Irish Republican Information Service (no. 146)
Irish Republican Information Service (no. 146) Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie Date: 23 Aibreán / April 2008 Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom http://saoirse.info In this issue: 1. Where we are now, Where we want to go and How to get there 2. Paisley not welcome in Cork 3. RSF refused entry to Silverbridge meeting 4. Man convicted of supporting UDA 5. Plaques made for ‘show of strength’ in Belfast bar 6. Nelson murdered at time of political extremism 7. Gardaí deny wrongful arrest and assault 8. Dockers in Cork refuse to unload vessel over crew pay 9. Farmers threat on Lisbon Treaty 1. WHERE WE ARE NOW, WHERE WE WANT TO GO AND HOW TO GET THERE SPEAKING at the Ireland Institute, Pearse Centre, Dublin on April 17, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, President of Republican Sinn Féin, said: “Ian Paisley is retiring with his mission accomplished. He has strengthened British rule in Ireland. “Interviewed on BBC radio One “Andrew Marr Show” on March 9, Mr Paisley said: ‘I did smash them because I took away their main plank. Their main plank was that they would not recognise the British government . “ ‘Now they are in part of the British government. They can’t be true Republicans when they now accept the right of Britain to govern this country and take part in that government.’ “Vincent Browne in his ‘Nightly News’ on TV3 last week put it clearly. He said in effect that the nationalist view had been rejected and the unionist position had been accepted. The nationalist standpoint was that the people of Ireland as a whole should determine the future of Ireland. “He continued: ‘The Unionist position was that the majority in the Six Counties should decide the future. We have all become unionists,’ he added. “Bertie Ahern, for his part, put it quite blatantly on RTÉ Radio One on Sunday, April 6, when he said that Stormont was in position for the foreseeable future; that English rule would remain so long as the unionists desired it. “He said that this would be for a very long time and if in the end it did not change, then we must put up with it. His words were: ‘people will just have to be tolerant of that’. “Meanwhile a tide of Anglicisation was sweeping through the country in support of the new and strengthened institutions of English rule. Our culture and civilisation, to which the Irish language was central, must be accessible to all our people. Yet in Stormont, in spite of the St Andrew’s Agreement, An Ghaeilge is officially derided and condemned. British forces and 26-Country forces were increasingly involved in joint commemorations and celebrations. Croke Park is now the venue for England teams and the English National Anthem is played in an unfree Ireland. “British Royals are made welcome even as they claim the right to rule part of our country. Politicians cannot wait for the Crowned head of England to be officially received in Dublin for the first time in 100 years. Nationally-minded people must protest at such an intrusion if they are to be faithful and true to the spirit of 1916. “In the wider world we must continue opposition to the landing and re-fuelling of American warplanes at Shannon Airport and the use of Irish airspace in furtherance of an Imperialist war in Iraq. “These breaches of Irish neutrality are clearly against the wishes of the Irish people. They are in support of an illegal war undertaken in defiance of the United Nations. “Also we are being asked to accept the Lisbon Treaty which is 95-96% the EU Constitution rejected by the people of France and Holland. This tightening of the EU grip must be opposed as must the EU “battlegroups” which have been described as a “standing army for Europe”. “Robert Fisk in his interview with Vincent Browne on April 8 described the 26 Counties joining the partnership for Peace without a referendum as “slipping into NATO”. This was done by Fianna Fáil in defiance of their own Election Manifesto. So much for triple locks to safeguard neutrality! “In the matter of the referenda in 1998 on the Stormont Agreement and the amendment of Articles 2 and 3, both Mo Mowlam and Patrick Mayhew said that ‘the vote in the Six Counties would be decisive’. “On both sides of the Border the choice put to the people was ‘a vote for war or for peace’. Liam Mellows speaking on the Treaty of Surrender in 1922 put it well: ‘This is not the will of the people. It is the fear of the people.’ “The great unanswered question before history of why did not Paisley on the one hand and the present Provo leadership on the other accept and work the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973 which offered more and for which less was to be paid than the 1998 Belfast Agreement? “Did we, as a people, have to endure 25 years more of sacrifice and suffering until both elements were poised to divide the major share of the spoils of office between them? “How do we move from here to the position of Ireland’s national independence with the essential unity of the country and its people achieved? How do we combat the threat to our separate identity so that we survive as a distinct people to cooperate with the former colonised nations and advance the cause of humankind in general? How do we progress towards building the Democratic Socialist Republic? “First we must admit to ourselves that Paisley and the British have succeeded in the Six Counties and are working at extending their influence in the 26 Counties. “Secondly, we must acknowledge and realise the lesson of history that in spite of the betrayals Irish people will always be found to resist English rule here and inevitably the British government will be compelled to leave Ireland. The spirit of 1916 will finally triumph. “But none of these objectives will be achieved without the support of the people. Therefore we must organise among the people and build a mass movement. Imperialism in all its forms must be recognised and opposed at every turn. “Above all we must educate our people politically. This is a massive task but it must be faced and undertaken. Contrary to what many sincere people would like there is no short cut in this matter. And the power of the mass media in modern times makes it so much more difficult. “The lines must be kept open to the people of unionist orientation. At all times it is necessary to convey to them that it is not proposed or intended that they should be a permanent political minority in an independent Ireland. We cannot allow the notion to prevail that we seek to back them on to a cliff edge politically. If we do they will oppose us all the more vehemently, making our task all the more difficult. “During the 1970s the ÉIRE NUA proposals were put to representatives of all shades of unionism at meetings which were on the basis of confidentiality and discretion. When it was put to them as to what would be their option if the English government decided to leave Ireland in spite of their wishes, they invariably replied that the ‘Ireland of the four provinces’ would be their second choice. “Their first preference would be, of course, an independent Six-County state, but we countered that this would not be viable. It is necessary to make clear that the new four-province federal Ireland proposed would include a nine-County Ulster in which – on present voting patterns – the unionists would have a working majority, but that the nationalists would be right behind them within reach of power. “With optimum devolution of power and decision-making within the provinces, strong regional boards and powerful district councils would be organised according to the principle of subsidiarity of function – that the services would be administered at the lowest level possible consistent with efficiency. In Ulster this would make for a patchwork quilt of control in accordance with local majorities. “Of course, the idea would be to get away eventually from the unionist versus nationalist situation and have a class-based politics where the distribution of wealth in the community would be the priority. “In this connection every effort should be made even now to bridge the gap on the basis of social, economic and local issues, however difficult this may be. Even in the past year some local unionist community leaders have shown an interest in “provincial government” as they termed it as an alternative to the present Stormont set-up. “The way forward is clear as to how ÉIRE NUA could be implemented following a British government Declaration of Intent to quit Ireland: the election of an all-Ireland Constituent Assembly with the sole task of drafting a new constitution; this constitution to be put to the people in a single 32-County referendum; following its adoption new elections to the various levels of power in the New Ireland would take place. “Such steps are just commonsense. The real and enormous task is to campaign, agitate and build support for such a programme based on Republican, socialist and environmental principles. To show the inadequacies and failures of the existing system, to present an alternative and above all to avoid misrepresentation of our position, these are our duties.” 2. PAISLEY NOT WELCOME IN CORK FOLLOWING an invitation to Ian Paisley by the Cobh, Co Cork Chamber of Commerce to speak at the 50th Anniversary Dinner and Civic Reception organised by Cobh UDC, Cumann Mac Curtáin/Mac Suibhne, Sinn Féin Poblachtach, under its Cathaoirleach Donal Varian, distributed 2,000 leaflets door to door in Cobh calling on the public to protest against this invitation, by phone to the Chamber of Commerce and Cobh UDC, and also to join a public protest on the April 18, 2008 at 7pm at the Commodore Hotel, Cobh. Republican Sinn Féin members in Munster were also invited to support this protest. With regard to the leaflets and the proposed protest representation was made by the 26-County Special Branch to Cathaoirleach Donal Varian. On local radio 96FM there was much discussion daily for almost a week, mainly disapproving of this invitation. This led to a debate on air on Thursday morning between Joe McCoitir, Chairman, Chamber of Commerce and Donal Varian, Cathaoirleach, Cumann Mac Curtáin/Mac Suibhne, at the end of which Niall Prendiville, presenter, held a text poll for and against the proposed visit of Ian Paisley. The result of this was a resounding 83% of testers saying NO to Paisley. Only 17% said YES. Niall Prendeville remarked that the station had not previously experienced such a high poll in such a