ON THIS DATE (1ST NOVEMBER) 103 YEARS AGO : THE EVE OF EXECUTION.
'On 28 June 1920, five men from C Company of the 1st Battalion at Wellington Barracks, Jalandhar, Punjab decided to protest against the effects of martial law in Ireland by refusing to soldier. They were soon joined in their protest by other Rangers (the protesters included at least one Englishman, John Miranda, from Liverpool) declaring they would not return to duty until British forces left Ireland.
Led by Private James Daly (whose brother William took part in the protest at Jalandhar), the protest spread to the Connaught Ranger company at Solon however the Connaught Ranger company at Jutogh hill-station remained loyal to the British crown. A party of men led by Daly made an attempt to recover their arms, storming the armory.
The loyal British guard successfully defended it, and two of Daly's party, Privates Patrick Smythe and Peter Sears, were killed in the firefight. Within days, both garrisons were occupied by loyal British troops; Daly and his followers surrendered and were taken prisoner. Eighty-eight mutineers were court martialed : nineteen men were sentenced to death (eighteen later had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment), 59 were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, and ten were acquitted.
The 21-year-old Daly was shot by a firing squad in Dagshai Prison on 2 November 1920. He was the last member of the British Armed Forces to be executed for mutiny. Private Sears and Private Smyth were buried at Solan, while Daly and Miranda (who later died in prison) were buried at the Dagshai graveyard until 1970..' (from here.)
'On November 2nd, 1920, James Daly was killed by a British Army firing squad in India. He had been one of the leaders of the so-called 'India Mutiny', but had not been among its instigators. The mutiny began on May 28th, 1920, led by Joseph Hawes at Wellington barracks in Jullundar, India, when 350 Irish members of the famous Connaught Rangers regiment of the British Army laid down their arms and refused to keep soldiering as long as British troops remained in Ireland...as word of more and more British violence against the Irish people spread among the troops, they had begun to question the morality of wearing the uniforms of the same army that was terrorising families back home.
The mutiny soon spread to Ranger detachments in Solon and Jutogh. Daly was stationed at Solon and helped lead the action of the mutineers there. Two would die in Solon during a brief confrontation. Eventually, 61 Rangers were convicted by courts martial and 14 sentenced to death. All but one of those condemned men had their sentences reduced. James Daly of Tyrellspass, County Westmeath, was the only one shot.
The Connaught Rangers would not survive much longer than Daly ; in 1922 the regiment was disbanded after the signing of the Anglo-Irish treaty that created the Irish Free State. In 1970, James Daly's body was brought home and buried at Tyrellspass. Among those in the guard of honor at the reinterment ceremony were five of his fellow mutineers: Joseph Hawes, James Gorman, Eugene Egan, Patrick Hynes, and William Coote...' (from here.)
"The moral courage and sacrifice shown by James Daly and his comrades shines like a beacon light years after those momentous events in Jullander and Solon in India in June and July of 1920. The leadership shown by James Daly and Joe Hawes galvanised their comrades into striking a blow for the freedom of their own land. We also remember with pride the sacrifices of Peter Sears and Patrick Smythe who died at the hands of the British army during the mutiny and who are interred in Glasnevin cemetery.." - the then RSF President Des Dalton, 2010 : more here.
At that time, in Ireland, the Black and Tan War was at its height. Irishmen serving with the British Army in India mutinied in protest at the atrocities being committed in Ireland by the British. On June 27th, 1920, 350 Irishmen gave in their arms and refused to soldier for England. The mutiny was confined chiefly to members of 'B' and 'C' Companies, 1st Battalion, Connaught Ranger Regiment, stationed at Wellington Barracks, Jullunder, Punjab, India.
The men at Jullunder were led by Private Joseph Hawes and their protest was joined two days later by a detachment of 'C' Company at the hill-station in Solon, under Private James Daly (regimental number 35025), a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. On June 30th, 1920, following the deaths of Privates Patrick Smythe, Louth (regimental number10079) and Peter Sears, Mayo (regimental number 32781) in an attempt to capture the magazine at Solon, the mutiny ended.
Seventy-five of the mutineers were arrested and taken to Lucknow where they were held until September when they were moved to Dayshai Prison to stand trial.
While awaiting trial, the prisoners were subjected to such harsh treatment by the British that it resulted in the death of one of the men, Private John Miranda, a native of Liverpool.
At the subsequent general court-martial , fourteen of the prisoners were sentenced to death and the remainder to terms of imprisonment varying from ten to twenty years. In mid-October 1920, 13 of the fourteen death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment - the exception was Jim Daly, a native of Tyrellspass, County Westmeath.
After six months, the mutineers were transferred to Portland Convict Prison in England, where they suffered long periods of solitary confinement and ill-treatment during their fight for political status. They were later moved to Maidstone Prison and, on January 3rd, 1923, the remaining sixty mutineers were released and returned to Ireland.
In October 1970, the remains of Daly, Smythe and Sears were brought back to Ireland : Smythe, a native of Drogheda, Co. Louth and Sears, from Neale, Co. Mayo, were buried in the Republican Plot in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
James Daly, who was executed in Jullunder in India on November 2nd, 1920, as per orders issued by Major-General Sir G. de S. Barrow, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., of 'Northern Command of the British Army in India', was re-interred in his native Tyrellspass. These men and those like them are remembered and cherished by Irish republicans, as they should be.
The 1st November, 1920 - 103 years ago on this date - was James Daly's last full day on this Earth. Gone but never forgotten.
'FIRST THINGS FIRST...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
Will Mr. Costello and Mr. de Valera tell us what is the use of talking against this attitude?
Will they not admit publicly, as they do in private, that it is essentially a question of force ; that England holds Irish territory by force and is determined to continue to do so no matter how strong the moral, legal or national argument brought against her?
Quite bluntly she says - "No matter what your case may be, here I am and here I'm going to stay!" But still the talk goes on.
During the recent war, Mr. de Valera stated - "Ireland will never allow her territory to become a base for any foreign power for an attack on England."
Mr. Costello has now repeated that statement and his renewal has been welcomed delightedly by 'The Yorkshire Post' newspaper ; it is high time that statement was critically examined.
Apologists for the politicians may look upon it as a wonderfully clever move to entice the English into making some 'concessions' but to republicans it is either of two things - a deliberate half truth or yet another surrender to the Free State...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (1ST NOVEMBER) 139 YEARS AGO : BIRTH OF WHAT MORPHED INTO A 'GRAB ALL ASSOCIATION'.
