Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has formally resigned as Sinn Féin MP for Mid-Ulster.
Mr McGuinness said the move was “in line with [his] party’s commitment to end double jobbing”, but that he had “no intention of leaving Mid-Ulster”.
“I will always be grateful to the people of this area for trusting me to represent them and their interests,” he said.
“I will of course continue to represent the Mid-Ulster Constituency in the Assembly. I am honoured to do so both as an MLA and as deputy First Minister in equal partnership with Peter Robinson.”
“I can assure them and everyone else that my party, our fivemMinisters, our MPs, our 29 MLAs, our MEP and our huge number of councillors will continue the journey we have embarked upon.
“As the political landscape in the north continues to change, as it surely will, we remain committed to the goals of Irish republicanism and to serving the interests of all sections of society.
“I firmly believe that we can make further progress. This will require positive leadership from all parties. Sinn Féin remains firmly committed to playing a constructive role in the period ahead.”
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The British Empire was based on the preceding Roman Empire. Both were based on their respective brutality, couched as civilization, hence the name Brutish Empire. During the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, decadence coupled with orgies and vomitoriums of incessant eating, were some of their features, before their fall. Others were wanton sadistic violence, coupled with the systemic rape of children. The Brutish tradition of foxhunting, blooding young children and raping them, is a part of the heritage of the British Empire. Ireland its first colony should know, it has experienced all of their brutality first hand, where not just its wildlife but also its people were hunted down, sadistically stretched, ripped apart and the agony blood of the victim, rubbed on their British children to cultivate the blood lust of their parents and ruling class.
In the troubles of the last forty years in British Occupied Ireland, we have experienced the internment of our people without trial, to be replaced recently with secret kangaroo courts, by an SS type secret service, called MI5, with secret kangaroo evidence from paid informers, secret kangaroo prosecutors, secret knagaroo sentences, secret knagaroo charges, etc., resulting in secret kangaroo selective political internment. This has been coupled with the indiscriminate murder of peaceful civil rights demonstrators on Irish streets, coupled with torture, the murder of their human rights lawyers and journalists who dare cover the facts.
The Brutish Empire has bullied British Occupied Ireland for more than 800 years, with brutish, sadistic, experiments of political divide and conquer. Kitsonian brutal, counter- insurgency and experiments with their experimented, evolved, industrial war complex hardware, then exported around the world, to their compliant common wealth states, carefully structured, to replace their colonies.This coupled with buyers from oil rich middle east regimes of brutal oppression, feeds the greed frenzy of its corrupt City of London bankers. The extent of the sadism and bloodletting in Ireland along with its legacy of brutal empire worldwide, has prompted many to conclude that Empire be it British, Roman, American or Brutish all have a satanic origin and purpose. The propaganda of civilizing savages, is cover for hundreds of years of war crimes in Ireland alone, including a holocaust that cost as many as the Jewish one, that makes the Nazi's look like a supporting cast. A recent article by the BBC world service, now known as the Brutish Bugger Children, world service, titled
Were vomitoriums really used in ancient Roman times so that people could throw up between courses in order to eat more?
— Christine
Let me ask you this, Christine. The last time you were doubled over the porcelain throne heaving your nachos, did you think: I want to permanently consecrate part of my home to this delicious experience?
Well, neither did the Romans. While there was something called a vomitorium (from the Latin vomitus, past participle of vomere, to vomit), it wasn't a room set aside to vomit in. Rather a vomitorium was a passageway in an amphitheater or theater that opened into a tier of seats from below or behind. The vomitoria of the Colosseum in Rome were so well designed that it's said the immense venue, which seated at least 50,000, could fill in 15 minutes. (There were 80 entrances at ground level, 76 for ordinary spectators and 4 for the imperial family.) The vomitoria deposited mobs of people into their seats and afterward disgorged them with equal abruptness into the streets--whence, presumably, the name.
That's not to say the Romans were unfamiliar with throwing up, or that they never did so on purpose. On the contrary, in ancient times vomiting seems to have been a standard part of the fine-dining experience. In his Moral Epistlesthe Roman philosopher Seneca writes, Cum ad cenandum discubuimus, alius sputa deterget, alius reliquias temulentorum [toro] subditus colligit, "When we recline at a banquet, one [slave] wipes up the spittle; another, situated beneath [the table], collects the leavings of the drunks." OK, it doesn't literally say puke, but come on. The orator Cicero, in Pro Rege Deiotaro, says matter-of-factly that Julius Caesar "expressed a desire to vomit after dinner"(vomere post cenam te velle dixisses), and elsewhere suggests that the dictator took emetics for this purpose. Caesar's hosts wanted to take him to the bathroom, since they supposedly had a squad of assassins waiting there (at the time of Cicero's speech, King Deiotarus was on trial for this alleged attempt on Caesar's life), but he decided to go to his bedroom instead. Nowhere does Cicero say anything about a "vomitorium."
You get the picture. The Romans weren't shy about vomiting, and they had vomitoria--but they didn't do the former in the latter. The conflation of the two appears to be a recent error. The Oxford English Dictionary cites Aldous Huxley using the term incorrectly in 1923, with the stern comment "erron." Urban historian Lewis Mumford makes a similar screwup in The City in History (1961), claiming that the vomitoria of the amphitheaters were named after the mythical dining room appurtenances. So you're in distinguished company, Christine, but still misinformed.
Probably I should leave it at that. But perhaps all this talk of vomiting has you feeling . . . strangely excited. Perhaps I also need to fill out the bottom couple inches of the column. Either way, I'm obliged to inform you about a condition known as emetophilia, which is sexual arousal in response to vomit or vomiting. I won't claim it's a major phenomenon at the moment. I could only find one pre-Internet article in a medical journal ("Erotic Vomiting,"Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1982), which calls it "a previously unreported aberration." A quick on-line search suggests emetophilia has a long way to go before it catches up with Japanese tentacle porn. But today's fringe practice is tomorrow's Newsweek cover. I say forewarned is forearmed.
— Cecil Adams
LIST OF BRITISH SATANISTS AND PEDOPHILES from David Icke
The Satanic movement known as Frankism.
Queen Elizabeth II of the UK: Satanist, child sacrificer, shape-shifting reptilian. Major Illuminati figure.
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother: As above.
Prince Philip: As above.
Prince Charles: As above.
Prince Andrew: As above.
Princess Anne: As above. Not seen to shape-shift.
Lord Mountbatten of the British Royal Family and World War II "war hero". Rothschild bloodline, and therefore a shape-shifter. Satanist.
Winston Churchill, Britain's war-time Prime Minister, and bloodline of the Marlborough family, one of the elite aristocratic bloodlines of the British Isles. Satanist.
Tony Blair British Prime Minister. Satanist. Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the UK from 1970-74 and the man who signed Britain into the European Community. Satanist, child torturer, paedophile, shapeshifting reptilian.
Willie Whitelaw, Deputy Prime Minister to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Satanist.
Lord McAlpine of the McAlpine Construction dynasty in the UK. Satanist, paedophile.
