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.

In East Tyrone the IRA has had mixed results in its level of attacks : 22 bombing attacks in 1977 and 9 gun attacks , in 1978 there was a rise to 36 bombings and a fall to 7 gun attacks and in 1979 there was a drop to 18 bombings but a rise to 13 shootings aimed at the British ’security forces’ .

South Armagh IRA units on the other hand display all the characteristics of classic guerrilla fighters ; very few incidents occur in South Armagh compared to areas like Belfast but those that are carried out have been devastatingly effective . In 1977 there were only 5 bombings and 7 shootings directed at the Brits , a low level of activity that was caused by increased SAS activity in the area . In 1978 there was a rise to 15 bombings and 5 shootings and again the same the following year . This year so far (1980) is following that pattern with 6 bombings and 3 ambushes to date .

Between 1977 and 1980 so far , the IRA in those three areas killed 173 people of the 230 total killed by the IRA in the North , including businessmen , civilians , British soldiers , RUC men , UDR men , ex-UDR men and prison warders . Belfast IRA cells incidentally were responsible for the highest number of businessmen killed , 6 out of 7 ; the highest number of civilians killed , 30 out of 49 and the most prison warders , 11 out of 15 . South Armagh clearly concentrates on the British Army - its IRA units killed 36 of the 68 British soldiers killed by the IRA during those years . The other five areas of IRA activity are quiescent by comparison . Derry and South Derry are virtually at peace and South Down , Fermanagh and North Armagh very quiet . However , the statistics do not tell the full story…….

(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 H-Block/Armagh campaign marked a departure for republicans from earlier strategies in that a broad front tactic was experimented with . What would be your attitude to future broad fronts ? ”

IRA : ” Obviously the mass mobilisation of a considerable section of nationalists opinion behind the hunger-strikers’ demands was a welcome development . We welcome any involvement of people in opposition to any aspect of British and neo-colonial rule .

It is difficult to say with certainty how such an involvement could be structured and formalised , and whether given the reality of the effects of partition a mass mobilisation would be feasible at this time . However , we view with approval the discussions taking place between Sinn Fein and other anti-imperialist groups . It would be wrong for us to pre-empt any conclusions to these discussions . “

(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.

In March 1973 , seven men and three women , including Marion and Dolours Price, had been charged in London with the Old Bailey and Whitehall bombings . After being sentenced to life imprisonment the Price sisters embarked on a hunger-strike for repatriation . Their hunger-strike was to last 206 days , during which they were force-fed in horrific conditions . In support of the Price sisters the women in Armagh Jail started having a token 24-hour hunger-strike every Friday . Those prisoners on remand would also use the opportunity of court appearances to make speeches from the dock about their comrades on hunger-strike .

The Price sisters were finally transferred to Armagh Jail on March 18th 1975 - their transfer had been announced much sooner and the Armagh women prisoners didn’t expect them on that day . As Teresa Holland put it - ” We had been practising for weeks , with flags , uniforms , the lot , and they hadn’t come . And then suddenly there they were ! So we got out the flags and the uniforms and had another parade just for them . They were lost , they couldn’t believe their eyes . Everybody felt brilliant and , for a full week , every time they went into someone’s cell , the girl in that cell would make them a big feed . It actually took them a long time to settle in , with all the fuss!”

During those two years , from 1973 to 1975 , the women POW’s had almost full control of the jail : their numbers had risen above the 120 mark and , even though they came from all corners of the Six Counties and from all age groups , some were grandmothers and some were teenagers - indeed , in one instance , mother and daughter were interned together - most of them came from the nationalist ghettoes of Belfast and were aged between 18 and 24 and were single women . Most were inside for the first time…….

(MORE LATER).

Irish Hedge School : ‘Back to the Future’ for our children…?