'On 1st November 1884 the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded at Miss Hayes' Commercial Hotel, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, by Michael Cusack (Clareman, teacher, sportsman and nationalist) and Maurice Davin (a Tipperary man who at the time was Ireland’s most famous athlete).
Other founding members present were John Wyse-Power, John McKay, J.K. Bracken, Joseph O'Ryan and Thomas St George McCarthy. Many of the seven men who attended the meeting were Fenians. Not present at the Thurles meeting was Patrick W. Nally, a keen athlete and leading IRB organiser who also played a prominent role in bringing about the birth of the GAA : he was the one who suggested the organisation to Cusack...' (from 'History Ireland' magazine.)
The objective of the new organisation was to to foster and promote native Irish pastimes, to open athletics to all social classes and to aid in the establishment of hurling and football clubs and, in order to encourage contact between towns and cities, it organised inter-county matches.
One of its founding members, Michael Cusack, was a pioneer of Irish language revival and a founder member of the Gaelic League, and was inspired by the ideal of restoring pride in the national games of hurling and football and - through them - instilling hope and determination among Irish manhood in their ability to control their country's destiny.
It had somewhat of a republican 'leaning' to it in its earlier years, through people like Michael Cusack and, for instance, James Nowlan who, in 1898, at 36 years of age, was elected as Alderman to Kilkenny Corporation and availed of the position to great effect in publicising the then fourteen-year's young 'Gaelic Athletic Association', but was less successful in persuading the Central Council of the GAA that it should begin preparations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1798 Rising.
indeed, the GAA leadership refused to even appoint representatives to the 1798 Centenary Committee, but James Nowlan and a few other republican-minded GAA members insisted on playing their part in the celebrations.
At the GAA Congress held in September 1901, he was elected President (the sixth president of the GAA, a position he served in from 1901 to 1921) and attempted to steer the organisation towards a more republican path ; for instance, when the 'Irish Volunteers' was formed, Nowlan stated that it was a most suitable group for GAA members to join, even though other GAA leaders were not as enthusiastic about the group, or about republicanism in general.
And that 'mildly nationalist/small-'r' republican'-outlook has unfortunately prevailed in the overall leadership and membership of the GAA, so much so that, during the 1981 hunger-strikes.. '...the whole question of the role of the GAA in Nationalist affairs was raised, with it becoming blatantly clear that the courage was lacking from top GAA officials to come out openly, and support with direct action, motions passed at successive GAA congresses which backed the prisoners' demands.
The influence of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members, and the ever-present voice of the Garda Síochána in the GAA, was beginning to cause even more alarm among GAA Headquarters' staff ; the grassroots' support at Northern level was understandable as many clubs had at least one member in Long Kesh, but the gulf in understanding of many Southern GAA personnel was a reflection of how removed from the realities of the Northern situation they had become.
GAA Headquarters kept one careful eye on events in Long Kesh and the other on those middle-class conservatives who wanted the GAA to steer well clear of involvement in the H-Blocks crisis.
Statements from the GAA management committee referred to bringing "the whole sad situation to an end..in the interests of peace.." - hardly words calculated to cause Southern politicians to take seriously the degree of GAA concern over the prison situation..other statements talked of "humanitarian concern", while the increased pressure exerted by some GAA members in the South gave rise to terms such as "condemnation of violence and men of violence" being increasingly included in policy statements from the GAA management committee..' (from here.)
All in all - between the above and the 'Rule 21' issue, it's not surprising that republicans have learned not to depend on overall GAA structures as a support base and, indeed, to be extra vigilent in any dealings with the GAA as it is still 'influenced by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Garda Síochána..' (...and values profit over culture).
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
However, there was also a degree of obfuscation, deliberate or otherwise, since there was a failure to publicise the fact that Ireland has one of the highest proportions of women in the workforce who have children under two years of age, at 42%, and most of these work full time.
Among women with children between 10 and 14, 22% were in full time work and 13% worked part time ; these figures suggest that women with young children are working for economic reasons as they grapple with enormous mortgages in the early years of their marriage.
The figures also suggest that, given their choice, a large proportion would choose not to work outside the home for a period. As women are being subtly forced into the workplace by the financial whip, stay-at-home parents have become the new pariahs.
In the past, many of the day-to-day problems of living were resolved within the family, or with the help of the local priest. However, as the family has become increasingly nuclear and over-extended by the demands placed upon it, the resources for supporting those with problems within the family have been curtailed... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (1ST NOVEMBER) 103 YEARS AGO : IRISH 'LAD OF 18 SUMMERS' EXECUTED BY WESTMINSTER.
Kevin Barry (pictured) wearing the uniform of 'H' Company, 1st Battalion, Dublin Brigade of the IRA. He was 18 years of age when that photograph was taken, and that same age when he was put to death by Westminster.
He was executed on November 1st 1920 - 103 years ago on this date - in Mountjoy jail in Dublin by the British. He was the first Irish republican to be executed by the British since 1916, and was captured while on active service outside the entrance of Monk's bakery in Dublin. Although he was born in Dublin he spent much of his life at the family home in Tombeigh, Hackettstown, in Carlow.
Both sides of his family, the Barry's and the Dowling's, came from the area, and some of his ancestors had fought in 1798. His was a strong republican family. At the time of his death his eldest brother Mick was O/C of the volunteers in Tombeigh and his sister Sheila was in Cumann na mBan.
On Monday 20th September,1920, 18-year-old Kevin Barry had gone to Mass and received Holy Communion, then joined a party of IRA volunteers on Bolton Street in Dublin.
Their orders were to ambush a British army truck as it picked up a delivery of bread from Monk's Bakery at the junction of North King Street and Church Street and capture their weapons. The ambush was scheduled for 11am, which gave him enough time to take part in the operation and return to UCD in time for a medical examination he had at 2pm.
The gun he was using jammed during the operation (he had left his own weapon in Carlow and was using a borrowed one) and he was forced to seek shelter - he rolled under the British Army truck and continued trying to free the jammed gun.
His comrades left the scene as they were outnumbered and had lost the element of surprise, and Barry might very well have escaped capture in his hiding place had a local woman, a Mrs Garrett, who ran a coal and vegetable shop near the bakery, not shouted out to the driver of the British Army lorry that he shouldn't move it as the person under it (Kevin Barry) could get run over. Barry was captured and placed in the back of the military lorry along with three dead or mortally wounded British soldiers.
