Friday, March 03, 2006

Dublin Riots , Saturday , February 25 , 2006 .
RIOT SQUAD RESPONSIBLE FOR STARTING THE TROUBLE-
I was there from 11 AM untill 2.15 PM : this is what actually happened , as witnessed by myself and that other writer , amongst others , who was obviously in the same vicinity of O' Connell Street/Parnell Street as myself . Sharon.
NOTE - readers may be asking why the 'spark' that set the whole incident off was not shown on television news reports and/or in the pictures and reports that were published in the newspapers : on Monday , 27 February last , in 'The Evening Herald' newspaper , the following was published (on page 5) , by that organs 'Crime Editor' -
" A number of photographers , and myself , were taking pictures of the confrontation and we were surrounded by gardai who demanded that we stop and forcibly stood in front of us to prevent snaps . "
It appears that State agents were , even then , preparing an alibi for themselves and their paymasters . (Thanks , again , to the 'IRBB' for the 'heads-up' on that newspaper article).
Belfast solicitor Pádraigín Drinan was accompanying an official observer from Washington DC when riots broke out - Ms Drinan said that, contrary to many media reports, much of the fighting had erupted after local Dubliners were forced off O’Connell Street and down adjoining side streets by gardaí.
“ I saw hundreds of middle-aged local people jostle aggressively with Garda officers after being forced down side streets. They weren’t the type you would associate with a riot, ” she said. (Sourced from 'Daily Ireland' newspaper , February 28 last. )


THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......
This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !

Not since he surrendered the United States of America to General George Washington at Yorktown (1781) had Marquis Cornwallis faced such a superb tactician as General Humbert ; his strategy was a simple one - he refused to let General Lake counter-attack until they had together assembled an immense army .

With 30,000 English troops massed in South Leitrim and North Longford , they stopped Humbert's advance on Granard , at Ballinamuck on 8th September 1798 . Fatigue had slowed the march of Humbert's army ; had they reached Granard their campaign would have taken on a new character , with Dublin as their next objective : the capital was virtually defenceless as almost all of the garrison had been moved to Connacht .

" The life of a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland " , said Cornwallis , " comes up to my idea of perfect misery . I wish I were back in Bengal " . With the Rising suppressed , he set about constructing the Act of Union of 1800 , "...with the great object of consolidating the British Empire " .
[END of 'THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE'].
(Monday , 6th - 'Fianna Fail : The Mask of de Valera' ; from 1989.)


THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN .......
ByMartin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)

This new 'law' (by de Valera) , that verbal statements be accepted in the Free State Military Courts even if the people who were supposed to have made them were dead or insane (!) was only passed for the purpose of convicting and killing George Plant , a man who fought with distinction against the Black and Tans and the Staters : Sean McBride was defending for Plant - the Free State's 'Solicitor's Office' told McBride that the only way George Plant could save his life would be by 'a plea of insanity' : Plant told McBride to tell the Staters that in no way would they be allowed to downgrade him . That he would have death before dishonour . Plant and Joe O' Connor were then taken before the Military Court .

The Garda Superintendent involved in the case made a slip , which led to the acquittal of Joe O' Connor : but George Plant was sentenced to death . He was placed in the back of a Military truck , with his coffin , and within 48 hours was executed by a drunken firing squad in Portlaoise Prison : there was no right of appeal . These are the people who talk about justice , terrorists and men of violence .

I would ask the reader to note that in my comments (in this article) I am not defending or condemning Michael Collins , just recording facts to show that Britain only used her friends when useful and will drop them when a problem arises .
(MORE LATER).




BUTCHERS DOZEN .......
A poem by Thomas Kinsella , written after Bloody Sunday .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

We must forget , and look ahead ,
nurse the living , not the dead -
my words died out . But a phantom said :
'Here lies one who breathed his last
firmly reminded of the past ; a trooper did it , on one knee ,
in tones of brute authority. '

That harsher spirit , who before
had flushed with anger - spoke once more :
'Simple lessons cut most deep - this lesson in our hearts we keep ;
persuasion , protest , arguments ,
the milder forms of violence , earn nothing but polite neglect.'

England , the way to your respect
is via murderous force , it seems ;
you push us to your own extremes -
you condescend to hear us speak
only when we slap your cheek .
and yet we lack the last technique : we rap for order with a gun ,
the issues simplify to one .
(MORE LATER).