“…..”The Irish who could afford the Hedgemaster’s fee sent their children to Hedge Schools where Gaelic brehons, storytellers and musicians secretly taught Irish history, tradition, and told tales of the Irish children’s ancestry. Popular history places these schools under ruined walls or in dry ditches by the roadside. Some lessons, no doubt, were taught in the shadow of a hedge while others were taught in barns….”
(From here)

The 14th October 2008 State budget was not only an attempt by millionaire politicians to prematurely end the lives of the elderly people in this State (who fought back and intend to do so again in the coming weeks) but was also used as an opportunity by those moral renegades in Leinster House to ‘have a go’ at what they apparently view as ‘another load of wasters’ : those seeking an education .
Not only did the State increase the costs it charges for ‘State Examinations’ , it stated that there would be no increase in 2009 in Maintenance Grants that are sometimes available for students. The politicians increased registration fees for Colleges from €900 to €1,500 , reduced the already poor school building programme and , beginning in January 2009 , have decreed that the position of ’sub teacher’ will no longer exist . The fund from which resource teachers applied to for money for equipment has been abolished - including the grants for ‘Home Economics’ classes - and funds previously allocated to ‘Early Childcare Centres’ are now not available at all , having been abolished by ‘Government Decree’ .
Altogether at least 30 major cutbacks to the manner in which our children are educated in this State will be enacted in the coming weeks and months ; but none of those cutbacks will be accepted without a fight!
Teachers , their representative organisations , parents and pupils themselves will be taking to the streets in a massive protest - the first of many , if necessary - which will be held on Wednesday 29th October 2008 at 6.30pm outside Leinster House : more details here.
The unproductive political wasters in Leinster House must be stood-up to on this issue : the alternative is to go back to “…the hedge and the barns..” - WEDNESDAY , OCTOBER 29 , 2008 , LEINSTER HOUSE , 6.30PM . For the sake of your children….
Sharon.

“Shame on those in Leinster House…..” : a ‘retain-the-medical-card’ protester outside ‘anti-medical-card’-Leinster House today (Wednesday 22 October 2008) objecting to the attempted political State mugging of old age pensioners by Fianna Fail , the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats .

“It often happens that the real tragedies of life occur in such an inarticulate manner that they hurt us by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd want of meaning, their entire lack of style.”
(Oscar Wilde)
Inarticulate , crude , incoherent , absurd and styleless: all of those words , when combined , describe not only the manner in which the unprincipled Fat Cats in Leinster House attempted to condemn our elderly to an early grave by withdrawing their medical cards but also describe the ‘qualities’ required to ‘progress’ through the corrupt political system in this morally-twisted State . But ,in this instance - thankfully - the actions of those suited and pensioned political wasters was a bridge too far for respectable people to ignore :

: From the entry gates of Leinster House and to the very last few inches of the street facing those gates - Molesworth Street - and from the St Stephen’s Green-top of Kildare Street to the Nassau Street junction at the bottom of Kildare Street stood at least 20,000 medical card holders - most of them between 50 and 70 years young - carrying placards and banners in protest against the on-going attempted removal of their medical cards by the State Administration . Republican Sinn Fein members and supporters arrived outside Leinster House at 11am to add their numbers to those objecting to this act of thievery and were almost immediately approached by uniformed Garda members and told that they would be removed from where they were at about 12 Noon and would be “placed” across the street in Molesworth Street . When this notification was challenged , the RSF people were told that all protesters were going to be moved across to Molesworth Street (a ’side-street’ when compared with Kildare Street) in order that ‘the main thoroughfare be kept open’ . The RSF people replied that they would be staying where they were : in the event the cops backed-down , due no doubt to the fact that , by 12 Noon , there were between at least five and ten thousand protesters blocking the road itself and standing on the footpaths on both sides of the street!
The cops wisely decided to take themselves off-side and dispersed to the far-flung corners of the immediate area to concentrate on traffic management….

Getting ready to make our presence felt…

Medical card protesters blocking the entry/exit gates to Leinster House.

“No votes here for Harney or Lenihan! “

“PD’s , FF and the Greens ? No thanks!”

Two of the RSF pro-medical card protesters in the crowd outside Leinster House.

Three of the armed Special Branch members on the rooftops of surrounding buildings : just making sure that those pesky ‘Dissident Pensioners’ don’t offer too much of a ‘threat’ to the security of the State…

Finally : RSF maintained a presence today outside Leinster House from 11am to 2pm : on our way out of the area we ‘bumped’ into about 20,000 student protesters who were making their way to Leinster House to protest against the proposed manner which those fumbling political mongrels in Leinster House wish to financially and spiritually debase them . The 1169 Team sends its heartiest congratulations and best wishes to those young protesters and to those ‘over 21’s’ who were just breaking-up as the young ‘uns were arriving . We all of us - a combined total of between 30,000 and 40,000 people - can’t be wrong . The millionaire inmates of Leinster House should save us the bother of having to protest against them again and simply abolish themselves . They all have fat pensions they can live quite comfortably on…
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.