short time. As the protesters arrived at the Commodore Hotel, Cobh, they were greeted by a large force of gardaí and a dog handler. Donal Varian was approached by a group of gardaí, including an Inspector and a Superintendent, seeking assurance of a peaceful protest. Despite the awful cold and rain Cumann Mac Curtáin/Mac Suibhne was supported by RSF members from Clare, Kerry and Limerick and other groups and members of the public. Placards were carried calling for ‘No Collaboration with British Administration in Ireland’ and ‘No Collaboration with British Forces of Occupation’. Numerous Tricolors were carried and displayed. For an hour-and-a-half the protesters marched up and down and chanted slogans and gave a rousing Republican welcome to Ian Paisley, his minders (our local “Lickers Allsorts”) and the paying guests. An Poblacht Abu. 3. RSF REFUSED ENTRY TO SILVERBRIDGE MEETING REPUBLICAN Sinn Féin protesters were refused entry to what was billed as a 'public meeting' at the Silverbridge Resource Centre in County Armagh on the evening of Tuesday, April 22. Whilst the protest continued outside the venue, a member of a well-known South Armagh Provo family photographed those protesting in a blatant attempt at intimidation. Three carloads of RUC personnel also drove by in convoy in order to monitor the protest. The meeting had been arranged in order to bolster support for the Stormont Agreement and the Assembly established by it. Republican Sinn Féin had intended to enter the meeting to voice their opposition to the Stormont Agreement and to calls for the nationalist population to turn informers for the British Crown Forces. They also sought to point out that Republican prisoners were suffering as a result of the criminalisation policy willingly endorsed by the Provisionals. A spokesperson for the organisation added that such tactics would not prevent them from confronting the Provisionals and other agents of English rule in Ireland. 4. MAN CONVICTED OF SUPPORTING UDA A 39-year-old man faces up to 10 years in jail after being convicted of supporting the loyalist Ulster Defence Association. Samuel Robinson, from Arosa Crescent in north Belfast, was one of six people arrested when the RUC/PSNI raided the Alexandra Bar bar two years ago. His five co-accused, including leading loyalist Ihab Shoukri, pleaded guilty to a variety of charges last week. Robinson was cleared of being a UDA member on April 16. However, the charge of which he was convicted carries the same potential maximum penalty. During the course of the week-long trial, Lord Justice Girvan heard that Robinson and the others were attending a dress rehearsal for a UDA show of strength at which UDA leaders were expected to announce they would never disband. The judge was told that following the raid by the RUC/PSNI a three-page speech in praise of the UDA was taken from one of the men arrested and in a follow-up search of his home police also uncovered “preparity notes” for the planned meeting. Robinson's fingerprints were found on the second sheet of the speech, in Shoukri's handwriting, to be delivered at the show of strength before an audience of ticket-paying supporters. The judge said: “He has given no credible explanation for the presence of his finger prints on the documents. The fingerprint evidence, taken with the unconvincing evidence about his coincidental presence in the bar is strong evidence against the defendant in the knowledge of the planning of the meeting.” 5. PLAQUES MADE FOR ‘SHOW OF STRENGTH’ IN BELFAST BAR PLAQUES engraved with the insignia of the UDA were to be handed out during a ‘show of strength’ by the loyalist death squad, Belfast Crown Court was told on April 16. Five other men arrested at the Alexandra Bar on York Road pleaded guilty to related charges during a previous court hearing. Mr Justice Girvan heard a witness statement from the manager of Prestige Trophies in east Belfast. Charles Adair QC said the manager recalled a man visiting the Holywood Road store several times to order a number of plaques. The court was told the plaques with a UDA crest were engraved with ‘In appreciation of service – North Belfast Brigade’. A list of names were also provided to the manager to be placed on individual plaques. The witness said the same man “came back to the shop on the day of the police raid on the Alex” and paid £375 in cash for the plaques and a larger plaque on which a “roll of honour” was to have been engraved with the names of deceased UDA members. On March 3, 2006, the day after the arrests, the RUC/PSNI visited the east Belfast trophy store and removed a hard drive from a computer. An expert from the fingerprint bureau also gave evidence that he had examined paper containing a speech the prosecution claim was going to be read during the paramilitary propaganda stunt the night after the raid. He said he found 80 fingerprint samples on the speech, which was in the handwriting of leading loyalist Ihab Shoukri, who is now awaiting sentencing for UDA membership. The expert also said he had traced two fingerprints believed to belong to Robinson on the speech, which stated the UDA was taking its “fight to the political arena”. 