The woman who shouted the warning blamed herself, as did some of her neighbours, but Kevin's sister, Kathy, exonerated the woman from any blame for his capture -
"Incidentally, I should mention that some months after his execution we were most distressed to hear that this woman had been driven mad and was in an asylum as a result of the blame attached to her by her neighbours. There was nothing we could usefully do about it beyond explaining where we could that, in Kevin's own account of it to me on the day of his court martial, he was convinced that she cried out because she was afraid that the man under the lorry would be run over..."
On Halloween night, 1920 - the night before his execution - Kevin Barry was given a blue-leaded pencil and paper with which to write his last letter :
"Dear Boys, I had quite a crowd of visitors today and a crowd from the college prayed and sang outside the gates but perhaps you were there. Well boys, we have seen some good times, and I have always considered myself lucky to have such a crowd of pals. It's the only thing which makes it hard to go, the fact of leaving you chaps and other friends behind. Now I charge you thank anybody you know for me, who has had masses etc said. Everybody has been awfully decent and I can assure you I appreciate it. Also say just a few more prayers when I go over, and then you can rest. Your pal, Kevin."
As he was writing that last letter, Father Francis Browne SJ, a teacher at Belvedere College, cycled to the Vice Regal lodge in Dublin's Phoenix Park to plead for Barry's life, but to no avail : 18-year-old Kevin Barry was hanged in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin on the 1st November 1920, the first republican to be executed since the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916.
'Just a lad of eighteen summers...'
BEIR BUA...
The Thread of the Irish Republican Movement from The United Irishmen through to today.
Republicanism in history and today.
Published by the James Connolly/Tommy O'Neill Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin, The Liberties, Dublin.
August 1998.
('1169' comment - 'Beir Bua' translates as 'Grasp Victory' in the English language.)
The booklet 'Beir Bua' has been written for just one such revolutionary and just one such revolutionary organisation - it is the first weapon of the grassroots Irish republican activist and it will help build the impregnable fortress that is our undiluted faith in a free, united, democratic, Gaelic, socialist and federalist Irish Republic.
It serves as a declaration of war on the Brits and their allies, it steels us for the hard road ahead and it guides us with the words of some of our greatest patriots on the one true path to freedom.
I heartily and gladly recommend it to all dedicated Irish republicans.
Máirtín Ó Catháin, Bogside, Derry, 1998... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (1ST NOVEMBER) 103 YEARS AGO : A TERRIBLE UGLINESS IS BORN...
On the 1st November 1920 - 103 years ago on this date - a 'volunteer police force/Ulster Special Constabulary' scheme was officially announced by the British government, and recruitment for same began.
This 'new' grouping, which was to be formed mainly from the ranks of the existing 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF), a pro-British militia, received full backing from the then British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, as it would free up the RIC and other British military units for use elsewhere in Ireland, plus it was cheaper than having to raise a 'proper' (!) force, as this 'new' grouping was to be formatted in a manner that not all recruits would be paid : it would be established in three 'parts' and, at first, would only be set-up in the Belfast area of County Antrim and also in County Tyrone, but was soon extended to all six of the occupied counties.
The 'A Specials' would be a paid, full-time group, armed and equipped in an equal manner to the RIC, the 'B Specials' would be part-time and unpaid, except for a clothing allowance, and would only be armed if their local RIC commander deemed it necessary.
Their 'contract' stipulated that they would do only "..occasional duty, usually one evening per week exclusive of training drills, in an area convenient to members, day duties being required only in an emergency.." The 'C Specials' were to be a reserve group, to be called out on 'duty' only in case of an emergency. When this three-part outfit was 'fully staffed', it numbered about 5,000 'A', 18,000 'B' and 7,000 'C', and was an openly sectarian pro-British murder unit, which could count an estimated one in every five of the adult male Protestant population in Ireland as a member.
In 1925, Westminster thought it was time to 'modernise' its occupation of the part of Ireland it still claimed jurisdiction over - our six north-eastern counties (as remains the position today) and, in December that year, it offered the approximately 30,000 to 40,000-strong 'Special Constabulary' organisation a few bob to 'go away' (!) - £1,200,000 was put on the table, provided most of them agreed to disband (similar to what happened with the PIRA 73 years later - buying them out with a 'bank-load' of money).
'Sir' James Craig (pictured), up to then a great friend and supporter of the 'Specials', stated that they would have to go : on 10th December 1925, Craig told the 'A' and 'C' Specials that they were out of work and offered each man two months pay, adding that the 'B Specials' were to be maintained as they were. However, the 'A' and 'C' Specials were not happy with the 'disband now' order from Craig ; not enough money was offered, it was on the mouth of Christmas, and the unemployment rate was running at over 20% - so the 'A' and 'C' Specials held meetings between themselves and, on 14th December 1925, they mutinied!
'A' and 'C' members in Derry 'arrested' their own Officers, as they did in Ballycastle - two days later (ie on 16th December 1925) a demand from the 'A' and 'C' 'rebels' (!) was handed over to 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates, the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs', a solicitor by trade, who was also Secretary of the 'Ulster Unionist Council', a position he had held since 1905.
The 'Special Rebels' were looking for more money ; they demanded a £200 tax-free 'bonus' for each member that was to be made redundant. Two days later (on the 18th December 1925) 'Sir' Bates replied to them that not only would they not be getting the £200 'bonus' but if they didn't back down immediately they would loose whatever few bob they were entitled to for being made redundant!
That message was delivered to the 'mutiniers' on 18th December 1925 ; on 19th December 1925 they all but apologised to Bates, released their hostages and signed on for the dole - the 'hard men' of the 'Specials' had been put in their place by a bigger thug than they were! By Christmas Day, 1925, the 'A' and 'C' Sections of the 'Ulster' (sic) Special Constabulary Association - the 'Specials' - were disbanded.
The 'B' Specials were indeed kept on as they were - it was only in 1969 that that gang of thugs 'disbanded' (actually, they changed uniform into that of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' [UDR] and carried-on with their thuggery).
It was in September 1969 that the (British) 'Cameron Commission' described the 'B' Specials as "a partisan and paramilitary force", while the October 1969 'Hunt Report' recommended that the 'B' Specials be disbanded. We now suffer from the RUC/PSNI, (mostly) confined ('officially' anyway) to operating in the six occupied counties and wearing a more 'people-friendly' uniform.
But if a leopard could change its spots, it would still be, under its 'new skin', a leopard.
Thanks for the visit, and for reading!