The connection between Satanism and Fascism in Britain is well-known, though not well-explained. Nor has it been understood why this particular malaise has not, in general, crossed the Atlantic. Before attempting to examine the reasons why British Satanism has for so long been stained by this association, it may clarify matters to consider in some detail the major exponents of British Satanism and their political affiliations, past and present.
The name Dark Lily is alleged to have been originated by a Satanic group in the first decade of the present century. As far as can be ascertained, there is only hearsay evidence for this, but it seems irrelevant to the present study. The magazine Dark Lily first appeared in duplicated news-sheet format in 1977, allegedly the organ of the Anglian Satanic Church - not to be confused (though it often was) with the Anglo-Saxonic Church, which was Odinist and which will be refered to later.
The Anglican Satanic Church was run by Father Raoul Belphlegor (yes, that is how he spelled it), real name Thomas Victor Norris, and Mother Lilith, real name Magdalene Graham. It claimed vast resources, numbers and magickal powers which would be bestowed on members in return for money and/or (in the case of young female members) sex. Norris had earlier acquired a liking for brothel-keeping, involving his wife and daughters, aged eleven and thirteen. On his release from a six-year sentence resulting from this, he restored his fortunes with the aid of a rather naive eighteen-year-old (she was not concerned with his occult activities and has since now made a new life for herself, so her name will not be mentioned).
Norris' Occult involvement brought him into contact with Magdalene Graham, who was editing an Occult magazine on broadly LHP lines. Norris persuaded her to take over production of his magazines, both Occult and political (fascist), including the occasional news-sheet of his Odinist Anglo-Saxonic Church (another paper organisation). Despite holding similar political views, Ms. Graham was, at first, reluctant to be associated with the disreputable Norris, but was in the vunerable position of having just been diagnosed as suffering from a disabling illness and was desperately seeking a cure. That particular illness is subject to recession and Ms. Graham experienced an improvement (presumably psychologically induced), which, for a time convinced her.
She eventually became disillusioned and tried to leave. Impeded by her physical disability, she sought help from a Satanist who was not a fascist (possibly the only representative of that rare breed in Britain at the time) and he eventually re-started the magazine Dark Lily as the organ of non-political Satanism in Britain. Ms Graham remains typist, sometimes designated editor, although it is doubtful whether she has executive powers It appears that she is now convinced that Occultism cannot be associated with politics. Certainly Dark Lily, despite its history, has, since coming under new management, shown no sign of political allegiances and has, in fact, warned that to divide one's energies between politics and Occultism means that one will succeed at neither.
While Dark Lily may have purged itself, the same cannot, unfortunately, be said for a magazine called Fenrir (an Odinist word) produced by a Satanic group called the Order of the Nine Angles. They claim an ancient pedigree, but their writings appear to be an ill-digested mixture of Satanism (on the Black Mass level), fascism, ("Roman Salutes" as part of the ceremony!), sado-masochism (the inevitable scourge), alchemy, ritual magick and a paranoiac insistence that they are the only upholders of the Satanic tradition. Although referring to them in the plural, the effective long term membership of the Order of the Nine Angles remains at one: a gentleman who calls himself Anton (yes, really, Anton!) Long. His aliases include Stephen Brown, David Myatt and Algar Langton.
The Order of the Nine Angles first appeared in Leeds in 1975, but its founder was rather more preoccupied with his political attachments (the now-defunct National Socialist (Nazi) Movement and its successors), so the Occult aspect was not prominent.
The magazine Fenrir first appeared in 1988; it will be noted that it is dated in the Nazi tradition YF99 (Year of the Fuhrer). Mr Long's other writings have included pamphlets for Liberty Bell Publications (American readers will presumably not require further explanation of the nature of such literary efforts), a Black Mass to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Adolph Hitler, and various rituals. Mr Long is at present experiencing difficulty with his publisher, who appears somewhat discouraged by the contents of the rituals.
We referred to the former National Socialist Movement and must now introduce another of the Occult luminaries of that organisation, Mr David Austin. Without digressing too far into the convoluted history of Fascism in Britain, the National Socialist Movement was founded by Mr John Colin Campbell Jordan (generally known as Colin Jordan). Following his release from a prison term imposed for sedition, he changed the name of his organisation to British Movement. Shortly thereafter, Mr Jordan was fined for shoplifting a pair of ladies' red knickers from a (Jewish-owned) supermarket, and deposed from leadership of the BM. The new "fuhrer," Michael McLaughlin, instituted his own little knight of the Long Knives to remove all whom he considered to be "perverts" from the BM (disregarding the fact that this would leave him with only twenty-eight members) and David Austin was one of those booted out.
Mr. Austin, whose previous history included several years as a Mormon "missionary," has since joined the U.S. based Temple of Set and was formally ordained to their priesthood in May of 1989.
There are (unfortunately) other Satanic organisations in Britain. I say unfortunately because none appear to have escaped the political adherence which bedevils (if one may use that word) British Satanism. However, they are too small and ineffectual to be included here (if they are getting ideas above their station, this may be considered to only a temporary reprieve).
Let us now turn to the question of WHY. Yes, the Satanic question. Why is a valid and highly potent way of life so often (on one side of the ocean, at least) soiled by association with an inadequate and life-denying political creed? To Occultists, Fascism may be defined as the new "English Disease," but the condition which has for centuries been so entitled is Masochism, and the two are closely related.
It has been said that those who hold anyone else to be worthless are really projecting the fact they believe themselves to be worthless; this is demonstrably true. Even a brief acquaintance with a Fascist will reveal that he/she suffers from a severe inferiority complex. The phrase "racial masochism" is well-known. Most right-wing bookshops used to sell (possibly they still stock it, we haven't checked lately) a volume purporting to explain in pseudo-medical jargon why circumcision is for the purpose of increasing virility. On the same theme, the only quotation that anyone can ever remember from The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is the contemptuous description of the Ayrian race as "hewers of wood and drawers of water."
One must also survey the poseurs. The High Priest in his dramatic robe or the Nazi in black uniform and jackboots. Where's the difference? The answer is that the Satanist understands the real reasons why he is "dressing up;" the Nazi does not. The Nazi is not intellectually capable of realizing that such trappings are a masquerade, utilized for the purpose of reinforcing an image when (in his case) no real authority exists. Dominance has no connection with threats or violence. One who is in control does not need them; in fact they negate potency. The power comes from within himself and it has no visible show; especially not a form of apparel which represents an external conferring of jurisdiction, or, in some cases, is the semblance of domination without any validity or competence. In such circumstances, a uniform is a pretence, in the manner of children playing games. It reveals the psychological deficiencies of those who resort to fancy dress to augment their macho appearance. Yet some people are able to direct others and order action without accoutrement. This is the phenomenon known as the ability to command. You want an example? Look at a genuine Satanist. To some of my readers, the direction may be re-phrased: look in a mirror.
Having briefly refered to Odinism, it must be said that followers of that path, in Britain, are, almost without exception, Fascist. This aspect of Occult political involvement is outside the scope of this article. However, the digression on Odinism is merely for the sake of completeness. The subject is Satanic Fascism and the question is why such a diversion should appeal to those who purport to be seeking Occult knowledge. To say that they are affected by masochism (which is an extraordinarily powerful sexual motivation) is certainly the explanation in many cases. Alternative answers which have been propounded are as follows: (A) that those who are politically-inspired are looking for something other than Occult power and knowledge and are attracted to the sinister image of Satanism; (B) since Fascists naturally expect to be hated, they gravitate to a theology which is hated; (C) the proponents of the politics of fear are subconsciously seeking persecution.
