Saturday, August 18, 2007

Eamonn Ceannt:1881-1916.

"I shall die, like a man, for Ireland's sake."
-note written by Éamonn Ceannt to his wife, May 7th, 1916 , the day before he was executed by the British .

Éamonn Ceannt was an uileann piper, a member of the IRB Military Council and a signatory of the 1916 Proclamation. He was stationed in the South Dublin Union during the Rising of 1916. As a member of the Provisional Government he was executed by the British Army in Kilmainham Gaol on May 8th 1916.
A Republican Commemoration to honour Éamonn Ceannt will be held in the Crumlin area of Dublin , near to a 42-acre park named after the man, on Sunday August 19th 2007. Those attending are asked to assemble at 'Superquinn' on the Sundrive Road at One PM.

All Welcome!






Friday, August 17, 2007

STREET TALK .......
The name Tony Gregory was virtually unheard of outside Dublin before 1982 when he was elected to Leinster House as an independent in Dublin Central , a post he still holds . He made the headlines with the famous 'Gregory Deal' in the same year when , in return for his support , the Fianna Fail government pumped £76 million into the redevelopment of inner city housing .
By Sean Ó Donáile .
From 'USI NEWS' , February 1989.

Tony Gregory talking about drug abuse :
" You only have to examine the recommendations of the 'Task Force' that they set up several years ago . Most of the recommendations have still not been implemented . Even by their own criteria , they are not doing enough . They never do. On the other hand , in cooperation with communities , the Garda Drug Units have been extremely successful in dealing with a lot of the heroin suppliers . Without the 'Concerned Parents Against Drugs' (CPAD), however , there would be a far more serious heroin problem today . As regards cannabis , though not a scientist , I can say that the vast majority of heroin users in my area have never been on cannabis before that ."

On 'AIDS' :
He reckons that for obvious reasons the AIDS problem will escalate - " ...but unfortunately we will all keep our heads in the sand until it becomes very serious ."

On education for all :
Reliable surveys have shown that one per-cent of all inner city youths enter third level colleges , compared with 45 per-cent in the Dublin 4 (ie 'upper-class') area . He was surprised that the figure was so 'high' for his area - " One could name the people from the inner city who have gone on to third level education . This is simply one aspect of an unjust society where the privileged get all the opportunities and the people in the centre of Dublin , or Cork or any other city get nothing . The government attempts to whitewash over these inequalities with pious statements such as 'Education For All' .

If you're a child growing up in Sheriff Street in Dublin, I don't think you're going to look to the government to help you get an equal footing in life......."

(MORE LATER).



A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.


The 'Socialist Women's Group' was however itself critical of the failure of the Republican Movement , and of the women involved in it , to raise the question of women's rights either internally or as part of the liberation struggle . But it was another organisation formed by women in 1976 that was to prove the cause of the final split between the NIWRM and the Socialist Women's Group : the emergence of the 'Peace Women' and the totally opposed reaction to them by the two groups , highlighted their different political thinking . The NIWRM supported the new group , and a statement issued at the time voiced its "...general support for the peace movement.." and called on feminists in England to reject the 'Troops Out!' movement and to reject any women who supported the anti-imperialist war .

Its failure to see that the Peace Women were controlled and supported by the British , the media and the Church for cynical political reasons permanently isolated them from the politically active socialist women .

In 1977 , the 'Belfast Women's Collective' was formed to organise working-class women and to agitate for proper child care and more employment opportunities for women . But a more important development was the establishment of 'Women Against Imperialism' by women activists in the nationalist ghettos , mainly in West Belfast , many of whom had been working in the Relatives Action Committees campaigning for political status for republican prisoners in the H-Blocks and Armagh.......
(MORE LATER).




KERRY DEATH MYSTERY.......

From 'The Phoenix' magazine , January 2003.
(Note: as a result of our recent posts on this subject , a reader asked us to locate and publish this 'Phoenix' article . We are pleased to be able to do so.)


Asked by Garda Superintendent Pat O' Sullivan if John O' Shea had made a complaint to the Gardai or to a relative about his treatment at Tralee Garda Station , a family member said that he had not . Garda O' Sullivan rose to his feet at the end of the inquest and reminded the jury that 18 gardai had given evidence at the inquest , and stated that the Garda Síochána had nothing to hide and that all members involved acted in the proper way at all times .