Sharon and the team.
IRELAND 1920 - A WELL-MEANING CITIZEN INTERVENES...
Not that we've been absent too long (...one week, only!), but we're back, anyway, with a seven-parter on Wednesday, 1st November, 2023, when we'll be cominatya with a few paragraphs on all of the following -
1920 - over 300 British soldiers handed in their weapons in protest at how their-then comrades were running riots in Ireland. Fearing that the protest would spread, their political and military 'superiors' moved to put a stop to the 'rebellion'...
From 1955 - the fact that Westminster still maintained its grip on Irish territory and resources was raised, again, but not by those who had once vowed to bring that situation to an end...
This Irish sporting and cultural association started to turn away from its 'Irishness', and towards the greasy till, a lot earlier than most people give it credit (!) for...
From 2002 - the dangers of the 'Nuclear Family' were recognised and realised but 'the-powers-that-be' took it on themselves to stay on the path that ensured the destruction of 'the old-fashioned family unit'...
From 1920 - this lady thought she was doing a good deed but she wasn't to know that she had put this IRA Volunteer's life in greater danger by her well-meaning warning to the British soldiers that were standing beside her...
From 1998 - "...the first weapon of the grassroot's Irish republican activist.." - a 'Bible', if you like, at that time, and still required reading to this day...
Various 'sleight of hand' operations carried out in Ireland by Westminster between 1920 and 2001 were carried-out in the hope that doing so would 'convince' the world that a 'fresh start' was about to begin. But it wasn't so...
Hope you give us a shout back on Wednesday, 1st November, 2023 - 'cause if ya don't, we'll send the Boys 'round.
But, seriously, don't have us puttin' all this bleedin' time and effort in and then not even coming back to criticise us...!
Thanks for the visit, and for reading : see ye on the 1st!
Sharon and the team.
ON THIS DATE (25TH OCTOBER) 106 YEARS AGO : SINN FÉIN ADOPTS A REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION.
"The Constitution of this new movement which you have adopted is one which it may be well to lay stress on. It says that this organisation of Sinn Féin aims at securing international recognition of Ireland as an independent Irish Republic.
That is what I stand for, what I stood for in East Clare and it is because I stand for that that I was elected here. I said in East Clare when I was elected that I regarded that election as a monument to the dead. I regard my election here as a monument to the brave dead, and I believe that this is proof that they were right, that what they fought for — the complete and absolute freedom and separation from England — was the pious wish of every Irish heart..."
- part of a speech delivered by Éamon de Valera to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in the Mansion House, in Dublin, on the 25th/26th October, 1917.
A report on that Ard Fheis, by Fr. Patrick Gaynor, can be read here.
That Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, Chaired by Arthur Griffith, was of particular interest and importance to Mr. Griffith, as it signalled a move away from his 'Dual Monarchy' policy in favour of republican principles ; in short, Arthur Griffith insisted that Ireland should come into its own, alongside Britain, with the two entities (for want of a better description!) forming a 'dual monarchy' ie a 'shared monarch', but with two 'separate' political administrations, according to Mr. Griffith which, he believed, would be more palatable to Westminster (but which proved to be less palatable to Irish republicans who insisted - and still do - on a clean break from the British).
Some of the more than 2,000 delegates present, perturbed by the objections to the so-called 'republican slant' of the proceedings, began a walk-out from the Ard Fheis but eventually the issue was somewhat settled there and then, in-house, and the proceedings continued.
Incidentally, at that time, there were 3,300 Sinn Féin Clubs (Cumainn), over 250,000 members and the organisation was financially healthy, with about £1,200 in its kitty.
However, between the jigs and the reels (!), one of the motions passed at that Ard Fheis, on the 25th October 1917 - 106 years ago on this date - read :
'1 -
The name of this organisation shall be Sinn Féin.
2 -
Sinn Féin aims at securing the international recognition of Ireland as an independent Irish Republic. Having achieved that status the Irish people may by referendum freely choose their own form of Government.
3 -
This object shall be attained through the Sinn Féin Organisation.
4 -
WHEREAS no law made without the authority and consent of the Irish people is or ever can be binding on their conscience, therefore in accordance with the Resolution of Sinn Féin adopted in Convention, 1905, a Constituent Assembly shall be convoked, comprising persons chosen by the Irish Constituencies as the supreme national authority to speak and act in the name of the Irish people and to devise and formulate measures for the welfare of the whole people of Ireland.
Such as :
The introduction of a Protective System for Irish industries and Commerce by combined action of the Irish County Councils, Urban Councils, Rural Councils, Poor Law Boards, Harbour Boards, and other bodies directly responsible to the Irish people.
The establishment and maintenance under the direction of a National Assembly or other authority approved by the people of Ireland of an Irish Consular Service for the advancement of Irish Commerce and Irish interests generally.
The re-establishment of an Irish Mercantile Marine to facilitate direct trading between Ireland and the countries of Continental Europe, America, Africa, and the Far East.
The industrial survey of Ireland and the development of its mineral resources under the auspices of a National Assembly or other national authority approved by the people of Ireland.
The establishment of a National Stock Exchange.
The creation of a National Civil Service, embracing all the employee of the County Councils, Rural Councils, Poor law Boards, Harbour Boards, and other bodies responsible to the Irish people, by the institution of a common national qualifying examination and a local competitive examination (the latter at the discretion of the local bodies).
The establishment of Sinn Féin Courts of Arbitration for the speedy and satisfactory adjustment of disputes.
The development of transit by rail road and water, of waste lands for the national benefit by a national authority approved by the people of Ireland.
The development of the Irish Sea Fisheries by National Assembly or other National authority approved by the people of Ireland.
The reform of education, to render its basis national and industrial by the compulsory teaching of the Irish language, Irish history and Irish agricultural and manufacturing potentialities in the primary system, and, in addition, to elevate to a position of dominance in the University system Irish agriculture and economics.
The abolition of the Poor Law System and substitution in its stead of adequate outdoor relief to the aged and infirm, and the employment of the able-bodied in the reclamation of waste lands, afforestation and other national and reproductive works.
A special meeting of the Executive may be summoned on three days' notice by the President on requisition presented to him signed by six members of the Executive specifying the object for which the meeting is called.
In case of an urgent emergency the President shall call all members of the Executive to an urgency meeting, and may take action in the name of the Executive in case he secures the approval of an absolute minority of the entire Executive. The action taken is to be reported for confirmation at next ordinary meeting of the Executive.