In late 1978 however the IRA devised a new method of producing home made explosives : their engineers discovered that if ordinary fertiliser was ‘cooked’ in water , the resulting crystals produced after the ‘dirty’ water had been skimmed off made high quality explosive when mixed with metal fillings , usually aluminium , and diesel or carbon .

The explosive produced is detonated by a pound or two of commercial explosives and can , as the radio bombs have proved , be enormously effective . Its drawback is that it stinks to high heaven and is very unstable and , as a result , it is usually only ‘made to order’ in two stills which the British Army thinks the IRA has stashed in deep woodland across the Border . While the IRA has , thanks to that sort of ingenuity and the re-organisation of its structures , made a considerable comeback since 1977 , the organisation and its campaign of military opposition has at the same time been limited effectively to three of its eight operational areas .

Those three areas are Belfast , South Armagh and East Tyrone . Even so , the level of activity in those areas has declined - in Belfast , for instance , there were 109 bombing attacks and 51 ambushes and gun attacks on the RUC , British Army or other so-called ’security force’ personnel during 1977 , whereas in 1978 that had declined to 101 bombings and 29 shootings and in 1979 to only 39 bombing attacks and 20 gun attacks . This year (1980) seems to be keeping in line with that , at 13 bombings and 11 gun attacks so far . In East Tyrone and South Armagh the IRA has had mixed results in its military campaign against the forces of Westminster…….
(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: “In the wake of the hunger-strike , and faced with the electoral and general political challenge for the Republican Movement , how do you view the future for the SDLP ? ”

IRA: “The SDLP is a middle-class ‘Castle Catholic’ establishment party . In the absence of any electoral involvement by republicans it was able to masquerade as the political voice of the nationalist people , clouding the class divisions which exist within the nationalist camp . Electoral involvement by republicans has shattered that myth and , although the task will be a necessarily hard one , continued involvement in that process by republicans will place the SDLP in their true light , and they will be seen increasingly as being supportive of the British presence in Ireland. ”
(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.

The women POW’s decided to barricade themselves in the ‘B3′ wing of Armagh Prison , using dismantled cell doors . By some fluke , while all this was going on , the Prison Governor , Cunningham , his deputy , Simpson , and two Screws happened to come up to the Wing and the women bundled them up , threw them into an empty cell and locked them in with their own keys . The loyalist prisoners came along , thinking at first that the loyalist compounds had been burnt too . Having later been told otherwise , they nevertheless sat the protest out with the republicans .

The women prisoners had drawn big slogans on bedsheets , reading - ‘The Armagh women support the men in Long Kesh - give them their demands‘ , and hung their ‘banners’ from the cell windows where they could be seen from the surrounding streets . By the evening , the ‘kidnapping’ of the Armagh Prison governor by the women POW’s was big news : journalists congregated outside the jail and shouted questions across to the barricaded women , who replied by shouting back to them . The Screws turned off the water and the electricity , and armed British soldiers in riot gear started to move into position arond the complex .

The stalemate lasted until the early hours of Thursday 17th October 1974 , when the prison chaplain , Fr Raymond Murray, brought the women an assurance from British ‘Direct-Ruler’ Merlyn Rees that the men in Long Kesh were safe and that no action would be taken against the women involved in the protest. The women prisoners had by then achieved their objective which was to highlight the plight of the men . The media presence had ensured huge coverage of the issue and the women ended their protest .
(MORE LATER).

On the right of our pic is the State Minister responsible for the 14th October 2008 Budget , Brian Lenihan . On the left of the pic is a high-ranking cop , helping Brian to use Google to find the meaning of the word ‘Patriotism’…..

So : you want to punish old people for being old ? For being ‘a burden on the State’ ? For no longer earning a wage that you can stop tax on ?
And you think that ordinary taxpayers (and those old people that no longer earn a wage that you can tax) were getting too much of a ‘bargain’ by only paying €66 whenever they had to avail of the ’services’ offered at their local A+E so you increase that amount to €100 a visit? Guess what - you’re a “patriot” !!
Yes , indeed : in the moral vacuum that the likes of Brian Lenihan exists in - at someone else’s expense , naturally - to ‘aspire’ to and actually introduce the above as ‘law’ is answering , in his own words - “…no less than a call to patriotic action.”
Seriously! That is precisely what that piece of pond scum garbage stated in his ‘Budget 2008 Introduction Speech’ in Leinster House on Tuesday 14th October 2008- see here for the actual transcript : his “patriotic” comment is on the second-last line : read it all , if you have a strong stomach , or just skip to the ‘its-your-patriotic-duty-to-kill-the-old’-part of this morons speech down at the end of his comments. And to think that representatives from Fianna Fail , The Greens and the Progressive Democrats gave him a five-minute standing ovation for his Declaration Of War on pensioners . Sick or what ?
Please help us in the fight to retain some dignity for our aged relatives . Take to the streets with us on Wednesday 22nd October 2008.
Sharon.