Thursday, March 02, 2006

Dublin Riots , Saturday , February 25 , 2006 .
RIOT SQUAD RESPONSIBLE FOR STARTING THE TROUBLE-
I was there from 11 AM untill 2.15 PM : this is what actually happened , as witnessed by myself and that other writer , amongst others , who was obviously in the same vicinity of O' Connell Street/Parnell Street as myself . Sharon.
NOTE - readers may be asking why the 'spark' that set the whole incident off was not shown on television news reports and/or in the pictures and reports that were published in the newspapers : on Monday , 27 February last , in 'The Evening Herald' newspaper , the following was published (on page 5) , by that organs 'Crime Editor' -
" A number of photographers , and myself , were taking pictures of the confrontation and we were surrounded by gardai who demanded that we stop and forcibly stood in front of us to prevent snaps . "
It appears that State agents were , even then , preparing an alibi for themselves and their paymasters . (Thanks , again , to the 'IRBB' for the 'heads-up' on that newspaper article).
Belfast solicitor Pádraigín Drinan was accompanying an official observer from Washington DC when riots broke out - Ms Drinan said that, contrary to many media reports, much of the fighting had erupted after local Dubliners were forced off O’Connell Street and down adjoining side streets by gardaí.
“ I saw hundreds of middle-aged local people jostle aggressively with Garda officers after being forced down side streets. They weren’t the type you would associate with a riot, ” she said. (Sourced from 'Daily Ireland' newspaper , February 28 , 2006. )


THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......
This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !

" That Ireland was not able of herself to throw off the yoke , I knew . I therefore sought for aid wherever it was to be found . " - Theobald Wolfe Tone .

Liberty , Equality , Fraternity are noble ideas which still inspire us and for which we still struggle , both North and South of the British-created border .

Charles , Marquis Cornwallis (1738 - 1805) , former Viceroy of India , became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in June 1798 . On hearing of the French landing he took personal command of the English forces in the field . He had reached Athlone when he heard of the capture of Castlebar and sent an urgent message to England for "... as large a reinforcement as possible .. " despite the fact that he already had 100,000 troops in Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).


THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN .......
ByMartin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)

After 5 months 'on the run' I was caught and put away for six months for refusing to answer questions . On my release I was arrested at the prison gate and sent to the Internment Camp : here , I was present when the Military Police fired on us without warning or provocation .

Barney Casey was killed and others wounded in this affray - we burned a section of the camp for which I got 2 years , and I was sent to Arour Hill Prison . While there I met George Plant and Joe O' Connor .

De Valera had an other Act passed - he asked Leinster House to give the Military Court power to accept verbal statements even if the people who were supposed to have made them were dead or insane ! Also - it should be noted that most of those 'statements' were made under torture .......
(MORE LATER).


BUTCHERS DOZEN .......
A poem by Thomas Kinsella , written after Bloody Sunday .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

Tongue of serpent , gut of hog ,
spiced with spleen of underdog -
stir in , with oaths of loyality , sectarian supremacy ,
and heat , to make a proper botch ,
in a bouillion of bitter scotch .

Last - the choice ingredient - you !
now , to crown your Irish stew ,
boil it over , make a mess : a most imperial success !

He capered weakly , racked with pain ,
his dead hair plastered in the rain ;
the group was silent once again -
it seemed the moment to explain
that sympathetic politicians say our violent traditions ,
backward looks and bitterness , keep us in this dire distress .
(MORE LATER).







Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Dublin Riots , Saturday , February 25 , 2006 .
RIOT SQUAD RESPONSIBLE FOR STARTING THE TROUBLE-
I was there from 11 AM untill 2.15 PM : this is what actually happened , as witnessed by myself and that other writer , amongst others , who was obviously in the same vicinity of O' Connell Street/Parnell Street as myself . Sharon.
NOTE - readers may be asking why the 'spark' that set the whole incident off was not shown on television news reports and/or in the pictures and reports that were published in the newspapers : on Monday , 27 February last , in 'The Evening Herald' newspaper , the following was published (on page 5) , by that organs 'Crime Editor' -
" A number of photographers , and myself , were taking pictures of the confrontation and we were surrounded by gardai who demanded that we stop and forcibly stood in front of us to prevent snaps . "
It appears that State agents were , even then , preparing an alibi for themselves and their paymasters . (Thanks , again , to the 'IRBB' for the 'heads-up' on that newspaper article).


THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......
This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !

" And pledge we the stout sons of France , boys ,
bold Humbert and all his brave men ,
whose tramp , like the trumpet of battle ,
brought hope to the drooping again . "

It was of course in France's interest to assist us Irish in 1798 when she was at war with England ; but it was in our interest also . The Rising failed , but the experience in Wexford , in Antrim and in County Down in the month of June 1798 showed that brave Irishmen and women , on their own , could take on the enemy and put up a formidable resistance . The campaign in the West of Ireland in August 1798 demonstrated that we had friends in the world outside who understood our predicament and were willing to help .