That where Irish resources are being developed, or where industries exist, Sinn Féiners should make it their business to secure that workers are paid a living wage.
That the equality of men and women in this Organisation be emphasised in all speeches and leaflets.'
The above political motion was way ahead of its time, and still serves as a demonstration of the forward thinking, fairness and 'street-level' democratic values that traditional Irish republicans have for the Irish people, and Ireland itself, unlike the sleeveen time-servers in Leinster House.
'FIRST THINGS FIRST.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
The flare of publicity given to the interview by Mr. John Aloysius Costello with 'The Yorkshire Post' newspaper and the subsequent statements and counter-statements by himself, Mr, de Valera and various members of the Stormont junta have given a brief temporary revival to the politicians standby - the 'partition problem'.
But the editorial statement by 'The Yorkshire Post' is very candid on the matter. It states -
'...nor could we contemplate an arrangement which would deprive us in time of war of the use of the Ulster ports..'
That is the authentic voice of England ; it is saying in 1955 what Lloyd George said in 1920 -"Ulster, whether she wills it or not, must not be allowed merge with the rest of Ireland."
England feels that her imperial defence system requires that a grip be kept on the Irish side of the North Channel and irrespective of the wishes of the people concerned, she is determined to maintain that grip...(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (25TH OCTOBER) 41 YEARS AGO : BRITISH HANDLERS FINALISED THEIR PLANS TO ALLOW THEIR IRA INFORMER TO BREAK HIS 20-MONTH PERIOD OF INCOMMUNICADO HIDING.
One of the many so-called 'Irish republicans' that turned 'supergrass' on their one-time 'comrades' who were allegedly involved in militant republicanism was Tyrone man Patrick McGurk, who attempted to implicate nine men as being members of 'proscribed organisations'.
On the 20th of September, 1982, the RUC, apparently doubtful that he would go through with his 'evidence' if produced in court, instead invoked the obsolete 'Bill of Indictment' to by-pass the preliminary enquiry stage of the case against the nine accused. This meant that, until his return to Dungannon on the following day (Wednesday 26th October 1982) McGurk had been held incommunicado, without access to family or friends, throughout the 20-month period that the British kept him in a 'safe house', for his own protection.
It wasn't only in the republican community that the use by the British of so-called 'supergrasses' was questioned, as this exchange in Leinster House highlights :
"I will take the case of Mr. X as a clear example of the injustice of trial by supergrass, of which the British Government approve. I hope the Minister and the Government will take a serious interest in the whole affair and request the British Government to take the necessary action immediately to resolve these injustices.
Mr. X was 24 years of age in February 1982. He had no history of involvement in guerrilla activities whatsoever. In 1979 he married his wife Kathleen and they have two children, a boy and a girl. His daughter was six months old when he was arrested at 4.30 a.m. and brought to Gough Barracks in Armagh.
On Tuesday, 9th February 1982 an RUC man came to the room in the barracks and asked the interrogators "Who is this?" One of them answered "Mr. X." The RUC man turned back towards the other room and repeated the name, whereupon a man, unknown to Mr. X, appeared at the doorway. The interrogators asked the newcomer "Do you know this man?" The man at the door nodded. They asked "Have you made any statements against him?" Again the man nodded. They asked "Are you prepared to give evidence against this man?" Again the man nodded. The newcomer was then led away.
That man was Patrick McGurk (pictured), supergrass, newly recruited.
Mr. X was not the first victim of the new tactics. Mr. X was charged with possession of land mines at Ballygawley Road near Dungannon between 1st January and 31st December 1978. He was also charged with an arson attack on the Ulsterbus depot in Dungannon in May 1978. Mr. X made no statement while in custody and the only evidence against him were alleged statements made by McGurk. He was transferred to Crumlin Road prison in Belfast in custody for the next 21 months.
There is no precise location for the alleged incidents. Ballygawley Road is at least ten miles long. There was no precise date given for the alleged incidents. There were no explosions and no casualties. There was never any evidence of a bomb. Such a charge that cannot be pinned down make an alibi impossible. On 21st April 1982 Mr. X was brought up for bail. Under the Emergency Provisions Act, 1978, the conditions of bail are such that, instead of the prosecution having to prove that the prisoner would be a danger to society if released, the defence has to prove that he or she would not.
As this is extremely difficult, very few prisoners are granted bail and it was not surprising that Mr. X was refused. He was returned to Crumlin Road prison and was remanded in custody again.
The next development was in September 1982, five months after the bail refusal, when the preliminary inquiry should have taken place. This is when the accused are faced by the accusers who have to give evidence against them in an open court, so that the court can decide whether or not there is sufficient evidence to merit a continuation of the proceedings. The surprise was that there was to be no preliminary inquiry as Lord Chief Justice Lowry had granted a bill of indictment to the Director of Public Prosecutions the night before. This dispensed with the preliminary inquiry. Mr. X and others who stood in the courtroom that morning were returned to Crumlin Road prison and so rests the future of Mr. X. This is one of the many examples of the injustice of the supergrass trial system in Northern Ireland (sic) of which the British Government approve..." (From here.)
Incidentally, one of those named by McGurk was Patrick Joseph Kelly, who was arrested by the British in February 1982 but released in October 1983 due to lack of evidence after a trial that lasted fifteen minutes.
Today, British 'supergrasses' in Ireland are dressed in suits, given jobs, a salary, expenses, office staff and a position and title with which to implement British rule in their own country and are cheered-on in doing so by the same political establishment they once fought against.
And they relish their 'success' in doing so.
(The 'Supergrass' system is still in operation in Ireland [examples here and here] and will no doubt remain in the 'weapons arsenal' of both Westminster and Leinster House, to be used against Irish republican activists. The only way to bring that corrupt system to an end is to remove the British political and military presence from Ireland.)
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
Born into such instability, children are at risk of emotional deprivation and ultimately of growing up with distorted views of parenthood, which they will take with them into adulthood.
A complicating factor is our increasing mobility, which has also distanced children from the modifying influence of grandparents and cousins. The family in modern Ireland is therefore increasingly likely to be cohabiting, unstable and inward-looking as it is devoid of the steadying hand of the extended family.
Meanwhile, the push to encourage women into the workplace continues, even if it is against the will of some.
In 1999, the Minister for Finance added his weight to this by penalising, through individualisation of the tax system, those families in which one parent stayed at home. This resulted in something of a minor revolt and the minister was forced to delay his plans, although they are proceeding apace again.
