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.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Corey's bail order overturned
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."
------------------------------
>>>>>> PSNI target Christmas celebrations
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."
------------------------------
>>>>>> Flags issue tension dissipates
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."
------------------------------
>>>>>> Coalition targets internet critics
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.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Arson attack on Catholic church
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.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Feature: The 1982 papers
------------------------------
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.