(To confuse the issue, it has been argued that Satanism has more in common with Judaism, especially in the matter of suffering persecution. Witch-burnings or gas chambers? How many million?)
As an afterthought, let us contrast the foregoing with Dr. LaVey's clear sighted understanding that the Nazi's were capable of Lesser Magic and mind manipulation but with obvious limitations. He had the courage not to avoid this thorny issue, as shown in the Satanic Bible and elsewhere, but makes it plain that the Church of Satan will never succumb to "the English disease."
Annual Dáithí Ó Conaill Commemoration , Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
Assemble at Glasnevin Cemetery Gates , Tuesday 1st January 2013 , at 12.45pm.
Dáithí Ó Conaill Commemoration , Dublin , Tuesday 1st January 2013.
Hi !
The Annual Dáithí Ó Conaill Commemoration will be held on Tuesday , 1st January 2013, at 12.45pm in Glasnevin Cemetery , Dublin. The event will be Chaired by Andy Connolly , Dublin , and Fergal Moore , Monaghan, will deliver the oration.
...an award-nominated Irish blog on Irish history and Irish politics-from today and yesterday:all 32 Counties ! .
"1169 And Counting is a wealth of information on our Republican past and present , and demonstrates how the Irish political landscape , like that of any nation, will never be a black and white issue..." (From the ‘e-Thursday’ section of the ‘Business Week’ supplement of the ‘Irish Independent’ , 21st August 2008.)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2012
DÁITHÍ Ó CONAILL COMMEMORATION : TUESDAY 1ST JANUARY 2013.
The Annual Dáithí Ó Conaill Commemoration will be held on Tuesday 1st January 2013 in Glasnevin Cemetery.
"Dáithí came from a strong Cork Republican family. His uncle Michael O’Sullivan (17), along with five of his comrades, was bayoneted to death by British Crown forces in March 1921. He joined Sinn Féin at the age of 17 during the local elections in 1955. By the end of the following year he was on active service as a Volunteer in the Irish Republican Army , serving as an organiser under GHQ staff in Co Fermanagh.
On January 1, 1957 he was second-in-command of the Pearse Column during the attack on Brookeborough RUC barracks which resulted in the deaths of two of his comrades, Fearghal Ó hAnluáin and Seán Sabhat. Four others were wounded including the column commander. At 18 years of age Dáithí took command and led a successful withdrawal back across the border – evading 400 RUC, B-Specials, two helicopters and the British army – where they were forced to retire. He was then imprisoned in Mountjoy and the Curragh Concentration camp from where he escaped with his friend and comrade Ruairí Ó Brádaighin September 1958.
He returned to active service and for a period was Director of Operations. He was critically wounded in an ambush by the RUC and B-Specials in Arboe, Co Tyrone on the shores of Lough Neagh in November 1959. He made his escape but was forced to seek help because of loss of blood and his weakened condition. He was captured by Crown Forces and was sentenced to eight years which he served in Belfast’s Crumlin Road Jail. Following his release in 1963 he reported back to active service.
In 1969/70 he again made his talents available to the Republican Movement. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh said of him he possessed the 'ablest mind in the Republican Movement for over 20 years'. The sheer breadth of his ability and intellect was evidenced by his service to the All-Ireland Republic both militarily and politically. He had a central role in framing ÉIRE NUAand remained a tireless advocate of it right up to his death in 1991.
Dáithí Ó Conaill never equivocated on what was the cause of the war in Ireland or what was required to deliver a just and lasting peace for all of the Irish people. Speaking in Belfast at Easter 1973 he said: 'Today, the central issue in the war is one of conflict between Ireland’s right to freedom and England’s determination to keep us in subjection. All other issues are subordinate to this basic point. There can be no compromise on the fundamental issue as to who should rule Ireland: the British Parliament or the Irish people. We have had 800 years of British ineptitude in ruling Ireland; we have never known rule by the Irish, of the Irish, for the Irish. Until we do, we shall never enjoy peace and stability in our land.....' "(From here)
Those attending the commemoration are requested to assemble at the gates of Glasnevin Cemetery at 12.45pm. The commemoration will be Chaired by Andy Connolly , Dublin, Fergal Moore , Monaghan, will deliver the oration , and refreshments will be available afterwards in a near-by venue.
All genuine Republicans Welcome!
Dáithí Ó Conaill From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008) Dáithí Ó Conaill (1938 – 1 January 1991) was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Joins IRA 2 Sides with Provisional IRA 3 Involvement in Sinn Féin electoral campaigns 4 Joins Republican Sinn Féin 5 External links 6 Notes and references [edit]Joins IRA
Ó Conaill was born in Cork in 1938. His uncle Michael O'Sullivan, a member of the 1st Cork Brigade of the Irish Republican Army, was bayoneted to death by British forces in 1921. After his vocational school education, he trained as a woodwork teacher in a college in County Wexford.
He joined the republican movement at 17 years of age and took part in the IRA Border Campaign. On 1 January 1957 he was second-in-command of the Pearse Column which carried out the raid on Brookeborough Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Barracks in County Fermanagh, in which Seán South and Fergal O'Hanlon were killed. He was arrested by the Garda Síochána and imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison for six months. Upon release, he was interned in the Curragh. On 27 September 1958 he escaped along with Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and went on the run.
With most of the IRA leadership under arrest or interned, Ó Brádaigh (who had been on the Army Council at the start of the campaign) became IRA chief of staff and Ó Conaill became IRA Director of Operations and joined the IRA Army Council.[2] In an altercation with the RUC and B Specials near Lough Neagh in 1959, he was shot and badly injured and later captured by the RUC. On recovery he received an eight-year sentence and remained in Belfast Jail until he was released unconditionally in September 1963.
In the October 1961 Irish general election, Ó Conaill ran as a Sinn Féin candidate in the Cork Borough constituency. Winning 1,956 first preference votes (a share of 5.24 percent), he just missed taking the fifth and final seat.[3] Upon release, Ó Conaill took up residence in Glencolmcille, County Donegal, where he taught. He also married Deirdre Caffrey, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh's cousin. Ó Conaill worked closely with Fr James McDyer who was active in rural development. During the late 1960s, Ó Conaill played little part in the activities of the IRA or Sinn Féin.
With the outbreak of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, Ó Conaill would become a prominent spokesperson for the Provisional IRA. He was active in the IRA through the 1960s, and IRA Chief of Staff Cathal Goulding appointed him the Commanding Officer (O/C) of the Donegal unit prior to the IRA's Convention in December 1969; Ó Conaill was also a member of the IRA's Army Council after Goulding expanded that body at the IRA Convention late in 1968. In the autumn of 1969, Ó Conaill, upset with the then IRA leadership, walked out of the "unit convention" and was suspended.[4] In the 1960s, Ó Conaill was approached by elements from within the Irish government and the Fianna Fáil party with an offer to provide arms and training in Irish Army barracks or ranges.[5]
Ó Conaill helped form the Provisional IRA after the 1969 IRA split, served on the first Provisional IRA Army Council, and was the Provisional IRA's Director of Publicity. In 1970 he travelled to New York and was instrumental in establishing Irish Northern Aid or NORAID, which raised funds for the Provisionals.
