One of the placards to be carried by Republicans on the up-coming Saturday 11th Oct ‘08 Health March in Dublin.

“What we are looking for is a revolution, that the people of Ireland take ownership of their own health service. Our incidence of hospital-acquired infections is one of the worst in Europe. There is no point, as the HSE does, comparing us with Britain. They are alongside us….”
(From here.)

‘Forty-eight per cent of our viewers felt she had made a difference, but for the wrong reasons, with this proportion of those polled feeling services have declined since the current Minister assumed office.
A further 33% felt Mary Harney had made no difference, good or bad, to the service, while only 14% felt that services had actually improved under her tenure….’
(From here.)

” Every year in Ireland, around 10,000 people suffer a stroke and 2,500 die as a result, yet just one Irish hospital out of 37 has a fully resourced stroke unit, the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has said…… vital services are either ad hoc or non-existent……if a person has a stroke tomorrow, the quality of care that they can expect to receive will be determined by ‘chance, location and a haphazard combination of circumstances’…….at least 500 lives could be saved each year if stroke unit care was introduced……”
(From here.)

Register your objection in Dublin on Saturday October 11th next - don’t leave it to someone else to voice your opposition to the millionaire politicians who use your tax payments to obtain private health care for themselves and their families while you and yours die in hospital waiting rooms or , if you’re ‘lucky’ , on a hospital trolley . Join the protest!
Sharon.

“Health cuts hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped…”

Over 20 years ago , the now main party in the State Administration, Fianna Fail, entered into a General Election campaign using the slogan ‘Health Cuts Hurt The Old, The Sick And The Handicapped’ . The majority of the voters didn’t know it then , but that was more than a mere slogan - it was an (unstated) intention that Fianna Fail intended to prove. And, unfortunately, they’re still chipping away at what remains of the so-called ‘Health Service’ in this State :
“It was reported earlier this year that there are at least 139,000 on outpatient lists at present, with some patients waiting up to eight years for an appointment…”
(From here, more here.)

Mary Harney , Millionaire State Minister for Health in the current Leinster House administration.

STATE PRIORITIES:
Recently a new facility was built inside Leinster House - a sweet shop. At a cost of €1.3 million it is said to have cost more per square metre than a fully equipped operating theatre for a hospital. One set of curtains purchased by taxpayers money to be used in the refurbished office of the Leinster House Chairperson cost €11,000 ; the curtains were supplied by the same firm that decorates the Palace of Versailles!

YOUR PRIORITIES:
Protest! Object! Complain!
A trade union-organised protest march over the useless health service will be held in Dublin on Saturday 11th October next : those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 2pm. ‘Health Cuts Hurt The Old, The Sick And The Handicapped’ - don’t wait until those health cuts have the potential to hurt you : take to the streets with us on October 11th next - it may well only be a small step , but even that can be enough to crush the political maggots with sticky hands which they clean on curtains bought by the taxpayer…
Sharon.

THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence…….
By Ed Moloney.
From ‘Magill’ magazine, September 1980.

Other items in the ‘PIRA financial account’ which British General Jim Glover put together , like money spent on pay , are confirmed by IRA sources but yet other such ‘guesstimates’ are impossible to check . The amount of money gained from so-called ‘racketeering’ for instance is an example : there’s no doubt that numerous businesses such as pubs , clubs , taxis etc in republican districts do pay money to the PIRA , which is collected by the (Republican) Civil and Military Administration Department and can vary from £15,000 to £20,000 per annum from a large club to £2 per week from a corner shop . No one will say whether it’s ‘protection money’ or ‘voluntary donations’ .

An incidental factor resulting from the re-organisation of the PIRA is that now less money ’strays’ into private pockets , or so it is claimed : in the past it was not unknown , and there are PIRA men in jail to prove it , for PIRA Commanding Officers and Adjutants in some areas of Belfast to send their men out , unknowing , on unauthorised robberies for their own enrichment and , equally , it was not unknown for those volunteers themselves to take a cut . (’1169..’ Comment : as stated before in relation to the author [Ed Moloney] , he may have had his connections within the Movement but he himself was not a known or active republican.)