6. NELSON MURDERED AT TIME OF POLITICAL EXTREMISM ROSEMARY Nelson was murdered amid a politically-charged atmosphere in Co Armagh surrounding the Drumcree Orange parades dispute, the inquiry into her murder was told on April 16. On the second day of his opening statement in Belfast, counsel for the inquiry Rory Phillips QC, detailed the building controversy surrounding the annual Orange church parade and the effect it had on the political climate throughout the second half of the 1990s. He plotted the course of the Drumcree dispute from its origins, explaining to the inquiry how it led to some of the worst street disturbances and loyalist violence seen in the Six Counties. He said the inquiry should not shrink from analysing the activities of certain members of the RUC. At the time of Rosemary Nelson's murder tensions in the Lurgan-Portadown area of Co Armagh had been heightened by the murders of Robert Hamill, the subject of another inquiry, and the shooting of two members of the RUC 1997. Following the signing of the Stormont Agreement, widespread change was recommended to British policing by the Patten commission. But the reforms were being pushed amid a situation in which it was not possible to know if there was going to be a wholesale return to violence. Solicitors, including Rosemary Nelson, had often complained of abuse from members of the RUC, Rory Phillips said. He played to the inquiry a series of clips from interviews with Rosemary Nelson in support of her claim, and her allegation that some in the British Crown Forces were incapable or unwilling to see the difference between her and the causes and alleged crimes of those she defended in court. He gave the inquiry a detailed account of the relationship Rosemary Nelson had with some of her clients, in particular Colin Duffy. He had suffered a miscarriage of justice in the early 1990s and was detained in connection with the shooting of two RUC officers in Portadown in 1997. “She was fighting her client's corner while also taking it to a much wider stage involving NGOs, politicians and senior British ministers,” Rory Phillips said. “She was part of the motor, the machine that made the cases. That also made her more prominent. She drew in attention, and very clearly, to herself.” The first witnesses are due to appear before the inquiry on April 28th. 7. GARDAÍ DENY WRONGFUL ARREST AND ASSAULT THREE people have taken a High Court action for damages over their alleged wrongful arrest and assault in a Garda station after an incident at a restaurant. William Mangan (27), Glenties Park, Finglas, Dublin, his sister Ruth (31) and her husband Henry Fleming, from Ratoath, Co Meath, are suing the Garda Commissioner, the 26-County Minister for Justice and the 26-County State, claiming damages for wrongful arrest, assault and malicious prosecution. The 26-County State denies the claims and contends the gardaí were assaulted while carrying out their duties. If the three were injured, which is denied, such injuries were caused by the aggressive behaviour of the two men, the defence pleads. The 26-County State claims William Mangan kicked a garda in the groin in O'Connell Street, that Henry Fleming attacked a Garda outside Pearse Street Garda station and Ruth Mangan bit another Garda as he tried to arrest Henry Fleming. The case opened on April 18 before a jury and Mr Justice Éamon de Valera. Opening the case, John O'Donnell SC, for the three, said the incident occurred about 1am on February 12th, 2001, after his clients and some companions had been asked to leave the Burger King restaurant on O'Connell Street, Dublin. It was alleged they were asked to leave by two gardaí who were told by a security man that a group, including one of the plaintiffs, was causing a nuisance. The group was asked to leave by a garda and they had left, counsel said. Outside, remarks were exchanged between Henry Fleming and a garda, he said. Another man was allegedly kicked or pushed by a garda and William Mangan's girlfriend was pushed on to the street. William Mangan, a mechanical engineer who was 19 at the time, said he went to help his girlfriend and was arrested and taken to Pearse Street station, where he claims two gardaí beat him up, first in the yard and later in his cell. Under cross-examination by Conor Maguire SC, for the 26-County State, he denied that Henry Fleming had been asked to leave Burger King because he made lewd remarks about doughnuts and women's genitalia. He denied his arrest was for kicking a garda in the groin. The court heard all three were released later that day after being charged with public order offences and assault. They were before the District Court 11 times before the charges were struck out because of the time delay and allegedly missing CCTV footage from the Garda station. The case continues. 