In 1971, he travelled to Prague and purchased 4.5 tons of small arms from the Czechoslovakia state arms marketing company, Omnipol. The consignment was later seized in the Netherlands.
Despite his belief in the armed campaign, Ó Conaill was not solely a militarist. He was deeply involved in the drafting of the Éire Nua policy, working with Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, which was launched by Sinn Féin in June 1972. He also played a leading role in the truce negotiations between the IRA and the British government in June–July 1972. On 13 June 1972, he appeared at an IRA press conference in Derry, along with Seán Mac Stiofáin, Seamus Twomey and Martin McGuinness, which announced an IRA cease-fire proposal, and gave William Whitelaw forty-eight hours to make a decision. On 20 June 1972, he represented the IRA along with Gerry Adams at secret talks at the home of Colonel Sir Michael McCorkell, Ballyarnett, County Londonderry. The British representatives were Frank Steele, who presented himself as a government official but was an MI6 agent, and Philip John Woodfield of the Northern Ireland Office. The meeting lasted four hours and the British side informed the IRA representatives that while Whitelaw refused to offer political status, he was prepared to suspend arrests of republicans and searches of homes. Both sides then agreed to call a ten-day ceasefire.
In a report, Woodfield noted that “There is no doubt whatever that these two at least genuinely want a ceasefire and a permanent end to violence," and that the appearance of Ó Conaill and Adams was “appearance and manner of the men was "respectable and respectful". "Their response to every argument was reasonable and moderate. (…) Their behaviour and attitude appeared to bear no relation to the indiscriminate campaigns of bombing and shooting in which they have both been prominent leaders." [1] On 26 June, the IRA called a "bilateral truce". On 7 July 1972, he was part of the IRA delegation which met with representatives of the British government in London (see article on Seán Mac Stiofáin for more details).
After the collapse of the IRA-British government contacts, Ó Conaill maintained informal contacts with Sir John Hackett, by then retired and Principal of King's College London, and who had been the commanding officer of British forces in Northern Ireland. In September 1973, Hackett reported to Woodfield of the Northern Ireland Office that Ó Conaill was "losing ground to younger and more impatient operators. To arrest him and remove him from the scene would loosen restraint on those and open the way for more irresponsible action." [2]
In 1974, at a secret meeting arranged by journalist Kevin Myers, Ó Conaill and Brian Keenan had talks with Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) leaders Billy Mitchell and Jim Hanna in Lough Sheelin, County Cavan. Myers summarised the purpose of the talks: The IRA simply wished to discuss the terms of the loyalist surrender and the loyalists wished merely to assure the IRA they had no intention of surrendering.[6] The meeting lasted four hours. Mitchell later recalled that "We just wanted to get to know one another. And we thought we could find a way to call an end to everything." "I really liked David. And neither of us accused the other of anything" [3]
In an interview with Mary Holland on London Weekend Television’s Weekend World on 17 November 1974, Ó Conaill claimed there would be an escalation of IRA violence. Four days later, on 21 November, IRA detonated bombs in two pubs in Birmingham, killing 21 civilians. This was not Ó Conaill had intended, as the Provisional IRA leadership did not endorse indiscriminate bombing in England.[7] The interview and the attacks led to the introduction of the Prevention of Terrorism Act in the United Kingdom. [4]. The interview prompted hostile questions in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Although Ó Conaill was on the run for much of the early 1970s, he managed to make some public appearances. In 1973, he gave the oration at the Easter Rising commemoration in Belfast, and the following year, he spoke at the funeral of IRA hunger striker Michael Gaughan in Ballina.
While on the run he was prominent in arranging the Feakle talks with Protestant clergymen in December 1974. In 1975, Ó Conaill was regularly consulted by Republican representatives who negotiated a truce with British representatives, including Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Billy McKee, but he did not meet with the British representatives.[8]
Ó Conaill was officer commanding (O/C) of the IRA Southern Command for much of the early 1970s until his arrest, in July 1975. (He was replaced by Pat Doherty). Found guilty of IRA membership, and imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison, where in 1977 he was one of 20 men who took part in a 47-day hunger strike in protest at conditions in the jail. [edit]Involvement in Sinn Féin electoral campaigns
Upon his release from prison, he was active in the Anti H-Block Movement. Contrary to popular opinion, it was Ó Conaill and not Gerry Adams who proposed that Bobby Sands contest the Westminster by-election for Fermanagh and South Tyrone during the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike. This decision was made at the March 1981 Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle meeting.[9] He was the director of elections in the June 1981 Irish general election in which two prisoners were elected to Dáil Éireann: hunger striker Kieran Doherty in the Cavan/Monaghan constituency and prison protester Paddy Agnew in the Louth constituency. In 1983, along with Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, he resigned from the position of vice-president of Sinn Féin in opposition to the dropping of the Éire Nua policy.
SS is short for the German Schutzstaffeln, an organization, of which the Gestapo was just a branch, serving the tyranny of Nazi bureaucracy and the politics of terror, like MI5 currently in British Occupied Ireland and all of the island. The British Government use MI5 today, like Germans in high places, still use the SS, as an excuse for acts of murder, extortion and genocide, that were facts of daily life under the Nazis and are standard fare since the outset of the present troubles in British Occupied Ireland. MI5 like the SS are embedded in every basic governmental part of the Occupation of Ireland and indeed most institutions of note on the island. While not all of its members are not so much lunatic killers, as loyal British subjects, doing the bidding of a secret state of British intelligence, that has gone insanely rogue and unaccountable. The case of the politically interned Marian Price is but another example.
Outside her internment, the life of Marian Price has been destroyed by the “grossly reckless” conduct of Britain's secret service MI5 terrorists. Marian is a victim of “targeted malice” of a prejudged faceless secret service of secret judges, secret jury and secret executioners. MI5 and the British secret state has manifested a perverse calculated effort of secret political internment, to give effect to their prejudgment, that secret evidence, with the vested interest of highly paid secret informers, to the British secret services. The malfeasance of British bigoted, sectarian public office of British institutions involved in cases such as the Guilford Four, the Birmingham Six are infamous and par to the same form of injustice that fuels the ongoing conflict.
The consequence of destroying irreparably the lives of Irish women and their families is a prime cause of the ongoing troubles. In the case of Marian Price six months of force feeding, a year of psychological torture in solitary confinement, combined with her second Christmas politically interned without a transparent trial that is calculated to destroy her physically and mentally.The British having accepted the allegations from the outset and have at every step sheltered the allegations from appropriate public scrutiny, thereby ensuring that Marian Price would suffer the maximum painful agony in her confined condition.The political internment of Marian Price has been conducted in a manner calculated to ensure a predetermined conclusion not to be deflected or disturbed by any meaningful input by Marian Price or her defence lawyers.