Up until 1978 the Provisional IRA had operated exclusively in Ireland and in Britain , but in that year there were bomb attacks at BAOR bases in Germany followed by more bombs the next year . In early 1979 the British ambassador to the Hague , ‘Sir’ Richard Sykes , was shot dead and a Belgian bank official also killed in mistake for the British ambassador to NATO . This year (1980) three British soldiers in Germany have been shot , one, a Colonel , was killed by the same 9mm pistol used to kill ‘Sir’ Richard Sykes . The bombings and shootings were the work of two separate PIRA Cells who had travelled to the Continent in the guise of Irish building workers . Both have since returned to Ireland…….
(MORE LATER).

RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS…….
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From ‘IRIS’ magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS : ” The activities of petty criminals and organised gangsters pose a substantial problem within the nationalist community , particularly within Belfast . In recent months the IRA seems to have taken a strong line , through punishment shootings , the attempted execution of Danny ‘Boy’ Valliday and the execution of ‘Gangster’ Devlin . Do you intend to take a similar line in future , and does the IRA regard these activities as an irritating but largely insoluble problem ? ”

IRA : ” The type of criminal you refer to is one who organises crime , who is terrorising the local nationalist population who already have far too much to put up with for us to allow this to continue . Where we find that sort of organised criminal we will execute them .

Our efforts to find other means of dealing with this problem , and our pursuance of these efforts , are well documented over the past twelve years . We believe that the solution to the petty criminal problem lies with involvement by the community as a whole . ”

(MORE LATER).

THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH…….
The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - “…and of course the women in Armagh..” Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called “riotous behaviour” to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland’s future peace is not worth mentioning.
From ‘IRIS’ magazine , August 1984.

A few months after the March 4th 1973 attempted prison break from Armagh Jail the four women internees - Liz McKee , Cathy Robinson , Marie Maguire and Evelyn Brady - secured from the then Prison Governor , Hugh Cunningham a transfer upstairs to ‘A2′ Landing with the sentenced POW’s . This Prison Wing was at the time totally isolated from the rest and , whilst sentenced prisoners only got one visit a week , internees got three , and the women felt they could help their sentenced comrades to communicate with the outside world .

The women knew , too, that if they stayed downstairs the remand prisoners there would soon get sentenced and moved to ‘A2′ , leaving them isolated : from early on , the women POW’s were aware of the need to build a strong position by keeping the maximum number of women together .

With British military swoops all over the North , numbers in the prison grew quickly and , in March 1974 , ‘B’ Wing was cleared for the POW’s , who soon occupied ‘A2′ , ‘B1′ and ‘B2′ - most of the women internees came in from March 1974 onwards . One of the women stated - ” It seemed that the Brits had suddenly realised that the women were active .” Inside Armagh Jail , republican POW’s had worked to establish a military structure since the beginning of 1973 . After selecting an Officer Commanding and a full Staff , including an adjutant , PRO , and Wing O/C’s , the women worked out their own routine , avoiding all contact with the prison staff . The O/C had a meeting with the prison governor every morning and would pass on her comrades’ requests and , in time , the prison system was effectively ‘railroaded’ into working along with the structure set-up by the women prisoners…….

(MORE LATER).

Three pics posted here re the RSF Annual Eve of All-Ireland Rally which was held today in Dublin : three more pics can be seen here and a brief report and eight pics can be seen here (in the post dated Saturday 20 September 2008) .

Des Dalton , Kildare, at the RSF Eve Rally in Dublin today .

Pat Garvey , Kerry , one of the RSF speakers at the Eve Rally in Dublin today.

Richard Walsh , Derry, one of the speakers at the RSF Eve Rally in Dublin today.

Thanks!
Sharon.

“One of the largest public rallies seen in Dublin for years was held by Sinn Féin at the GPO on the eve of the All-Ireland Football Final . Headed by a Colour Party and a pipe band , a parade of more than 2,000 people marched from Parnell Square through the main city thoroughfare as a protest against the continued unjust imprisonment of Irishmen without charge or trial .
Contingents from all over the country took part and many carried banners and placards including groups from England and Scotland . In the Ulster section was a strong representation of the Derry supporters who thronged the capital city for the Final . One placard they carried asked - ‘ Why are Six-County Nationalists interned in the Curragh?’ …..”
(From ‘An tÉireannach Aontaithe/The United Irishman newspaper , November 1958)

This Annual Republican Rally will be held in Dublin on Saturday September 20th 2008 ; those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 1.45pm from where the parade will march to the GPO in O’Connell Street. The main speakers are Pat Garvey (Kerry) and Richard Walsh (Derry).
All Welcome!
Sharon.

THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence…….
By Ed Moloney.
From ‘Magill’ magazine, September 1980.

The first of the mistakes made in the ‘PIRA financial estimates’ as put forward by British Army General James Glover relates to ‘income from theft’ : since 1977 nearly £5 millions have been stolen in the 26-County State and nearly £1.5 million in the North of Ireland . According to reliable sources at least a third of the money goes in to PIRA coffers , with the rest going to the INLA , ‘freelance’ Provos , and ‘odc’s’ - ‘ordinary decent criminals’ . That would make the Provos’ income on average during that period over £650,000 per annum .

The second mistake relates to expenditure on newspapers and propaganda - according to a reliable source the Provo’s newspaper , AP/RN, which sells 34,000 copies each week and employs 12 full time staff , actually makes a profit . So the Provo’s surplus for arms purchases could be as much as £300,000 more than Glover estimated .

This would accord with some quantifiable facts about arms shipments . The Towerstream Consignment, by General Glover’s own reckoning , would have cost about £400,000 , notwithstanding the cost of arranging it . The M60’s which were in that consignment along with some 40 military Armalites stolen from the Danvers Armoury in Massachusetts in America in 1976 , would have cost about £50,000 . That’s over £450,000 on arms spending in one year…….
(MORE LATER).

RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS…….
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From ‘IRIS’ magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS : ” Garret Fitzgerald recently talked about the desirability of some form of joint border security force , and generally in recent years there seems to have been an intensification of border collaboration . To what extent is this hampering the IRA ?”

IRA : ” First of all , there is not an upsurge in collaboration , there is total integration of controls between the Free State forces and the Brits/RUC , co-ordinated searches , follow-ups , sealing roads , a direct radio link and a direct computer link-up . But because the operational IRA is self-contained within the six counties , cross-border collaboration doesn’t affect us .

But anyway , any increase in garda/Free State army collaboration has yet to affect an IRA active service unit in Ballymurphy or stop an operation on the Falls Road , or in Derry , Dungannon or anywhere north of the border . The only actual thing that the gardai , with the heavy increase in Task Force numbers , is involved in , is the harassment of republicans throughout the twenty-six counties . We have no doubt in the future that the garda Task Force will be used against militant trade unionists and other political activists as unemployment deepens in the twenty-six counties . ” (’1169…’ Comment : see this article re State forces being used against political activists.)
(MORE LATER).

THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH…….
The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - “…and of course the women in Armagh..” Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called “riotous behaviour” to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland’s future peace is not worth mentioning.
From ‘IRIS’ magazine , August 1984.

Liz McKee, then aged only 19 , was arrested in Andersonstown in West Belfast on December 29th 1972 and transferred to Armagh Jail on New Year’s Day 1973 : she had been served with a 28-day ‘Interim Custody Order’, the new euphemism for detention without trial . Internment and the ‘Special Powers Act’ were , in name at least , no more . Stormont had collapsed in March 1972 and the British direct-rulers had been quick to vote the same repressive laws in under new names .

The ‘Detention of Terrorists Order’ of November 1972 enabled the Brits to intern , and this they did wholesale . About 650 people would be interned between November 1972 and the end of 1973 , over 60 of them women . The news of the detention of Liz McKee was received with emotion : on January 7th 1973 , several hundred women marched in protest through Andersonstown and were addressed by Maire Drumm. A few weeks later Teresa Holland was to join Liz McKee , soon followed by Margaret Shannon and Anne Walsh.

At first they were put in the Remand Wing , then on to ‘A1′ Landing , along with twelve remand POW’s and about eight ‘ODC’ prisoners (’Ordinary Decent Criminals’) . It is from ‘A1′ that , one Sunday night , March 4th 1973 , five republican women attempted to escape over the wall to freedom . As Teresa Holland put it - ” Liz McKee and I were in one cell , three remand POW’s in the next cell - Cathy Robinson , Marie Maguire and Evelyn Brady . We got hacksaws in our parcels and started on the bars . We also made ropes out of brown nylon wool . We had three cell searches that week . On Sunday night , at about midnight , we finished the bars and came out.” Having reached the sentry post the women started to climb , but the alarm was raised by a Screw who had noticed a bar gone in Teresa’s cell window . The escape attempt ended with the women being put ‘on the boards’ and sentenced to nine months . Military Police searched the cells and a fullscale riot developed . The Screws hosed the prisoners down with powerful jets of cold water…….
(MORE LATER).