The publication of a recent EU report finding that Ireland has the lowest proportion of women in the workforce of any EU country (sic) was recently a cause of political concern rather than national (sic) pride...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (25TH OCTOBER) 103 YEARS AGO : DEATH OF TWO IRISH HUNGER-STRIKERS.
Joseph Murphy (left of pic) and Terence MacSwiney : both men died on hunger-strike on this date - 25th October - in 1920, 103 years ago.
In his book 'History of the Irish Working Class', Peter Beresford Ellis wrote : "On October 25th, 1920, Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney - poet, dramatist and scholar, died on the 74th day of a hunger-strike while in Brixton Prison, London. A young Vietnamese dishwasher in the Carlton Hotel in London broke down and cried when he heard the news - "A Nation which has such citizens will never surrender". His name was Nguyen Ai Quoc who, in 1941, adopted the name Ho Chi Minh and took the lessons of the Irish anti-imperialist fight to his own country..."
Terence MacSwiney, his wife Muriel and their daughter, Máire, photographed in 1919.
He was the Commandant of the 1st Cork Brigade of the IRA and was elected as the Lord Mayor of Cork. He died after 74 days on hunger strike in Brixton Prison, England, on the 25th October, 1920, and his body lay in Southwark Cathedral in London where tens of thousands of people paid their respects.
'Joe Murphy (pictured) was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in the USA. He had 14 siblings, with only 5 surviving (and) was one of 3 children born in America, but he did not have American citizenship.
The Murphy family returned to their native Cork and settled in Pouladuff Road, in the suburbs...he joined H Company, 2nd Battalion of the Cork No.1 Brigade of the IRA in Cork city (and) would eventually rise to the rank of Commandant..but would be expelled from the IRA for "bringing the army into disrepute", although it's not clear what the exact reason for this was. Joe would later be arrested by the British for possession of a bomb to be used in an attack on British forces (but) it is likely these were trumped-up charges by the British even though Murphy was not a member of the IRA at this time...' (from here.)
Two gallant Corkmen who perished on hunger strike on October 25th 1920 - 103 years ago on this date.
(A special mention here, and a heartfelt 'Fáilte!', to our readers in Lynn, in Massachusetts, who we know are 'tuned-in' : we appreciate you taking the time to do so, and we hope you'll keep in touch. Go raibh maith agat!)
BEIR BUA...
The Thread of the Irish Republican Movement from The United Irishmen through to today.
Republicanism in history and today.
Published by the James Connolly/Tommy O'Neill Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin, The Liberties, Dublin.
August 1998.
('1169' comment - 'Beir Bua' translates as 'Grasp Victory' in the English language.)
Tá traidisiún láidir is uaibhreach againn go bhfuil iontach cruinn agus spreagúil sa leabhrán seo.
Cuireann sé síos ár scéal, scéal spairn na hÉireann ar son saoirse, agus tá muid ábalta a lán fulaingt is crógacht a fheicáll sna spairin sin ó míle ocht gcéad nócha a hocht go dtí an lá seo.
Is leabhrán é seo go bhfuil leis an croí agus tnúth na saoirse ; leis an t-anam agus ár gcreid ndobhriste, agus leis an cheann is an obair déanta a bheith.
It was just a simple working class and fairly insignificant revolutionary who once declared that "...actions, not words, count most in life, especially in the life of a revolutionary organisation...."
(MORE LATER.)
Thanks for the visit, and for reading!
Sharon and the team.
About five years after he swore allegiance, again, to the Irish Republic, this man - not for the first time in the course of this on-going struggle - didn't only turn his back on that struggle but carved out a political career for himself among other ex-republicans...
In 1955, Westminster again let its mask slip in regards to why it viewed Ireland as a necessity to ensure its own political and military wellbeing...
This attempted British stitch-up was so blatant that its obviousness was raised by Free State reps in Leinster House in the early 1980's, and strong questions were asked. But to no avail...
In the late 1990's in this State, the question/situation of "women in the workplace" was still a hot topic, especially when State-supported finances for those women was brought into the equation...
It is over 100 years since these particular British-enforced atrocities took place, but then, as now, they still offend Irish principles...
From 1998 - "Tá traidisiún láidir is uaibhreach againn go bhfuil iontach cruinn agus spreagúil sa leabhrán seo..."
We'll be puttin' a tail to those tops (!) on Wednesday, 25th October 2023 : give us a shout then, and see wha' ya think of our efforts!
Thanks for reading - see yis on the 25th, hopefully!
Sharon and the team.
ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 232 YEARS AGO - 'REFORM DEMANDED FOR ALL'.
On the 18th October 1791 - 232 years ago on this date - a group of socially-minded Protestants, Anglicans and Presbyterians held their first public meeting in Belfast and formed themselves as 'The Belfast Society of United Irishmen' (the organisation became a secret society three years later), electing Sam McTier as 'President' ; he was married to Martha, who was a sister of William Drennan.
The aims and objectives of the Society were revolutionary for the times that were in it, and brought the organisation to the attention of the less 'socially-minded' political (and military) members of the British ruling-class in Dublin, which was then (and, indeed, now!) England's political power-base in Ireland -
'That the weight of English influence in the government of this country is so great, as to require a cordial union among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance which is essential to the preservation of our liberties and the extension of our commerce...the sole constitutional mode by which this influence can be opposed, is by a complete and radical reform of the representation of the people in Parliament... no reform is just which does not include every Irishman (sic) of every religious persuasion...'
The Belfast Society also adopted the 'Charter' of 'The United Irishmen' as a whole, and in so doing they drew further attention on themselves from their political enemies, at home and abroad -
'In the present era of reform, when unjust governments are falling in every quarter of Europe, when religious persecution is compelled to abjure her tyranny over conscience, when the rights of men are ascertained in theory, and theory substantiated by practice, when antiquity can no longer defend absurd and oppressive forms, against the common sense and common interests of mankind, when all governments are acknowledged to originate from the people, and to be so far only obligatory, as they protect their rights and promote their welfare, we think it our duty, as Irishmen, to come forward, and state what we feel to be our heavy grievance, and what we know to be its effectual remedy.'
'We have no national government, we are ruled by Englishmen, and the servants of Englishmen, whose object is the interest of another country, whose instrument is corruption, and whose strength is the weakness of Ireland; and these men have the whole of the power and patronage of the country, as means to seduce and subdue the honesty of her representatives in the legislature.