Besides the psychological torture endured by Marian, her indefinite internment, coupled with seriously painful physical condition as a result of her treatment at the hands of the British, Marian has endured extraordinarily high levels of stress and great mental anguish suffered in isolation. The reality of the abuse of British Occupation behind the cloak of secrecy provided by the Official Secrets Act, the secret services, secret evidence, secret witness, secret courts, secret allegations and secrecy provisions governing matters concerned with the secret Nazi regime running British Occupied Ireland, is that there is absolutely no accountability.The fact is, that this bizarre form of political interment and conduct detailed again below, evinces the unjust reality of life in British Occupied Ireland. The fact that it has dragged on so long, is confirmation of the abdication of judicial, journalistic and political responsibilities, that are basic to any form of a civilized state with even a modicum of democracy.
Where to begin describing the secret reality behind the cloak and dagger operations of Britain's spooky secret state?. How to lift the fog of secrecy, complacency, that has been allowed to congregate around the public’s understanding of British Secret State Terrorism? "Targeted assassination", "Political Internment", “Malfeasance”, “targeted infiltrated media malice”, “unaccountability”, "war crimes", "human rights abuse", these are but a few of the terms that encapsulate what I am trying to explain. These phrases refer to the oppression of one Irish citizen (British commoner) by an agency representing the British Police State of Occupation, paid for by British taxpayers. The perpetrators in these crimes against Marian, will likely never face a court of law, will probably never be photographed, as they hide in secrecy, unaccountable from the public gaze. They will never have their names in the media but rather these state terrorists, will continue in their positions, unfazed to murder and intern without trial human rights lawyers, journalists and prisoner rights activists such as Marian Price was before her internment.
The facts are that Marian Price is just one, of several Irish people currently secretly politically interned in British Occupied Ireland, during which time lawyers have not been allowed to see any of Britain's ‘alleged’ evidence.
• She has been kept in solitary confinement in a ‘male’ high security prison
• She is effectively interned without a trial, sentence, or release date.
• She has not been given any timescale for any investigation.
• She has not been allowed to see the evidence that the state claims to have
• Her release has been ordered on two occasions by judges. However, on both occasions the British Vice royal has overruled those decisions.
• The Vice royal claims they ‘revoked Marian’s license, ’despite Marian never being released on license. She was given a Royal Pardon.
• Marian’s Royal Pardon has ‘gone missing’ from the home office (the only time in history). The British Vice royal has taken the view that unless a paper copy can be located – it must be assumed that she does not have one. It is generally agreed that MI5 shredded her majesty's pardon.
• Despite no ‘license’ existing for her release from prison in 1980, it is the non-existent licence that is being used to keep her in prison.
• She can only be released by Theresa Villiers the current Vice royal responsible for Marian's internment.
The charges against Marian were thrown out of court because of a lack of evidence. Now the very same charges have been re-instated against Marian again before the same Judge.
In secret courts, being introduced by the back door, through legislation in the House of Lords, MI5 the British secret services are pushing for secret trials, with secret evidence by secret witnesses, that the defendant's appointed lawyer is not allowed to access, see or refute. The length of sentence is also kept secret, under penalty of a long jail sentence by Britain's Official Secret's Act. This trial of Marian Price is believed to have already occurred in secret, with the public hearings and a show trial being simply a public rubber stamp on more injustice against Marian Price in of British Occupied Ireland.
Another Shot Dead in Kitsonian Feud in Dublin
Gardai don’t know where the shooting took place but find the car that brought the victim to St James’s in Dublin.
Image: Photocall Ireland
A 35-YEAR-OLD man died last night after he was brought to a Dublin city hospital. The man was left at St James’s Hospital, with gunshot wounds, at 7 pm. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Gardai are investigating where the shooting took place as the location is not known. The car used to carry the man to hospital was later found on Cork Street in Dublin and the area around it for technical examination.
IRISH REPUBLICAN NEWS
Friday-Thursday, 21-27 December, 2012
1. BRITISH SOUGHT HUNGER STRIKER 'CAPITULATION' 2. Corey's bail order overturned 3. PSNI target Christmas celebrations 4. Flags issue tension dissipates 5. Coalition targets internet critics 6. Arson attack on Catholic church 7. Feature: The 1982 papers 8. Analysis: Calls for full dialogue falling on deaf ears
>>>>>> BRITISH SOUGHT HUNGER STRIKER 'CAPITULATION'
Official records have revealed that the British government had a plan to 'brainwash' Long Kesh hunger strikers to end their protest individually.
Previously classified papers also reveal that the Conservative government of the 1980s considered a proposal from an influential backbencher to put the prisoners on a prison ship during the height of the hunger strikes -- and as they died, dispose of their bodies at sea.
Ten republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands, died in their 1981 campaign against the criminalisation of the republican armed struggle.
Official records have now revealed that the British government sought to use psychological strategies on prisoners to abandon their protest as they lay starving to death in the prison hospital.
British officials hoped that by engineering a "capitulation" by one or more prisoners, the hunger strike would be thrown into disarray. They claimed that even if the plan later became public knowledge, it would be defensible because it would be seen to have prevented "pointless" deaths.
In a memo circulated to colleagues on 1 June, 1981, senior Northern Ireland Office official R A Harrington recalled that SDLP MP John Hume had described the parents of Derry hunger striker, Kevin Lynch as "typical decent anti-IRA people" who would "do almost anything" to prevent their son's death.
Harrington said that in his view, "capitulation (i.e. a decision to take food) by one of the hunger strikers would be of enormous value to us, not just in itself but because of the great disarray into which the PIRA propaganda effort would be thrown".
It might be possible, he argued, to engage the Catholic Church, "possibly with the help of Bishop Philbin", to bring further pressure to bear on the prisoner and his family.
Another official said the "only obvious candidate for the brain washing would be assistant governor McCartney who visits the hospital regularly in the normal course of events," he said.
But there was a concern that the rapidly failing health of the hunger strikers made it difficult to implement the strategy.
One memo asked: "Is there any possibility of using all the resources available to us to identify the best candidate for capitulation and then go to some lengths to organise pressure on them over the next number of weeks before his condition becomes critical?"
There were also proposals to feed the prisoners intravenously, which raised concerns because it would require drugging the prisoners.
The protest ultimately ended on 3 October, 1981 after the families of some of the prisoners were allegedly encouraged by the prison chaplain to intervene to save the lives of their loved ones as they neared death.
'ADJUSTMENTS' POSSIBLE
Another significant note confirms the British government was prepared to make the key concession of allowing the prisoners to wear their own clothing if the hunger strike was brought to an end.
While the Thatcher administration's public stance at the time was defiance of the prisoners' five demands and a refusal to negotiate, one note form June 1981 indicated possible "adjustments" to the H-Block regime.
"If the hunger strikes ended the government would be prepared to consider adjustments to the prison regime but the government would need strong evidence that the strike had ended before it could contemplate any adjustments," the NIO (Northern Ireland Office) document said.
"The adjustments involved would include freedom for the prisoners to wear their own clothIng and perhaps other moves."
'HMS MAZE'
The papers, released under the 30-year-rule, also show that the British government considered a bizarre suggestion to tip the bodies of Irish hunger strikers into the sea from a prison ship. The plan was mooted by former Home Secretary David Waddington before he was promoted to Margaret Thatcher's cabinet.