UPDATE ON RAFFLE , SUNDAY EVENING 14th SEPTEMBER 2008: All went well, as planned! The full compliment of tickets was sold, but we only had one ‘in-house’ winner (congrats Alyce , and Tony B. , for having sold her the ticket!) and , already , all 600 tickets for the October raffle (for CABHAIR) have been distributed. Today’s winning numbers were 482, 242, 109, 626, 269, 97, 136 and 145. The reason why tickets are sometimes numbered over the 600 figure is due to the fact that some ticket sellers have their tickets removed from them by the political police and ‘new/replacement’ tickets,numbered from 601 to 6–, are put in in there place.
The extra prize of the wood-burn Portlaoise plaque could have been sold many times in the pub for at least €50 , but was not: instead , as intended, it was raffled in a separate (free) draw and was won by one of three locals who had just dropped-in to the Club for a game of pool/snooker! The same crew of Republicans that run this monthly raffle for the Movement are now in the process of helping to finalise arrangements for the next event - the Annual Eve Of All-Ireland Rally. Hope to see you there!
Thanks!
Sharon.
—————————————————–

…… GET THE LAST OF THE TICKETS , NOW….! ”

Since the mid-1970’s , a dedicated group of Irish Republicans in the Dublin South-West/Mid-West area of Dublin have held a monthly raffle , on the second Sunday of each month : approximately 600 tickets are sold each month by this dedicated team , and the money made from one raffle is given to the Dublin Comhairle (’Executive’) of Republican Sinn Fein whilst the money made from the next such monthly raffle is handed-over to the CABHAIR organisation .

Over €400 is handed-out as prize money in each raffle -

- and , occasionally , extra prizes are included , with no increase in ticket price : the Sunday 14th September 2008 raffle , for instance , will include an extra prize of a wood-burn plywood print , which was made this year in Portlaoise Gaol by Republican prisoners -

- so : this wee blog would like to say a big ‘Go raibh maith agaibh!’ to all concerned in this long-standing fund raiser - between ye all , you have helped pay the bills in Head Office and take some of the pressure off the families of imprisoned Republicans.
Thank you all for that !
Sharon.

….and we’re back..!

We had a wild time over the last few days :
Tipsy Bride!

:from Dublin to Wexford , where the Church ceremony took place , and then down the ‘Copper Coast’ road into Waterford , where the party continued : having abandoned the kids [and all sense of decency !] I did at least keep one of my fingers on the camera button !
We came across this beautiful monument on a wind-swept cliff top , where we stopped to stretch our legs -

-with this inscription plaque at its base :

By now , our thirst was well quenched but the hunger was on us , so we went looking for somewhere to get a wee bit of grub -

-but quickly decided to settle for a few more pints of cider and a bag of Tayto crisps instead !

On a more sombre note , we came across this IRA Memorial Plaque ,on that same Coast Road, dedicated to the memory of IRA Volunteer Jack (John) Cummins -
“Ballyvoile (6th June 1921)On the 6th June 1921, a military cycling column of about 30 men were ambushed at Ballyvoile. Tom Keating of Comeragh, a brother of Pat‘s who was killed at the Burgery was in charge of the ambushing party. It was first decided that the enemy should be attacked at Kilminion, near Stradbally, where the County Council quarry now operates. They lay in waiting for a time, but then received word that the British were returning by the lower Coast Road. The Volunteer party hurriedly made their way across country and had just reached Ballyvoile, when a volley of shots rang out. Evidently the (British) military had seen them moving into position. Two of the soldiers moved into higher ground and opened fire again, and this time, Jack Cummins of Stradbally was shot just as he was getting over a barbed wire fence. The Volunteers returned the fire forcing the (British) military to take cover.The fight lasted about half an hour and then the Volunteers had to withdraw due to lack of ammunition. A plaque to the memory of Jack Cummins can be seen at Ballyvoile…”

-where we said a prayer for the man , and for the many brave Irish men and women that followed in his tracks and that do so today.