Such an extrinsic power, acting with uniform force, in a direction too frequently opposite to the true line of our obvious interest, can be resisted with effect solely by unanimity, decision, and spirit in the people, qualities which may be exerted most legally, constitutionally, efficaciously, by the great measure, essential to the prosperity and freedom of Ireland, an equal representation of all the people in parliament. Impressed with these sentiments...we do pledge ourselves to our country, and mutually to each other...'
And with those words, the assembled Irishmen - Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, William Sinclair, Henry Joy McCracken, Samuel Neilson, Henry Haslett, Gilbert McIlveen, William and Robert Simms, Thomas McCabe, Thomas Pearce and Samuel McTier, among others - ensured the continuity of the on-going struggle against the British military and political presence in Ireland.
'KEOGHBOYS OF THE 1950's...'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
William Keogh was appointed to office in Ireland.
John Sadlier and the other virtuous 'Tenant Righters' accepted offices in the new British ministry in Ireland, all bought by the plums of office.
William Keogh, the new 'Irish Solicitor General', was afterwards made a judge and became noted for his fondness for passing death sentences, and John Sadlier was made one of the 'Lords of the Treasury', lost his head and other people's money and then drank prussic acid.
Another of them, O'Flagherty, also got a 'good post' ; he had the same appititude as Sadlier and Keogh, but he later fled from Ireland.
(END of 'Keoghboys Of The 1950's' ; NEXT - 'First Things First', from the same source.)
ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 142 YEARS AGO : IMPRISONED IRISHMEN ISSUE A 'NO RENT' MANIFESTO.
'Fellow-countrymen! - The hour to try your souls and to redeem your pledges has arrived. The executive of the National Land League forced to abandon the policy of testing the land act, feels bound to advise the tenant-farmers of Ireland from this day forth to pay no rents under any circumstances to their landlords until the government relinquishes the existing system of terrorism and restores the constitutional rights of the people. Do not be daunted by the removal of your leaders...do not be wheedled into compromise of any sort by the threat of eviction.
If you only act together in the spirit to which, within the last two years, you have countless times solemnly pledged your vows, they can no more evict a whole nation than they can imprison them. Our exiled brothers in America may be relied upon to contribute, if necessary, as many millions of money as they have contributed thousands to starve out landlordism and bring English tyranny to its knees.
No power on earth except faintheartedness on your own part can defeat you. Landlordism is already staggering under the blows which you have dealt it amid the applause of the world...one more heroic effort to destroy landlordism at the very source and fount of its existence, and the system which was and is the curse of your race and of your existence will have disappeared forever...
No power of legalized violence can extort one penny from your purses against your will. If you are evicted, you shall not suffer ; the landlord who evicts will be a ruined pauper, and the government which supports him with its bayonets will learn in a single winter how powerless is armed force against the will of a united, determined, and self-reliant nation.
Signed CHARLES S. PARNELL, President, Kilmainham Jail
MICHAEL DAVITT, Hon. Sec. Portland Prison ;
THOMAS BRENNAN, Hon Sec. Kilmainham Jail
JOHN DILLON, Head Organizer, Kilmainham Jail;
THOMAS SEXTON, Head Organizer, Kilmainham Jail;
PATRICK EGAN, Treasurer Paris, 1881.'
The above is the wording of a 'NO RENT!' manifesto issued, from prison - on the 18th October 1881, 142 years ago on this date - by the incarcerated leadership of the 'Irish National Land League', calling on small tenant farmers in Ireland to withhold rents 'owed' to their British 'landlords' until such time as the latter agreed to the demand of the 'Land League' for the 'Three F's' - fair rent, fixity of tenure and free sale.
The scale of unrest fostered by British greed can be judged by this article, from 'The Illustrated London News' of the 21st May, 1881 -
'Our Special Artist in the disturbed agricultural districts of the west of Ireland contributes another sketch of the perils that frequently beset a process-server when employed in the legal execution of his duty.
Some remarks on this subject were made last week, having reference to the instance of a landlord near Claremorris, Mr. Walter Burke*, who, finding that none of the ordinary process-servers in the country would venture to go round and deliver writs of ejectment to his defaulting tenants, has resolved to do it himself ; galloping quickly, with his trusty servant, from one farmhouse to another ; entering armed with a loaded revolver, not as a menace to others, but for his own needful protection**, and after showing the legal instrument, of which he leaves a copy, riding off as fast as he came...'('1169' comment - *he paid the price for his bully-boy tactics the following year, in Claremorris...**he wouldn't have needed such "protection" had he been a decent human being in the first place.)
The alphabet of the 'Children's Land League' :
'A is the army that covers the ground ;
B is the buckshot we're getting all round ;
C is the crowbar of cruellest fame ;
D is our Davitt, a right glorious name ;
E is the English who've robbed us of bread ;
F is the famine they've left us instead ;
G is for Gladstone, whose life is a lie ;
H is the harvest we'll hold or we'll die ;
I is the inspector, who when drunk is bold ;
J is the jarvey, who'll not drive him for gold ;
K is Kilmainham, where our true men abide ;
L is the Land League, our hope and our pride ;
M is the Magistrate, who makes black of our white ;
N is no rent, which will make our wrongs right ;
O is Old Ireland, that yet shall be freed ;
P is the Peelers, who sold her for greed ;
Q is the Queen, whose use is not known ;
R is the Rifles, who keep up her throne ;
S is the sheriff, with woe in his train ;
T is the toil that others may gain ;
U is the Union that works bitter harm ;
V is the villain that grabs up the farm ;
W is the warrant for death or for chains ;
X is the ’Express', all lies and no brains ;
Y is 'Young Ireland' spreading the light ;
Z is the zeal that will win the great fight.'
And this is the continuity of that "great fight".
IRELAND ON THE COUCH...
A Psychiatrist Writes.
'Magill' commissioned Professor Patricia Casey to compile an assessment of Irish society at what may emerge as the end of a period of unprecedented growth and change.
This is her report.
From 'Magill Magazine' Annual, 2002.
The Irish have always had strong family bonds and a powerful extended family network, a feature that we shared with many of our European neighbours.
Time was, children were born into a family of two married parents, when problems were resolved within the family and childcare for those working outside the home was provided by family or neighbours.
Of course, this family could also be stifling and controlling, and the judgements meted out to those unfortunate enough to have children outside of marriage were harsh and punitive.