"The boat could cruise for long periods of time, calling at various ports around Britain for supplies and a change of staff and could anchor for long periods off-shore," he said. "Any of the terrorists who passed away could be buried at sea, removing the publicity which these people appear to seek."
His suggestion was ultimately rejected -- but only on cost grounds.
Prisons minister Michael Alison said the ship would cost more to run, need more staff and be less secure. He concluded the measure could only be justified as a temporary expedient in an emergency and was not a long-term solution.
British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers has won a legal bid to continue the internment of veteran republican Martin Corey.
Senior judges upheld a challenge brought by the state to a ruling that Martin Corey's human rights had been breached in keeping him behind bars.
It means the 65-year-old will remain in jail, at least until separate proceedings go before the Supreme Court in London.
Mr Corey, from Lurgan, County Armagh, was interned in April 2010 when former British Direct Ruler Shaun Woodward ordered his "recall" to prison on the basis of "closed material" and unspecified allegations of involvement with "dissidents".
In July this year, he won a judicial review over a Parole Commissioners decision to keep him behind bars and was ordered released on bail. A High Court judge held that their determination on whether it was safe to release him had breached his rights under European law. He found that the open evidence did not advance the British case against Corey, meaning that the decision was solely based on "closed" or "secret" evidence.
Amid a legal scramble, pending a full appeal against the judgment, lawyers for the British government successfully applied for a stay on the bail order. They argued that the High Court has no jurisdiction to grant bail in judicial review proceedings. Corey's legal team are currently seeking to challenge that determination at the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the appeal against the judicial review ruling was heard by three senior judges. It was argued that there was enough open material to allow Corey the chance to present a defence.
The Court of Appeal had to decide whether the process undertaken by the panel, involving a "gist" of the information, was flawed. Judges carried out the assessment without access to the alleged secret material.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Morgan said there were "specific" allegations in regard to conversations Mr Corey had taken part in.
"We cannot infer that the disclosure was inadequate," he said. "A denial by the detainee that a meeting occurred or that a topic was discussed addresses a specific allegation and is quite different from the denial of a general allegation such as membership of an organisation."
'INTERNMENT'
Sinn Fein Justice Spokesperson Raymond McCartney Assembly member has said Mr Corey's internment should end.
"Today's decision to continue the detention of Martin Corey needs to be challenged," he said.
"The British Secretary of State cannot be allowed to continue the internment of Martin Corey on unseen evidence.
"Either the PSNI bring charges against Martin Corey that will allow him the opportunity to defend himself in a court of law or they should release him immediately."
A County Derry Sinn Fein councillor has accused the PSNI police of harassment after his brother's house was raided on Christmas Eve, while the family of an eirigi activist were kept apart for the holiday by bizarre bail demands.
Former mayor of Limavady, Sean McGlinchey hit out after his brother Paul's home, which is near Toomebridge in County Antrim, was sealed off for several hours on Monday as the property was raided.
Another house and a farmyard in nearby Portglenone were also sealed off and searched. The men are brothers of murdered INLA chief Dominic McGlinchey and Paul is a former member of Sinn Fein who left the party in 2006 over its stance on policing.
Paul McGlinchey's wife Cindy was treated in hospital after being injured during the raid. She was pinned to the wall and had her left arm, which was removed from plaster last week after she was injured by a horse, forcibly dragged up behind her back. "At no time did they tell me they had a warrant," she said.
Former republican prisoner Paul McGlinchey said two of his daughters who were in the house were left "traumatised" by the incident. "It destroyed Christmas for everyone," he said.
His brother said he would raise questions about Monday's raid with the PSNI.
"This was a disgrace on Christmas Eve," he said. "Especially when you consider this warrant was signed on December 18 and the search could have been carried out any time.
"I am a member of Sinn Fein and I support the position on talking to the police but this is harassment of people on Christmas Eve."
The Sinn Fein councillor, who was influential in encouraging republicans in County Derry to support the party's policing policy, said the incident would have an impact on "public confidence".
"How are you ever going to build public confidence in the police after things like this?" he said. "This sets things back. Me and other members of my family are disgusted."
VINDICTIVE BAIL CONDITIONS REJECTED
Meanwhile, a member of eirigi has spent Christmas behind bars after refusing to accept punitive PSNI bail conditions imposed upon him at a court hearing in Belfast High Court last week.
Newry man Stephen Murney is currently being held in Maghaberry prison since being arrested and imprisoned three weeks ago. The socialist republican is strenuously contesting the charges against him, centred on allegations that he had photographs of police members on his computer amounting to "terrorist" information.
His lawyers sought to have him released on bail. The presiding judge agreed to his release on bail but, at the behest of the PSNI, then agreed to impose a wide series of very stringent conditions upon him. Following a consultation with his lawyers, Mr Murney indicated that these conditions were totally unacceptable.
In a statement, Eirigi General Secretary Breandan Mac Cionnaith said: "Today's bail hearing again demonstrated the very flimsy and nebulous nature of the charges on which Stephen Murney is being held. I had an opportunity to speak with Stephen this afternoon after he had been visited by his mother, his wife and his young son.
"Stephen is married with a young son. The extreme conditions which the court sought to impose upon him included not being permitted to live in his own home with his own family. Among the many other conditions were stipulations that he could not live in, or enter Newry at any time; had to live several miles away from his wife and young son; report daily to a PSNI barracks in Newtownhamilton; live under a strict curfew and wear an electronic tagging device.
"Stephen said that these conditions meant that he would have only the most minimal contact with his wife and young son and that forcing him to live elsewhere was solely designed to penalise his family.
"Stephen also said that as he is totally innocent of the charges laid against him. He is not prepared to permit either himself or his family to be humiliated by the courts or the PSNI. Neither is he prepared to be branded as a criminal by wearing an electronic tagging device.
"This is a very principled position which Stephen has taken. It is also a very difficult one, particularly at this time of the year, as Christmas is a time when families should be together and not be kept apart as a result of draconian measures imposed by courts in response to demands by the PSNI.
"The charges against Stephen are directly related to him taking photographs of PSNI harassment at a protest in Newry and having three uniforms belonging to a band. We have no doubt that the PSNI case against Stephen will eventually collapse and be completely exposed as a totally vindictive, fabricated and unjust action."
Protests by loyalists and hardline unionists on the issue of flying the British flag at Belfast City Hall have sharply decreased in size and number.
Just 70 protesters gathered for a flag demonstration on Saturday, and only 20 turning up for a city centre protest on Thursday. Previous city centre demonstrations had seen crowds of up to 1,000 force the closure of the continental market and cause massive disruption to shoppers and traders.
The protests are an attempt to force a u-turn by Belfast city councillors after they voted to reduce the number of days on which the Union Jack flies over Belfast City Hall.
Earlier this month, it was decided to fly the British flag on 17 designated days, in line with most other civic buildings.
The reduced pickets follow weeks of traffic chaos in Belfast and other locations as the PSNI police declined to prevent loyalists from blocking main roads and engaging in disturbances. Mob violence and riots also broke out at several such events.