Anyway … although we’re back , we haven’t got our usual ‘3-in-1′ post ready just yet , and have instead decided to post it next Wednesday (17th September 2008), as we need the time to concentrate on a major Republican raffle which is taking place this coming Sunday (14th) in a Social Club on the Dublin/Kildare border and also to prepare for the Annual Eve Of All-Ireland Rally in Dublin (Saturday September 20th next- pics and report on last years Rally can be obtained here)-

- so we’ll leave it at that for now , but will soon be back to ‘normal’.
Thanks!
Sharon.

THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence…….
By Ed Moloney.
From ‘Magill’ magazine, September 1980.

Recruits are also given anti-interrogation training on a scientific basis : simulation is never employed but IRA leaders have isolated a dozen interrogation techniques used by the British which the IRA instil into their recruits . Cell members are also encouraged to adopt false identities and discouraged from habituating known Republican haunts .

The British Army reckons that the Provisional IRA campaign and related political activity now costs the organisation some £2 millions a year - in 1978 British General Jim Glover estimated that it cost £780,000 and that income exceeded that amount by £170,000 , which was all spent on arms and explosives . He drew the Provisionals ‘profit and loss account’ as follows - ‘ Income: Theft in Ireland £550,000/ Racketeering £250,000/ Overseas Contributors £120,000/ Green Cross £30,000 = Total £950,000. Expenditure: Pay (@ £7,500 per week) £400,000/ Travel and Transport £50,000/ Newspapers and Propaganda £150,000 / Prisoners’ Welfare £180,000/ Surplus £170,000 = Total £950,000.

It’s impossible to verify the claim by the British that inflation has more than doubled the Provo’s costs since 1978 ; one source says that a spin-off benefit from the slimmed down re-organisation was a saving of money . However, there are one or two errors in Glover’s calculations which as a result seriously understate the amount the IRA has left for arms spending . It could be the case that the Provos have a lot more to spend on weapons than the Brits realise…….
(MORE LATER).

RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS…….
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From ‘IRIS’ magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS : “The general tendency within the Republican Movement , especially over the past year , seems to be towards a massive upsurge in internal and external education . To what degree has this affected the average IRA Volunteer in terms of his or her politicisation and understanding of republican goals ? “

IRA: “If you’re talking about new recruits since the [1981] hunger-strike , I think the honest answer to that is that it’s too early to say how well the education process has been taken in . It will take several more months to assess . As for longer-established Volunteers , their politicisation has been going on for over ten years , inside and outside jail . The current education process will only be formalising it for them . “ (’1169..’ Comment : ….the question has since been asked re the education of Volunteers and Sinn Fein members as to how some of them have confused mere ‘civil rights under the rule of Westminster’ with true Republican objectives as outlined by Irish Republicans ?)
(MORE LATER).

THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH…….
The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - “…and of course the women in Armagh..” Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called “riotous behaviour” to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland’s future peace is not worth mentioning.
From ‘IRIS’ magazine , August 1984.

August 9th 1971 : internment re-introduced in the Occupied Six Counties . Hundreds of men from Nationalist areas were thrown in jail , most of them after severe beatings , some after horrific torture . Some internees were put in Armagh Jail at first but , by mid-1972 , all internees had been transferred to Long Kesh or Magilligan Prison.

On the outside , women began to take a more active and direct part in the armed struggle and in 1971 two republican women received long sentences for taking part in bombings - Margaret O’ Connor (sentenced to 9 years) and Susan Loughran , (12 years) . In May and June 1972 sentenced republican prisoners went on hunger-strike for political status in Crumlin Road and Armagh Jails : their protest was successful and sentenced women POW’s were to insist successfully that those hard-won rights be extended to them .

However their conditions improved more dramatically after the arrival of the first women internees at the beginning of 1973 . This is when the name Liz McKee came to the forefront…….
(MORE LATER).
(PLEASE NOTE : blogging will be ‘light’ over the next week or so and , indeed , we may even be late next Wednesday (10th) in posting our usual ‘3-in-1′ article: we are leaving Dublin this Friday for Wexford to attend a wedding which will be taking place on Monday . However - this being an Irish wedding , celebrations begin on Saturday and will probably only finish the following Thursday . Somewhere in between those two days the happy couple may indeed find time to get married , but the celebrations will definitely be held regardless…!))