As Irish Republicans we are all in the tradition of Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen ; that tradition was born of an Irish separatism which was given a new direction and a new lease of life by the inspiration of the events of 1798 in France . The generous ideals of the First French Republic , born in blood 200 years ago , are part of an inheritance which has inspired every generation of Irish people since then and inspires us today . We are children of Ireland , but we are also , as Irish Republicans , ' enfants de la patrie' , because the school of Irish Republicanism is a Franco-Irish school and we have all been there .......
(MORE LATER).



THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN .......
ByMartin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)

I got a couple of kicks and I then had to travel nearly 2 miles , naked and barefooted , until I came to Mick Huxley's house , where I got clothes and shoes . I arrived home at five in the morning .

When the Military Court was set-up in 1931 I was in the first batch taken before it : in all , I was to appear five times before the Military Tribunal . I spent 11 years as a 'Guest of the State' - spent in all their 'guesthouses' including the Curragh Internment Camp . Immediately after the war was declared in 1939 I was interred without trial . Seamus Burke succeeded in proving we were illegally interred , and we had to be released .

However , De Valera had the Military Court Act amended immediately to cover the loophole , and then I had to 'Go on the run' in the traditional manner of the Irish Rebels throughout the centuries . While on the run , a government agent who infiltrated the IRA sent an order that I go to Clonmel , County Tipperary ; I tossed a coin with Joe O' Connor , Kerry , over which of us should obey this order and I won - this meant that I would stay in my present posting . Unknowingly , I had avoided a trap .......
(MORE LATER).



BUTCHERS DOZEN .......
A poem by Thomas Kinsella , written after Bloody Sunday .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

Friend and stranger , bride and brother ,
son and sister , father , mother ,
all not blinded by your smoke ,
photographers who caught your stroke .

The priests that blessed our bodies , spoke ,
and wagged our blood in the world's face -
the truth will out , to your disgrace .

He flushed and faded . Pale and grim ,
a joking spectre followed him :
take a bunch of stunted shoots ,
a tangle of transplanted roots ,
ropes and rifles , feathered nests ,
some dried colonial interests ,
a hard unnatural union grown , in a bed of blood and bone .
(MORE LATER).







Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Dublin Riots , Saturday , February 25 , 2006 .
RIOT SQUAD RESPONSIBLE FOR STARTING THE TROUBLE-
I was there from 11 AM untill 2.15 PM : this is what actually happened , as witnessed by myself and that other writer , amongst others , who was obviously in the same vicinity of O' Connell Street/Parnell Street as myself . Sharon.
NOTE - readers may be asking why the 'spark' that set the whole incident off was not shown on television news reports and/or in the pictures and reports that were published in the newspapers : yesterday (Monday 27 February) , in 'The Evening Herald' newspaper , the following was published (on page 5) , by that organs 'Crime Editor' -
" A number of photographers , and myself , were taking pictures of the confrontation and we were surrounded by gardai who demanded that we stop and forcibly stood in front of us to prevent snaps . "
It appears that State agents were , even then , preparing an alibi for themselves and their paymasters . (Thanks , again , to the 'IRBB' for the 'heads-up' on that newspaper article).


THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......
This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !

On the night of Sunday , March 7 , 1802 , James Napper Tandy was quietly released from prison and put on board a ship for France ; on March 14 , 1802 , he landed in Bordeaux to military and civic receptions : the Treaty under which Napper Tandy was released , the Peace Treaty of Amiens , was signed on March 25 , 1802 .

Irishmen have served with distinction in the Irish Brigades of both the French Monarchy and the French Republic and Irish names are among those of the great Army Generals engraved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris . There has long been an antipathy on the part of French people towards the English ; this antipathy dates back to the '100 Years War' , 1337 to 1453 , and England is still regarded by many as "...la perfide Albion.. " .

The Young Irelanders and the Fenians had many supporters in France and , now , in our time , there have been numerous Irish Solidarity Committees throughout the length and breadth of France : in 1981 , several French towns named streets after Bobby Sands and the other patriots who died on hunger strike - 'Rue Bobby Sands' ; 'Rue des Martyrs Irlandais' : French people today take a sympathetic interest in the Irish cause - despite all the misleading publicity , they feel instinctively that the English , somehow or other , must be at the root of the problem.......
(MORE LATER).



THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN .......
ByMartin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)

The law was not very oppressive until W.T. Cosgrave passed the 'Coercion Act' in 1931 : De Valera later amended this and made it one of the most oppressive Acts in the world - calling it the 'Offences Against the State Act' . .