The change has been remarkable, with the numbers of children born outside marriage now above 30 per cent. One of the problems that flows from this is the serial father who has no emotional ties to the child, a situation which, according to RE Rowthorn, Professor of Economics at Cambridge, places it at the greatest risk of abuse, both physical and emotional.
In addition, cohabiting relationships are often unstable, with about 50 per cent splitting within ten years...
(MORE LATER.)
BEIR BUA.
The Thread of the Irish Republican Movement from The United Irishmen through to today.
Republicanism in history and today.
Published by the James Connolly/Tommy O'Neill Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin, The Liberties, Dublin.
August 1998.
('1169' comment - 'Beir Bua' translates as 'Grasp Victory' in the English language.)
The great Fenian revolutionary, O'Donovan Rossa, once said -
"It is in the dark days of a nation's distress that the truest of her sons cling closest to her, and those who are ashamed to associate their names with her fallen fortunes or who, by dangers of difficulties, are scared away from giving their assistance, are not the men fitted to raise her to a position of national independence."
Down the years the truth and sincerity of those words ring clear and inspire hope in a freedom struggle characterised as much by endurance as by action.
In giving the Republican Movement 'Beir Bua', the authors have provided not merely a manual for activism but a bible of endurance.
Its pages, like the words of Rossa, will instill Irish republicans with confidence and discipline, it will direct our energies and it will deliver our Republic, but especially in these treacherous times, it will guarantee our survival and bolster our resistance to the oppression which surrounds us daily on all sides... (MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (18TH OCTOBER) 103 YEARS AGO - BRITISH 'HAMAR' PUTS FINISHING TOUCHES TO HIS 'LAW AND ORDER' SPEECH.
British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood (pictured, left, and short video here showing 'the Hamar' rewarding his troops in this country for the destruction they wrought while maintaining 'law and order') promised to put an end to republican "outrages" but that was just another outrageous false promise by the British!
In May 1920 the British Foreign Secretary, 'Lord' Curzon, proposed vigorous 'Indian measures' to suppress the rebellion in Ireland and he and other British imperialist 'gentlemen' formulated a policy with that objective in mind. On the 9th August 1920, the British 'Lords Commissioners' announced that 'Royal Assent' had been granted for the following 14 items -
1. Overseas Trade (Credit and Insurance) Act, 1920.
2. Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920.
3. Restoration of Order in Ireland Act, 1920.*
4. Aberdeen Corporation Order Confirmation Act, 1920.
5. Pilotage Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act, 1920.
6. Local Government Board (Ireland) Provisional Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act, 1920.
7. Ministry of Health Provisional Order Confirmation (Chesterfield Extension) Act, 1920.
8. Mid-Glamorgan Water Act, 1920.
9. Wallasey Corporation Act, 1920.
10. Life Association of Scotland Act, 1920.
11. Uxbridge and Wycombe District Gas Act, 1920.
12. Exmouth Urban District Council Act, 1920.
13. North British and Mercantile Insurance Company's Act, 1920.
14. Lever Brothers, Limited (Wharves and Railway) Act, 1920.
On the 18th October 1920 - 103 years ago on this date - the British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood (who later threatened to resign his position if Westminster agreed to a ceasefire with Irish republicans before they had surrendered their weapons!) made final changes to the report on his 'law and order' campaign in Ireland, which he made public the next day -
"The outrages against the police and military forces since the 1st January last, which I regret to say include the loss of no less than 118 lives, are as follows: police killed -100, military killed -18, police wounded -160, military wounded -66. There have been 667 attacks on police barracks, resulting in most cases in their complete destruction. There has been an organised attempt to boycott and intimidate the police, their wives and relations.
The hon. Member will realise that I cannot publish the steps that are being taken to cope with the campaign of murder, outrage and intimidation, but I can assure him that the means available to the Government for protecting all servants of the Crown in the discharge of their duties, and for bringing to justice those who commit or connive at outrages, are steadily improving. The Royal Irish Constabulary is rapidly increasing in numbers owing mainly to the flow of recruits from ex-officers and ex-service men who served in the Army or Navy during the War.
The effective strength of the Force is now higher than it has been for the last 15 years. In the last three weeks alone there have been 194 trials by Court Martial under the 'Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920', and 159 convictions. The Forces of the Crown are now effectively grappling with the organised, paid and brutal campaign of murder in Ireland.."
(*The 'Restoration of Order in Ireland Act' was a 'legal' item through which the British could authorise, in Ireland, 'the issue of Regulations under the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act, 1914, for effecting the restoration and maintenance of order in Ireland where it appears to His Majesty in Council that, owing to the existence of a state of disorder, the ordinary law is inadequate for the prevention and punishment of crime, or the maintenance of order..')
The British claimed that the 'legal' changes had been rendered necessary by the abnormal conditions which at that time prevailed in certain parts of Ireland, where 'an organised campaign of violence and intimidation has resulted in the partial breakdown of the machinery of the ordinary law and in the non-performance by public bodies and officials of their statuary obligations...in particular it has been found that criminals (sic) are protected from arrest, that trial by jury cannot be obtained because of the intimidation of witnesses and jurors, and the local authorities and their officers stand in fear of injury to their persons or property if they carry out their statuary duties...'
The 'Order in Council' provided, among other things, for the putting into operation of many of the existing 'Defence of the Realm Regulations' for the purpose of 'the restoration or maintenance of order, for the trial of crimes by Courts Martial or by specially constituted Civil Courts, and for the investment of those Courts with the necessary powers'.
Also, it was now to be allowed for 'financial punishments' to be implemented - the withholding from local authorities who refuse to discharge the obligations imposed upon them by Statute, financial grants which otherwise would be payable to them from public funds and for the application of the grants so withheld to the discharge of the obligations which the local authority has failed to fulfill, for the holding of sittings of courts elsewhere than in ordinary courthouses, where these courthouses have been destroyed or otherwise made unavailable and 'although the Regulations are not, in terms, restricted to any particular part or parts of Ireland, it is the Government's intention that they shall not be applied in substitution for the provisions of the ordinary law in places where the judicial and administrative machinery of the ordinary law are available, and are not obstructed in their operations by the methods of violence and intimidation above mentioned...for instance, under the Regulations an ordinary crime can only be tried by a Courts Martial or by a specially constituted Civil Court, if the case is referred to the Competent Naval or Military Authority. Instructions will be issued by the Irish Executive to ensure that such cases will not be referred to the Competent Naval or Military Authority except where the prevalence of actual threatened violence or intimidation has produced conditions rendering it impracticable for them to be dealt with by due process of ordinary law...'