PROTEST OUTSIDE LEINSTER HOUSE OVER MEDICAL CARD CHANGES….

“The over-70s medical card plays a key role in helping many older people remain living in their own homes. The guaranteed access it provided for holders to a GP meant that their health and well being is monitored and protected at community level, thereby taking pressure off the acute hospitals and nursing homes.To reintroduce the means test flies in the face of the current push towards community care and the drive to keep older people out of hospitals and nursing homes. It will not result in any reduction in illness among older people but ensure that by the time they came to doctors surgeries that their illnesses would be more advanced.
There are currently more than 420,000 people aged 70 or over living in the 26 County State…..”
(From here.)

“In the budget this week the government decided to scrap automatic medical cards for over 70s…some GPs charge €60 a visit never mind prescriptions or other medicines like say the flu vaccine, which cost my girlfriend €35 during a recent visit to her GP. So imagine if you were 70 years old retired, trying to scrape together enough money to buy food, pay the increased ESB and gas bills, then save a little money to buy Christmas presents for the grand kids and not doing anything fancy like foreign holidays. Just gettin by in Ireland today. €95 would be a good chunk out of your weekly income of say €241 which would put you over the limits….”
(From here.)

The ‘Irish Senior Citizens Parliament’ will be holding a one-hour lunch-time protest rally outside Leinster House , Kildare Street , Dublin, on Wednesday 22nd October 2008 beginning at 12.30pm to show their objection at the unjust withdrawal of medical cards for those aged over 70 : the greedy , callous and unproductive bastards that ‘work’ in that institution will not themselves be affected by any of the cut-backs they impose as they are well-insulated , financially , from the effects of their own actions. We hope the sons , daughters and extended families of those elderly people will storm that filthy institution and destroy it from within whilst their aged relatives are protesting as best they can outside - every man and woman inside that premises should be made pay , physically , for attempting to punish old people for the financial and moral blunders that the well-suited leeches themselves are responsible for…
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.

Methods of attack have also varied : blast incendiaries were introduced in 1977 until the holocaust of La Mon when they were temporarily dropped . Car bombs have made a recent comeback but so far only in rural towns . Intruder detonated bombs and long-delay fused bombs were introduced during that period but while these and other more well known devices like culvert bombs and landmines accounted for heavy security forces’ casualties it was the introduction of the radio-detonated bomb in 1978 but especially in 1979 that really re-imposed the IRA’s threat .

In 1978 radio bombs were tried out in various areas of the North of Ireland but only one member of the ’security forces’ was killed by one . In 1979 however radio bombs accounted for no less than 29 of the 86 deaths meted out by the IRA and this year (1980) they have killed 6 out of 30 . The radio bomb was also used in two of the IRA’s most traumatic deeds of the last ten years : the killing of 18 British soldiers at Warrenpoint and the assassination of ‘Lord’ Mountbatten and his boating party in August 1979 .

The development of the radio bomb , like the unsuccessful attempt to mortar Newry RUC station , also demonstrate another worrying factor for the RUC and the British Army - the IRA’s technical ingenuity , which has been amply demonstrated by their use of huge quantities of explosives not only in radio bombs but also in car bombs and landmines since 1978 . Bombs of 1000 or 2000 pounds are now quite common . In 1977 and 1978 the IRA was forced to experiment with new ways of producing explosives : legislation in the South had outlawed the sale of fertiliser containing benzine which together with sugar went to produce the terrifying blockbuster car bombs of the early 1970’s - and they virtually disappeared as a result . But in late 1978 the technical ingenuity of the IRA was called on again to address this problem…….