Last Friday, on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, loyalist roadblocks again caused huge disruption to commuters and shoppers. Dozens of protests were held across greater Belfast, and although they were much smaller than previously, they remained effective in causing disruption.
There were also fresh clashes in the lower Newtownards Road area of east Belfast later as petrol bombs and other missiles were thrown at police. Further protests were also held in other towns around the north.
But this week, protestors were outnumbered by tourists and onlookers, and politicians said things had moved on.
One long-serving SDLP councillor, Pat McCarthy, said attempts to intimidate councillors into reversing their decision had failed.
"They can do what they want but the democratic vote has been taken and it is for designated days," he said.
"I stood and watched them and ordinary people were standing there and watching them as well and laughing at them."
A recent vote by Newry council to name a small local park after former hunger striker Raymond McCreesh has also infuriated unionists.
DUP councillor Ruth Patterson, who took part in one protest, claimed there was a Sinn Fein plot to undermine unionism by "dilution".
"The stripping and chipping away of items from within city hall that are British, military or loyal is an antagonising ploy by Sinn Fein to rub salt into an already seeping wound," she wrote.
Among the other blows she listed were changes to the murderous B Specials, UDR and RUC and restrictions on loyal order marches.
"Orange, Black and Apprentice Boys parades have rigorous restrictions placed upon them," she wrote.
"You can play here but you can't play there. You can march here but you can't march there."
"And now to add insult to injury the Protestant people have seen the removal of their beloved Union flag from the most iconic building in the capital city of Northern Ireland."
Former Mayor of Belfast, Sinn Fein's Niall O Donnghaile, said Ms Patterson was wrong.
"In relation to city hall she is wrong. There is no erosion and there has not been any erosion," he said.
"Anybody who walks around Belfast City Hall will see there has been no erosion of British, unionist or military symbols.
"As for the B Specials and the UDR, they are both discredited sectarian gangs."
Mr O Donnghaile urged his unionist counterpart to show "leadership" to those who elected her.
"This is about equality and nobody, including Ruth Patterson, should fear equality," he said.
"If unionists and loyalists have had poor leadership, she is an elected representative so she should show some leadership.
"Belfast is not a city of the UDR or the B Specials or one-party rule. It's a city for all and there is a place for us all in this city."
The 26-County government has been accused of planning to introduce censorship and free speech 'chilling' measures following the tragic death last week of Fine Gael's junior minister at the Department of Agriculture, Shane McEntee.
It is believed that Mr McEntee came under heavy criticism in the aftermath of last month's unprecedented austerity budget announcement, and that this may have contributed to his shock suicide near his home in County Meath.
The current government has recently tapped into a wellspring of public anger not seen since the collapse of the previous Fianna Fail/Green Party government, when ministers were routinely spat upon and shouted at by members of the public. Fine Gael and Labour politicians have been excoriated for their austerity attacks on Ireland's poorest while preserving their own salaries, expenses and pensions, which are among the highest in Europe.
At one time Mr McEntee enjoyed strong personal popularity in his Meath East constituency. But a tsunami of anger over government cutbacks were fuelled by comments he made on highly controversial cuts to respite care services.
In December's announcements of the state's fiscal plans for next year, it was revealed that the annual grant to those receiving respite care -- state assistance for those caring for terminally ill family members -- would be cut by 300 euro to 1,375 euro.
Mr McEntee told a newspaper interviewer that: "You could stay in a top hotel for [euro]700 a week," adding: "People just have to get on with it."
His remark fuelled a torrent of personal abuse, while Fianna Fail described it as "callous and crass".
At his funeral, there were suggestions that the trenchant criticism, as well as condemnation of his department's failure to tackle a disease killing Irish Ash trees, came as a grave psychological blow.
Speaking at the funeral, Gerry McEntee particularly pointed the figure at internet commentators.
"Shame on you people who made comments online -- I hope you are not proud of what you have achieved," he said.
Former Taoiseach John Bruton, a friend of Mr McEntee, called for an end to the practice of text messages being read out on TV and radio without those who sent them in being publicly identified. Another government figure, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, told state-run radio this week that his government wants to "control the internet".
The various statements have been viewed with concern by free speech activists, who compared the proposals to moves recently announced by the Chinese government to declare certain blogs "illegal".
Green Party TD Dan Boyle said he couldn't take Fine Gael suggestions on anonymous comments seriously, as Fine Gael had long encouraged party members to contact radio stations with pro-government comments.
"Fine Gael has long run campaigns of 'ordinary' people texting," he said.
A Catholic priest has urged those responsible for a suspected sectarian arson attack on his County Antrim church to leave their Catholic neighbours in peace.
Fr Anthony Curran said he believed the attack, which caused thousands of pounds of damage to Our Lady of Lourdes Church at Whitehead, was connected to the ongoing loyalist protests over the removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall.
Significant damage was caused to a boiler room in yesterday's attack.
It is understood that a claw hammer was used to smash into the building at around 3.40am.
The blaze destroyed a heating boiler and badly damaged electrical wiring and although it had not spread into the church by the time fire fighters arrived, there was some smoke damage.
A number of large statues and religious artefacts which were being stored in the boiler room were destroyed.
Sunday Mass and Christmas Mass had to be celebrated in the nearby parish hall.
Asked if he believed the attack was connected to protects linked to the removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall Parish Fr Curran said: "I presume it would be a fair judgment to make. We can't say [for sure]. It would seem to be.
"We are always a bit apprehensive when things get tense like this over the past couple of weeks."
Fr Curran said parishioners were shocked by the fire.
"I feel sorry for the elderly pensioners. They were distressed," he said.
"The church has been there for 100 years and many of these people have lived here for many years. It's very precious to them.
"It's at the heart of the community and in the last year their school has been closed so it is even more special to them.
"These people are very generous in their attitudes towards other people.
"When it comes to the Saint Vincent de Paul they are very generous and items would be given to both Protestant and Catholic people."
Fr Curran urged those behind the attacks to leave their Catholic neighbours in peace.
"It's very hard to fathom the minds of people who would do that," he said.
"I would say to them we are not your enemies.
"Whatever grievances you have they can't be resolved by attacking your Catholic neighbours.
"We as a parish community feel strongly about the community and inter-Church relations and we are anxious to maintain that."
East Antrim Sinn Fein assembly member Oliver McMullan offered his sympathies to those affected by the fire.
"I though the days of burning down and destroying places of worship had gone and now we are back to this again," he said.
Alliance East Antrim Assembly member Stewart Dickson, whose constituency office in Carrickfergus was ransacked and torched by a loyalist mob earlier this month, also condemned the arson attack.
"There can never be any justification for an attack on a place of worship," he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- A look at some of the other stories which emerged from initial reviews of the archived classified papers, partially declassified in Dublin, Belfast and London this week under the '30 years rule'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
The 1982 papers released from Whitehall this week on Anglo-Irish relations are punctuated with sharp rebukes by Margaret Thatcher to her own civil servants.
"No!" she would mark in the margins of various talks and peace proposals. Her advice to her own officials was to keep correspondence with Dublin "long, worthy, meaty and dull", with the unstated intention of doing nothing.
