted hangers-on who , after all , pay the salaries and expenses of those same Gardaí members.

However , apart from the dangerous position that a section of the protestors were placed in by uniformed State operatives , the protest itself was a huge success : the 10,000 or so people that took part in it were , at the time , representative of about one million householders who had not paid the new tax (State deadline for paying same was Midnight Saturday 31st March 2012) and the absence of any official or unofficial representation at the protest from the 'Youth Wing' (ie 'radical' !) departments of Fine Gael , Labour or Fianna Fail was noticed by the crowd , as was the fact that Provisional Sinn Féin was present , despite having themselves imposed , via their elected representatives in the British 'Parliament' in Stormont, the Sterling equivalent of a €700 per household tax on family homes in the Occupied Six Counties ! Of such hypocrisies are political careers built...... Thanks for reading , Sharon.

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ANOTHER DAY / BERRY PAPERS / TOM MAGUIRE / FINE GAEL PICKET / VOTE 'NO' ON MAY 31st 2012.

'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.
Eamon de Valera was the standard-bearer for the young people in the struggle for the Republic : he was the great heroic figure of the period and , by lucky chance, ('1169...' Comment - or something else? ) on his arrest he was not put in immediately with the other leaders , and so was not caught up in the first , hurried, executions. The fact of his American birth had time to be noticed. Protest voices against executions arose , and so leadership was thrust on him by the British firing parties that shot down the other chiefs of the Rising from around him . The difference between de Valera and Arthur Griffith was sharper than either of them realised : Griffith , the 'Home Ruler' , was concerned with the powers an Irish Parliament could win for itself from the British Government whilst de Valera , a Republican - not doctrinaire , but a Republican - ('1169...' Comment : at that point and, based on later occurrences, allegedly so....) concerned himself with what concessions the Irish Republic could make to Britain , consistent with sovereignty , on certain aspects of defence and foreign relations. This difference was to explode , and startle both of them by it's shattering power , in the conflict of the Treaty versus 'Document No. 2'...... (MORE LATER).
-------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.
" There was a sad drop in discipline and moral standards of Ministers ('1169...' Comment : the one thing they are consistent with...) since the mid-1960's : to quote one of them in a speech in Galway - Mr George Colley stated 'there were low standards in high places..' . Nobody had to guess at the time as to whom he was aiming at. Copies of Tony Fagan's statement were sent by the Minister to the Minister for Finance and , subsequently, we discussed it, in all its implications, and he asked me to find out what was Murray's attitude to the revelations - I assumed that he wanted to know for Mr Colley. I said that I would find out." MAY 19th , 1970 : " I phoned Murray , the Secretary of the Department of Finance : our conversation , which was a fairly lengthy one, was recorded at my end and immediately afterwards the recording was transcribed by my private secretary who signed and dated her work. A carbon copy was given to the Minister (who wanted it) and the original and the dictaphone belt were placed in a pocket in the left hand side of the 'Arms Conspiracy' file. This recording was explanatory of my attitude and his - he admitted that he had been uneasy about the way that the grant-in-aid for 'Northern Ireland Relief' was being disposed of and went on to say that if he had raised a rucus he would have been thrown out of the room by the Minister ; 'You know what the bloody man is like...' , or words near that. I interjected that on an occasion the same Minister had literally thrown a file at me and that I had walked out of his room , leaving the papers on the floor...." (MORE LATER).
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ COMMANDANT-GENERAL TOM MAGUIRE BORN ON THIS DATE (28th MARCH) 120 YEARS AGO....

Tom Maguire (28 March 1892 – 5 July 1993); 101 years old at the time of his death.
Tom Maguire is one of the many Irish Republican men and women that the Republican Movement was , is and always will be guided by : "When the majority of (P)IRA and (P)Sinn Féin decided to abandon abstentionism in the 1969/70 split, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Dáithí Ó Conaill sought and secured Maguire's recognition of the Provisional IRA as the legitimate successor to the 1938 Army Council. Of the seven 1938 signatories, Maguire was the only one still alive. Likewise in the aftermath of the 1986 split in the Republican Movement, Maguire signed a statement in 1986....(which)was issued posthumously in 1996: he conferred this legitimacy on the Army Council of the Continuity IRA (who provided a firing party at Maguire's funeral in 1993)....." (More here)
-------------------------------- -------------------------------- ANTI-HOUSEHOLD TAX CAMPAIGNERS TO PICKET FINE GAEL ARD FHEIS IN DUBLIN ON SATURDAY 31ST MARCH 2012.....

The front of the RSF anti-household tax leaflet......
On Saturday , 31st March 2012 , anti-household tax campaigners will assemble at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square , Dublin from where , at 1pm, they will march to the Convention Centre on Spencer Dock/North Wall Quay , where the Fine Gael/Household Tax Party will be holding its Ard Fheis. Republican Sinn Féin members will be taking part in this protest , and hope to have a presence that same day in Clondalkin , Dublin, at 11am , outside the County Council Offices (facing the Mill Shopping Centre) where a smaller , but equally loud and justified protest re this unjust tax will be held. Thousands of the RSF leaflet pictured here have already been distributed and this work will be intensified in the coming days.

....and the back of the same leaflet.
------------------------- ------------------------- MOVING IN FOR THE KILL........

......on Thursday 31st May 2012 , voters in this State will be asked to vote on whether the IMF and politicians and bankers in Brussels should be given permission to insert an 11-page Rulebook into the Constitution of this State , the wording of which has been dictated by them. The purpose of this proposed insertion will , in effect , make it 'illegal' for people in this State - working or unemployed - not to abide by political decisions made by the authors mentioned : RSF are calling for a 'No' vote in relation to this issue , and will be actively campaigning for same. These are the same groups that have , for starters, cut your wages or dole money ,want to tax your house and introduce a water tax - now they want to , as stated , make it illegal for you to refuse to pay for the greed inflicted on society by corrupt politicians , crooked bankers and morally bent property speculators. PAYBACK'S A BITCH : on Thursday 31st May 2012 , tell them 'No' - VOTE NO!
---------------- ---------------- Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
(Apologises if this post appears disjointed - we are working off a new platform and , for now , it's on a 'trial and error' basis)

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