(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 - ” It seems probable , despite all the delays , that Jim Prior’s assembly elections will take place this autumn . What is your understanding of the assembly’s future ? ”

IRA - ” There’s so much opposition to it that we don’t see it working . We have nevertheless taken a conscious decision to support Sinn Fein’s involvement in the election , which is on an abstentionist basis in that they won’t take seats if elected . Whatever political scenario the British impose , the republican response will remain the same. “

(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.

While the women POW’s had Armagh Jail well in control , their male comrades in Long Kesh were regularly being attacked by the Brits stationed around the camp , constantly subjected to searches , and their privileges gradually eroded .

Tension had been mounting throughout the summer of 1974 in the compounds of Long Kesh : on Tuesday night , 15th October 1974 , republican POW’s burned their huts in protest at the inhuman conditions they were forced to endure and were savagely attacked by Brit soldiers in full riot gear . At dawn on Wednesday 16th a statement was read on the radio by a British official announcing the burning of the camp and stating that all privileges and visits had been suspended .

A lot of women heard that radio broadcast but were not surprised - news like that was expected . Most , if not all , of the women POW’s in Armagh had brothers , fathers or boyfriends in Long Kesh and were frightened with anguish over the events . On that Wednesday morning (16th October 1974) the Armagh prison administration refused the women’s request for a Sinn Fein spokesperson to come in and give them updates regarding their loved ones . One of those women POW’s , Kate McGuinness , said - ” We had a Company meeting and decided that we should organise a riot and cause as much damage as possible to the jail.” That riot was to lead to the forced imprisonment of four prison officials…….

(MORE LATER).

Republican Sinn Féin placard used on the ‘Health Protest’ march in Dublin on Saturday 11th October 2008.

First things first : apologises for the delay in publishing this post - we had one of these to organise on the same weekend as the above-mentioned health march (which , incidentally , we managed to do , very successfully!) and we had technical trouble with our digital collection of photographs from the protest march , resulting in our having only the following two pics available for posting -

Black flag symbolises the ‘death’ of the State ‘Health Service’ .

RSF protestors at the Parnell Monument in Dublin’s O’Connell Street , Saturday 11th October 2008.

This traffic camera photo shows some of the crowd , as does this video .
Between 3,000 and 5,000 people took part in the trade union-organised protest march , at which RSF members were present from 12.30pm onwards , having taken-up position at the Parnell Monument at that time. The protest was deemed to be a success by the organisers and gave ordinary people an opportunity to voice their objection to the manner in which the millionaire politicians in Leinster House are purposely down-grading the health service that we tax-payers pay for in favour of a ‘Private’ system which only they and their type can afford and will , indeed, financially benefit from in the long run , at the expense of those of us lucky enough to have a poorly-paid job in the first place . Republican Sinn Féin will be out on the streets again over this issue whenever and wherever the opportunity arises…
Sharon.

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

“THE FAMILY of a woman who died in the toilet of the AE unit at Dublin’s Mater hospital earlier this year after waiting hours for a bed has urged the public to turn out in large numbers for a protest march against health service cuts on Saturday….”
(From here.)

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.

When the IRA’s Director of Operations , Brian Keenan, was arrested in March 1979 and sent to Britain for trial on offences related to the 1974/1975 bombing campaign there , he had on him a torn half of a Libyan dinar bill ; a recognition signal that was used a lot during the 1972/1975 liaison between Colonel Gaddafi and the IRA .

Another curious piece of the Libyan jigsaw has also recently come to light : in August 1979 a shady arms dealer, called Sadiq Baahri, who operated his arms business from a legitimate export agency in Athens , disappeared while flying in his private jet on a flight from Cairo to Jeddah in Saudia Arabia . Reliable Arab sources in London now say that Baahri had incurred Gaddafi’s displeasure for refusing to arrange an IRA arms shipment . The rumour in Libya , say the sources, is that Libyan jet fighters forced his plane down at Benghazi where he now languishes in jail.

In its campaign between 1977 and 1980 , the Provisional IRA has demonstrated what for the RUC and British Army must be an irritating ability to switch tactics : among the targets chosen for one to nine month campaigns have been businessmen , so-called ‘off duty’ UDR men, a sustained attack on the British Army and prison warders and the killing of prominent people like ‘Lord’ Mountbatten. Bombing targets have switched from co-ordinated , six-county wide attacks and smaller scale attacks on commercial premises , government buildings , hotels , banks and factories to the blasting of town and village centres . The methods involved in using such devices have also varied…….