However , the O' Shea family is now considering its options and may seek a judicial inquiry into the open verdict returned by the jury .

[END of 'KERRY DEATH MYSTERY']
(NEXT : 'REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS' - from 1998)






Thursday, August 16, 2007

Eamonn Ceannt:1881-1916.

"I shall die, like a man, for Ireland's sake."
-note written by Éamonn Ceannt to his wife, May 7th, 1916 , the day before he was executed by the British .

Éamonn Ceannt was an uileann piper, a member of the IRB Military Council and a signatory of the 1916 Proclamation. He was stationed in the South Dublin Union during the Rising of 1916. As a member of the Provisional Government he was executed by the British Army in Kilmainham Gaol on May 8th 1916.
A Republican Commemoration to honour Éamonn Ceannt will be held in the Crumlin area of Dublin , near to a 42-acre park named after the man, on Sunday August 19th 2007. Those attending are asked to assemble at 'Superquinn' on the Sundrive Road at One PM.

All Welcome!






Wednesday, August 15, 2007

STREET TALK .......
The name Tony Gregory was virtually unheard of outside Dublin before 1982 when he was elected to Leinster House as an independent in Dublin Central , a post he still holds . He made the headlines with the famous 'Gregory Deal' in the same year when , in return for his support , the Fianna Fail government pumped £76 million into the redevelopment of inner city housing .
By Sean Ó Donáile .
From 'USI NEWS' , February 1989.

Seamus Costello, founder of the INLA, was a major influence on Tony Gregory - " His whole involvement in the South was based on community and trade union organisations , tenant groups , social agitation etc , and a view that a military struggle against military targets was necessary in the North . "

Seamus Costello was assassinated in 1975 (by the organisation now called 'The Workers Party') and his portrait occupies pride of place in Tony Gregory's office .

Tony Gregory on drugs :
Even the most conservative estimates put the number of drug addicts in this country at 4,000 . Between Jervis Street Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, the Rutland Centre and Coolmine, there are a total of 87 beds available for the treatment of addicts here . Heroin abuse is a major problem in his constituency : " The problem with heroin is that it affects the poorest areas of inner city flats and places like Tallaght and Ballymun. The government never responds to problems that affect areas like that , in any major way......."
(MORE LATER).



A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

In 1975 , out of the women's group in Queen's University in Belfast and another group based in the Ormeau Road area of South Belfast , came the formation of the ' Northern Ireland Women's Rights Movement'(NIWRM), whose main platform called for the extension of the 'Sex Discrimination Act' (already law in Britain) to the North , a move which would mean , as the 'NIWRM' expressed it - "...parity of rights for women in Northern Ireland with women in England."

Sentiments such as this not surprisingly had the effect of widening the gulf between the NIWRM and women politically active in the Northern resistance struggle . Also in 1975 , the 'Belfast Socialist Women's Group' was formed , but relations between this and the NIWRM became increasingly difficult , with the Belfast Socialist Women's Group later saying of the NIWRM -

" What women were offered was a reformist and objectively pro-imperialist women's movement in the guise of 'non-sectarianism' . Its demands were for parity with Britain and attempts to suggest co-operation with women's movements in the South were rejected . Its failure to state a position on British imperialism quite evidently meant that it would never attempt to involve women in anti-imperialist areas in the women's movement , since to do so would have compromised its real political position ..."
(MORE LATER).



KERRY DEATH MYSTERY.......

From 'The Phoenix' magazine , January 2003.
(Note: as a result of our recent posts on this subject , a reader asked us to locate and publish this 'Phoenix' article . We are pleased to be able to do so.)

When solicitor Michael Finucane put it to State Pathologist , Professor John Harbison that John O' Shea was outside the house for only a short period and that he was fully dressed , Mr Harbison accepted that this was so . He then changed his verdict to one of possible cardio myopathy , coupled with alcoholic intoxication , although he stated that this was not a heart attack , merely heart failure .

Professor Harbison could not explain how or where John O' Shea sustained his facial injuries or pressure marks on his body . He said the injuries could not have been caused by a fall outside the house or by being dragged on the ground . Nobody had noticed any injuries on John O' Shea at any time on the evening of his death.......
(MORE LATER).







Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Eamonn Ceannt:1881-1916.