8. DOCKERS IN CORK REFUSE TO UNLOAD VESSEL OVER CREW PAY DOCKERS in Cork on April 17 refused to unload a cargo of timber from a freighter in solidarity with crew members who claim they have not been properly paid. Meanwhile, the vessel is subject to a separate investigation by Customs and the Garda in relation to alleged cigarette smuggling. Siptu's Ken Fleming, who represents the International Transport Workers Federation, said that the nine-man crew of the 15,000-tonne Defender have not been paid since January, with only two of the crew receiving money from the owners. He said he is prepared to go to the Admiralty Court if necessary to get the freighter impounded if the owners do not pay the money owed to its crew. “Six of the crew joined in December and three joined earlier this month, but the only two to have been paid are the chief officer, who got $1,230 in January, and the cook, who got $100 in January. The crew are owed $92,000 in unpaid wages.” Ken Fleming said he had examined the ship's work records for the crew, which includes two Russians and seven Ukrainians, and found that one man was being paid a dollar an hour while the records did not match the hours the crew had worked over the past four months. The Defender, which is registered in Cambodia, left Riga in Latvia five days ago with a cargo of fencing posts and arrived in Cork at 4am on April 16, where it was met at the South Jetties by Customs and Revenue officers. A Customs official confirmed the Defender had been detained under Customs regulations on suspicion of being complicit in the smuggling of cigarettes following the discovery of 40,000 cigarettes on board. The Customs officers later spoke to a Russian man in his 40s living in the Blackpool area of Cork when he called to meet the ship. In a follow-up search, they found a further 20,000 smuggled cigarettes. A file in relation to the two seizures of cigarettes, which are eastern European brands and believed to be worth about €15,000, will be prepared by Customs officers and forwarded to the 26-County Director of Public Prosecutions, the official confirmed. Port of Cork Harbour Master Capt Pat Farnan said he had met with union officials on April 17. “We're comfortable with the ship not sailing until these issues are resolved - we certainly don't condone crew being left unpaid.” 9. FARMERS THREAT ON LISBON TREATY THE farming organisations brought more than 10,000 protesters to Dublin's streets on April 17 and delivered a message to the Dublin Administration and the EU that a bad deal for farming in the world trade talks would bring a rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. In an impressive show of unity, over 1,000 agri-businesses closed their doors from noon to 3pm to highlight the sector's fears about an unfavourable World Trade Organisation deal. The farm organisations claim that EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson is offering to cut tariffs on beef imports to the EU by 70 per cent and tariffs on other products by at least 50 per cent. This would lead to the loss of 100,000 jobs on the land and in the service sector, said Irish Farmers' Association president Pádraig Walshe. Cheap imports would flood Europe, making Irish and European farmers redundant, he claimed. He said Peter Mandelson was getting nothing in return for offering European agriculture, food security and jobs in a “jumble sale” to the rest of the world. “The Lisbon Treaty referendum is on the 12th of June. For farmers, the referendum decision comes on the 20th of May. That is the date Mandelson will be in Geneva and he has a decision to make. Sell us out and we'll have our say on the 12th of June,” he said. The protest was called to coincide with the visit to Dublin of European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso. Pádraig Walshe reminded the gathering that in January he had said he would be recommending a “yes” vote in the referendum. “Since then Mandelson has completely undermined our position and I want to put it on the record today: if the sell-out goes ahead on May 20th in Geneva, then I will not ask farmers to support a commission that has destroyed the future of our farm and food industry,” he said. That was the message he wanted to impart to Jose Manuel Barroso, he said. Pádraig Walshe said he also had a clear message for the 26-County administration. “Don't come back from Geneva having sold us out and expect farm families - thousands of workers in the food industry that will lose their job, hundreds of rural businesses that will have to close down - don't expect us to do your bidding in the referendum,” he said. Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association president Jackie Cahill said it was significant that the protesters were going to Dublin Castle, no longer the seat of a foreign power in Ireland. “Is the commission on our side, or is it now acting like a colonial foreign power of bygone days? What input did we have to the WTO proposals? The answer is none. We weren't asked and we are to be told what is to become of our livelihoods after that has been decided,” he said. Jackie Cahill asked who was giving Peter Mandelson his power and authority to sell out European agriculture. “Who governs Europe? Is it sovereign governments or unelected bureaucrats?” he asked. “It is pointless to pretend that Lisbon and the outcome of WTO are not related. Farmers in the past were pro-Europe.” “We most definitely will not agree to a situation where the commission are about to sell away our rights in the interest of so-called free trade,” he said. Macra na Feirme president, Katherine Buckley, called on the 26-County administration to reject any deal based on current proposals. This stance was supported by Pádraig Gibbons, the president of the Irish Co-operative Movement. ENDS