T.J. Ryan got three months in jail for membership of the IRA : today , one could get up to ten years for the same reason . I was offered a free passage to America if I could supply any information - my refusal to do so did not endear me to the C.I.D. - in August 1929 I was taken from my home at 2.30 A.M. , stripped naked , put in the back of a C.I.D. man's car and held down on the floor of the car . The only words spoken were " Drive to the Strand ... "

After about five miles the car stopped and I was told to get down on my knees and say an Act of Contrition : one of my captors put a gun to my head and said - " Let's kill the bastard..." Another of them said - " No , we would be traced...." : so they started beating me .......
(MORE LATER).



BUTCHERS DOZEN .......
A poem by Thomas Kinsella , written after Bloody Sunday .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

The law that lets them , caught red-handed ,
halt the game and leave it stranded ,
summon up a sworn inquiry
and dump their conscience in the diary .

During which hiatus , should
their legal basis vanish , good ,
the thing is rapidly arranged :
where's the law that can't be changed ?

The news is out . The troops were kind .
Impartial justice has to find
we'd be alive and well today
if we had let them have their way .

Yet England , even as you lie ,
you give the facts that you deny .
Spread the lie with all your power -
all thats left ; it's turning sour .
(MORE LATER).







Monday, February 27, 2006

Dublin Riots , Saturday , February 25 , 2006 .
RIOT SQUAD RESPONSIBLE FOR STARTING THE TROUBLE-
I was there from 11 AM untill 2.15 PM : this is what actually happened , as witnessed by myself and that other writer , amongst others , who was obviously in the same vicinity of O' Connell Street/Parnell Street as myself . Sharon.


THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......
This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !

A letter from the Senate of Hamburg to the French , which set out their (Germany) reasons for extraditing James Napper Tandy (which they did on October 1 , 1799) was returned unopened . The German administration then communicated personally with Napoleon Bonaparte , whose reply was devastating , and which he published for the edification of the public - " You have violated hospitality , a thing that would not happen among the barbarous hordes of the desert ... "

Bonaparte promptly ordered trade sanctions which were not lifted until April 1801 , on payment of a fine of 4,500,000 francs . Napper Tandy was sentenced to death at Lifford Court in Donegal , and May 4 , 1801 , was fixed as the day of execution . A reprieve was granted until May 28 , 1801 and , on May 12 that year , his execution was postponed indefinitely . By 1802 the long war between France and England was coming to an end , and negotiations for peace were under way : Lord Cornwallis , the 'Lord Lieutenant' who had taken personal command against General Humbert's army in 1798 was the Chief British negotiator and Joseph Bonaparte , brother of Napoleon , was the Chief French negotiator .

The Peace Treaty of Amiens , 1802 , is another significant date in European history ; its signing was delayed when the First Consul instructed his brother to demand that the British comply with one further condition - " General James Napper Tandy must be released from prison and restored 'au sein de la France' - to the bosom of France . "
(MORE LATER).



THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN .......
By Martin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)

Joseph Mary Plunkett left his sick bed to sign the Proclamation ; he married Grace Clifford hours before his execution - ' ...with all my love I place this wedding ring upon your finger , there won't be time to share our love - for we must say goodbye .. '

James Connolly said - " We want to break the connection with England . She has no right in Ireland , never can have any right in Ireland . The presence in any one generation of Irish men ready to fight and die to assert that truth makes the British Government usurpation a crime against human progress . "

Help to bring back the spirit of 1916 ; help to expose the vile politicians who give you scandal after scandal . These men died behind lonely prison walls and their mortal remains are still behind lonely walls - we have to demand that their resting place be made a public place that we who are interested in Justice can visit .

When T.J. Ryan from Cranny , County Tyrone , was released from the internment camp in 1924 he set about re-organising the West Clare Battalion of the IRA : I happened to be one of his recruits .......
(MORE LATER).


BUTCHERS DOZEN .......
A poem by Thomas Kinsella , written after Bloody Sunday .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .

He faded , and another said : " We three met close when we were dead -
into an armoured car they piled us
where our mingled blood defiled us ,
Certain , if not dead before , to suffocate upon the floor .

Careful bullets in the back , stopped our 'terrorist' attack ,
and so three dangerous lives are done - judged , condemned and shamed in one " .
That spectre faded in his turn : a harsher stirred , and spoke in scorn -
" The shame is theirs , in word and deed ,
who prate of Justice , practice greed ,
and act in ignorant fury - then ,
Officers and Gentlemen ,
send to their Courts for the 'Most High' to tell us did we really die !

Does it need recourse to law to tell ten thousand what they saw ? "
(MORE LATER).