"I shall die, like a man, for Ireland's sake."
-note written by Éamonn Ceannt to his wife, May 7th, 1916 , the day before he was executed by the British .

Éamonn Ceannt was an uileann piper, a member of the IRB Military Council and a signatory of the 1916 Proclamation. He was stationed in the South Dublin Union during the Rising of 1916. As a member of the Provisional Government he was executed by the British Army in Kilmainham Gaol on May 8th 1916.
A Republican Commemoration to honour Éamonn Ceannt will be held in the Crumlin area of Dublin , near to a 42-acre park named after the man, on Sunday August 19th 2007. Those attending are asked to assemble at 'Superquinn' on the Sundrive Road at One PM.

All Welcome!






Monday, August 13, 2007

STREET TALK .
The name Tony Gregory was virtually unheard of outside Dublin before 1982 when he was elected to Leinster House as an independent in Dublin Central , a post he still holds . He made the headlines with the famous 'Gregory Deal' in the same year when , in return for his support , the Fianna Fail government pumped £76 million into the redevelopment of inner city housing .
By Sean Ó Donáile .
From 'USI NEWS' , February 1989.

In the parochial world of politics , Tony Gregory soon became synonymous with tweed jacket and open neck dress and still doesn't don the customary suit and tie - " People can wear whatever they like . I think those who are offput by dress have very little on their minds and should look at more serious topics rather than wasting time on irrelevant issues ."

On a more serious vein , however , I queried him on his background and how he managed to establish himself as a Leinster House 'regular' without the backing of a party machine : " I was brought up in a working class background and I didn't like the society I was growing up in . I wanted to play a part in changing it , so I joined an organisation (Official Sinn Fein - now renamed 'The Workers' Party') which I thought was a very radical party at that time . I had the experience of spending a number of years in the 'Officials' and the IRSP after that , so I was familiar with the mechanisms for contesting elections .

However , I found out that this party was radical in some ways but very reactionary in other ways , so I left and became involved in community organisations and through that to electoral politics and I was elected to Dublin City Council and subsequently to Leinster House. My reason for going forward was not just to contest and expound theories , but to win....... "

(MORE LATER).



A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

Greater social conservatism generally , and in the six counties the re-emergent questions of civil rights and partition ('1169...' Comment - the issue of partition cannot be solved by increased 'civil rights' , regardless of who obtains same from Westminster) made it far harder for Irish women to organise themselves in any corresponding movement around the same period .

Although it was often women in the north of Ireland who were dominant in the marches and protests for civil rights ('1169...' Comment - ...as opposed to Republican women who 'march and protest' for a British political and military withdrawal) the most politicised among them found - like their American sisters - that this involvement in mass movements against the Orange State was not raising any questions about the oppression of women within that State .

So that despite the massive upsurge of militancy among working-class nationalist women in the Northern ghettos it was to be left to radical middle-class women , with their traditional hostility to nationalism , to do so . In the South , too , without the politicisation of events on the scale seen in the six counties , it was middle-class women and students who took the initiative : by 1974 , there were women's groups in the two Northern universities and in Dublin and Cork universities . These groups were in contact with one another but their mutual refusal to take any stand on the national struggle , which so many women were involved in or were affected by , effectively limited both their growth and impact.......
(MORE LATER).




KERRY DEATH MYSTERY.......

From 'The Phoenix' magazine , January 2003.
(Note: as a result of our recent posts on this subject , a reader asked us to locate and publish this 'Phoenix' article . We are pleased to be able to do so.)

When the Gardai were called , the scene was preserved and John O' Shea's death was treated initially as suspicious . The inquest heard that this was because the dead man had sustained a number of visible injuries to his face and neck . Following the post mortem , the State Pathologist, John Harbison, stated that the cause of death was hypothermia . He told the first day of the inquest in Kerry that his decision was heavily influenced by Garda information given to him , namely , that John O' Shea had been outside the house for several hours , half undressed . Subsequently , however , no garda at the inquest - eighteen in all gave evidence - could say who told Professor Harbison this .

In a dramatic development in the Listowel courtroom last month , the O' Shea family solicitor , Michael Finucane, requested the recall of John Harbison to clarify evidence surrounding his verdict of death due to hypothermia . Coroner Helen Lucey rang John Harbison by mobile phone in open court and four hours later he arrived after a flight from Dublin.......
(MORE LATER).