The Irish papers also reveal that the 1983 'New Ireland Forum' was originally planned as a cover for what Dublin officials admitted was "a mark-time period, in respect of dealings with the British". Its main function was to boost the moderate nationalist SDLP following a surge in support for Sinn Fein in the aftermath of the 1981 hunger strike.
The Forum's report, published on 2 May 1984, listed three possible alternative structures: a unitary state, a federal/confederal state, and joint British/Irish authority. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, dismissed the three alternatives one by one at a press conference, each time saying, "that is out", in a response that became known as the "out, out, out" speech.
But amid the stalemate on the North in 1982, the papers show that worst spat between the Dublin and London governments came when former 26-County Taoiseach Charles Haughey refused to support Britain's efforts to reoccupy Argentina's Malvinas islands. He had described the Falklands conflict as "a ridiculous war, a war that should not have happened".
Tensions between the two governments worsened following the Belgrano massacre, when an Argentinian ship was ordered sunk by Margaret Thatcher in neutral, international waters, with the loss of over 600 lives.
Thatcher, infuriated by Haughey's lack of support for sanctions against Argentina, asked her home secretary William Whitelaw to explore new laws to disenfranchise Irish citizens living in Britain and the north of Ireland.
The move, which would have left up to half a million Irish without a vote, was ultimately abandoned.
* US Senator Ted Kennedy tried to intervene with the British government's handling of the crisis at doomed car manufacturer deLorean.
The ill-fated car plant in Belfast, built with millions of pounds of funding from the British exchequer, closed in 1982 after the company went into liquidation and following the arrest of its founder John de Lorean on drug trafficking charges.
De Lorean blamed the Northern Ireland Development Agency (NIDA), which had offered 100 million pounds to set up the factory, for many of the problems.
However, Mr de Lorean had some influential friends in American politics. A British official said he had been contacted by the Irish Embassy which told him "that the Irish had been approached by Senator Edward Kennedy about de Lorean" so as to "bring pressure to bear on HMG (Her Majesty'sGovernment)" to inject further financial support into the company".
The memo reveals that on this occasion, his interest was not welcomed. "The Irish (I assume their Embassy in Washington) had warned Senator Kennedy that it would not be appropriate to intervene and had pointed out that the situation was a good deal more complex than it might appear," it read.
Later, an NIDA appointee to the DMC board in New York described Mr de Lorean as being "in a disturbed state and possibly not wholly rational".
Reporting from a meeting of the board to discuss the future of the company, he said it was "a shambles", "a fantasy" and "an orchestrated pantomime" with "a good deal of abuse from Mr de Lorean".
* Confusion and embarrassment reigned when the late president Patrick Hillery, acting on government and official advice, gave two contradictory responses to the birth on June 21st, 1982 of Prince William to the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The recommendation from the Department of Foreign Affairs was that the president should not send congratulations, since Prince Charles was not a head of state, but this was countermanded within hours by a government decision.
* The British embassy in Washington claimed that republican veteran Dessie Ellis, who was arrested in the US in 1981, was "linked by forensic evidence to some 50 murders". Mr Ellis was extradited in 1983, and sentenced in Dublin for the explosives offences. He went on hunger strike for 37 days in 1990 while facing extradition to Britain. He was ultimately acquitted in London, and is now the serving Sinn Fein TD for Dublin North-West.
A Sinn Fein spokesman today said Dessie Ellis rejected the claims. "Irish Republicans do not attach any value to claims made in secret documents emanating from the British secret services, who were responsible for countless murders in Ireland during the course of the conflict," he said.
* Hundreds of files were again withheld in the annual release of government papers this year, most noticeably in relation to British accounts of the 1981 hunger strike. In many cases, papers were partially blacked out or censored in order to protect identities and/or British interests.
>>>>>> Analysis: Calls for full dialogue falling on deaf ears
By Brian Feeney (for Irish News)
It's been the dialogue of the deaf this year again. Remember after their election triumph in 2011 the first minister and deputy first minister admitted they had failed to deliver in the 2007 to 2011 assembly? They promised this assembly session they would deliver. They haven't and all the evidence suggests 2013 won't be any different.
The assembly managed to pass a mere five pieces of legislation this year, none of them important. On the other hand everything important has stalled. The DUP has blocked every single proposal for change. So, the Education and Skills Authority, which should have been up and running in 2008 is stuck and unlikely to meet its latest target date of next April. No progress on the 11-plus fiasco. No progress on parades, promised as part of the Hillsborough deal in 2010. No policy paper on Cohesion, Sharing and Integration, which Peter Robinson claimed would be out before Christmas. He got the wrong Christmas obviously.
The decade of centenaries -- a shared history, remember that? -- got off to a great start with a massive sectarian parade through Belfast to Stormont to commemorate the 1912 Covenant. If you read any of the speeches from 1912 you can see nothing has changed in unionism, for the speeches at Stormont and in unionist councils were exactly the same this year. All around the north the great and the good were engaged in cross-community debates, symposiums, presentations but the leaders of unionism sank back into tribalism. The Irish government appointed a committee to manage the various commemorations due over the next 10 years. No wonder they've gone very quiet in the past six months.
With the centenary of the founding of the Ulster Volunteers and the Irish Volunteers coming up next year there's not much chance of cross-community action if this year's covenant events are the model. Curiously enough the centenary of the UVF is January 13 2013 and lo and behold, a century after the treasonous force was formed to defy the democratic decision of the Westminster parliament here is unionism again trying to subvert democracy by violence and the threat of violence.
The refusal of unionist leaders to condemn unequivocally the intimidatory road blocks that ruined Christmas trading and spoiled so many people's enjoyment of the beginning of the holiday period is scandalous. Equally deplorable is for unionist leaders to take up and legitimise the undemocratic demands of the flag-waving rabble and present them at talks with other parties. Their retreat into tribalism is complete with the establishment of their so-called Unionist Forum instead of seeking an accommodation across the divide as Martin McGuinness offered.
None of it bodes well for Sinn Fein's reconciliation project inaugurated last Easter by Declan Kearney. Kearney's overtures were instantly rejected by all shades of unionism. A carefully worked speech he made at Westminster in October was greeted with alarm bordering on hysteria by unionists. Yet Kearney was speaking for Sinn Fein, the DUP's partner in the north's administration. Clearly unionists do not want to talk about the future about which it seems they are increasingly fearful. They lacked the confidence to respond to a single item of substance in Kearney's speech. They rejected the opportunity to move forward by negotiation. Who are they to make progress with except Sinn Fein?
Turning inward into their 'forum' will achieve nothing, You probably don't know this and there's no reason you should but Robinson came up with exactly the same wheeze in 2008, a unionist think-tank called the 'Unionist Academy' and a 'cultural fightback'. It never got off the ground. Even if it had, like the present attempt at unionist unity, it could take no decisions without Sinn Fein and sitting having substantive discussions with Sinn Fein is the only way forward.
That has never happened without pressure from the British and Irish governments who have remained completely disengaged in the present crisis.
Sinn Fein has taken the initiative by proposing a way to look at the future. Unionists aren't listening. There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. It's coming to the time when the two governments are also going to have to live up to their responsibilities.
Saturday December 29, 2012 14:26
by Sharon. - Individual.