(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: ” Some supporters still question whether republican involvement in the electoral process will mean a de-escalation of military involvement . There is even perhaps an implication that this electoral strategy may have been forced on the Movement of necessity , because of the IRA’s inability to guarantee a high level of military struggle in the future . Could you comment on this ? “

IRA: ” No , it has nothing to do with the escalation or de-escalation of the armed struggle . The benefits in using it as another arm in the struggle are : A) the Brits don’t want republicans to use electoral involvement , which proves that as a weapon it is very effective (’1169…’ Comment- wrong on both counts; the Brits would much rather deal with political opposition only as that is any occupiers preferred ‘theatre of war’ and , secondly, political involvement can indeed be “very effective” but only when it is not being implemented by those who are prepared to sell short on issues , as the Provisionals have been doing since they left the Movement in 1986. Also - as forecast by Republican Sinn Fein - electoral involvement quickly became [for the Provisionals] the only opposition offered , rather than it being used as “another arm in the struggle” ) and B) it’s a massive embarrassment to the Brits and the collaborationist political parties (’1169…’ Comment - ….of whom the Provisionals can be numbered with) - highlighted by the response of all but a few honorable exceptions in Leinster House and Westminster at the time of the deaths of Kieran Doherty TD and Bobby Sands MP - and the way the British changed the law to prevent other sentenced prisoners being elected - when we involve ourselves in the ‘democratic process’ , because its always shown up to be completely undemocratic and false .

The electoral strategy wasn’t forced on us - it was a conscious decision , and to a large extent the views of people throughout the Movement were canvassed and taken into account . Republicans must never allow themselves to be isolated (’1169…’ Comment - yet , by there very nature , institutions such as Leinster House and Stormont [and Westminster] purposely “isolate” their cosy ‘inmates’ from , not only republicanism , but from normal ‘day-to-day’ issues as well , and those cosy inmates quickly become accustomed to their newfound fat salaries and expenses and quickly become insulated from the concerns and objectives of those they once claimed to represent) , we must never depend on one facet of resistance alone (’1169…’ Comment - too late!) . Our resistance must be military , political , cultural , social and economic , at the same time . In that way we can involve all the people in the war against the British and the collaborationist forces . Within that wide spectrum of resistance there is a place for everybody , and everybody can find his or her place . Everyone is equal in the struggle no matter what job they are doing : selling papers , collecting for the prisoners , picketing , leafletting , carrying out an operation . But , at the same time , armed struggle is the first facet of our resistance and always will be till the British are removed from Ireland .” (’1169…’ Comment - from the Provos support for armed struggle to this today: “I have met senior PSNI officers in my constituency, and my party (PSF) has also met them regarding ongoing activity……the PSNI must be allowed to do its job….” [from here] : the first statement was made in 1982 when the Adams faction was shaping-up to take control of the Movement , the second [linked] statement was made by the Adams faction after they had not only secured control of the Provisional grouping but had actually turned it from a revolutionary organisation into a parliamentary constitutional entity , with all the financial ‘rewards’ that accompany such a transformation.)

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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.

The women political prisoners organised debates on controversial issues - Teresa Holland stated re this issue : “We discussed how we thought the struggle was going , how we saw things developing in the long term . I remember a heated discussion on the 1975 truce and ‘UDI’(Unilateral Declaration of Independence). The women were unanimous on rejecting any idea of an ‘independent’ Six Counties . Another debate was on young people , delinquency , joy-riding.”

While the women were on the whole very politicised , women’s issues however were rarely , if ever, discussed . ” We never saw ourselves as different from the men in Long Kesh ” is a common remark . Around 1973/1974 many men had been arrested and a lot of responsibilities had fallen to the women on the outside . The release of hundreds of male POW’s later in 1975 would reverse the trend somewhat .

Medical care in Armagh Jail was primitive and still is . Doctor Cole - or ‘Doctor Death’ or ‘The Pill Pusher’ as he is referred to by the women - and his aides were quick to dish out pills ; Valium , Panadol and Distalgesics (DG’s) mostly , which are now taken off the market because of their addictive effect . Many women who had dental care while in that prison developed abcesses but luckly three of the POW’s were nurses and were able to advise their comrades on the type of medication they were given . Nonetheless , at least four women prisoners developed Anorexia Nervosa and other women who came in suffering from bad injuries like gunshot wounds or severe burns were not properly looked after by the prison authorities…….
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