Posted by Jim on November 6, 2014
Aidan Ferguson National Organiser of the 1916 Societies
Several editions of the Irish News, from as far back as the 2nd October, have carried a perturbing half-page advert for the purposes of recruitment to the British Royal Navy, an alarming development symptomatic of the normalisation process that has seeped into almost every sector of society over the course of recent times.
Given the black history of Britain’s armed forces, not only in Ireland but around the world – from Iraq to Libya to Syria in recent times alone – this represents a most troubling decision on behalf of the Irish News. To think that one of Ireland’s largest ‘nationalist’ dailies would feel comfortable in assisting the recruitment process for the killers of the British military shows just where things are at in terms of a willingness to paper over the crimes of the past for the sake of political expediency on the part of those holding positions of great importance in society today.
One need have looked no further than the following page of that October 2nd edition for a reminder of the chilling reality of British violence in Ireland, where an article by resident journalist Connla Young drew attention to the ongoing attempts to cover up the summary execution of eight IRA Volunteers and a passing civilian at Loughall in 1987, by those who claimed to be upholding law and order in Ireland, by elements of that same military apparatus appealing for recruits in the pages of the Irish News.
And by no means was this an isolated incident in the long and troubled history of the six-counties. From the earliest days of the Troubles – through internment and the Ballymurphy massacre, Bloody Sunday, plastic bullets, shoot-to-kill, the arming and directing of pro-state death-squads and their murderous campaign against the nationalist community – the blood-stained hand of the British military-machine has been there for all to see from beginning to end. Its record in Ireland is one of savage murder, no matter how some may pretend otherwise, and for this Britain has yet to take responsibility or be held to account.
That the Irish News would play any part in encouraging the youth of our country to entertain thoughts of a career with those who’s speciality is killing for empire, that it would assist those who would have our young folk go off and invade other countries – as our own – to serve the interests of British imperialism, is a disturbing development and in truth an indictment on those who agreed to such an ad being carried.
Clearly the advertising policy of the Irish News is in need of urgent review. An advertising campaign for Britain’s terror machine has no place in the pages of the Irish News given the legacy of its involvement in Ireland, as elsewhere around the world – a legacy of torture, abuse and even murder itself. The youth of our country deserve better, should have no part to play in any of that and it is wrong to encourage them otherwise.
Posted by Jim on November 4, 2014
Patrick Roche of the 1916 Societies, at Queen’s University Belfast with a piece that featured on the website of the Societies.
Sean Fearon, Chairman of QUB Sinn Fein, when recently discussing the proposed referendum on Irish Unity at Queen’s, insinuates that the choice facing us all is between an all-Ireland republic and an ‘unaccountable and unelected government in Westminster’.
While seeing nothing wrong with that analysis in itself, it’s somewhat bizarre to hear it directly from someone aligned to Provisional Sinn Fein. His words contradict his party’s position that the Stormont Assembly represents a meaningful change in the power structure of British rule in Ireland and how that rule is administered, conflicting with Sinn Fein’s core belief that the 1998 dispensation relegated Britain to an outside role in the political process, with power transferred to a locally-elected Executive. Some one of the two then is being disingenuous for both positions are irreconcilable – it simply can’t be both.
While in agreement with the idea all and any debate on Irish Unity should be seen as positive, nevertheless it’s incumbent on Sinn Fein, whether at QUB or elsewhere, to map out how Irish reunification might be achieved given their acceptance of the ‘unity by consent’ model as set out in the 1998 legislation and the ‘triple lock’ contained within. Schedule 1 of that legislation gives the British Secretary of State a supreme veto over Irish self-determination, awarding him or her exclusive rights to determine if and when a border poll may be called, to decide on its wording and to decide who may or may not vote in any such poll. Indeed Britain clearly states it will only call a poll if and when there is satisfaction as to its outcome.
Even after all of that, any decision is legally non-binding and subject to the further assent of the British Parliament at Westminster, a process effectively barring movement towards ending partition without British agreement, with Irish Unity no more than an aspiration with little prospect of being physically realised.
We in the 1916 Societies believe instead that the Irish people have the absolute and sovereign right to determine the future of this island and hold that national self-determination in the form of a singular all-Ireland referendum – One Ireland-One Vote – will give every Irish citizen an equal say on the vexed issue of partition and speed the formation of a sovereign, independent, unitary state to replace its failed political arrangements. Recent developments in both Scotland and Catalonia demonstrate that such a referenda-type initiative can offer a credible and democratic alternative to the failed border poll strategy promoted by Sean Fearon and those in the Sinn Fein leadership from whom he takes direction.
A genuine national debate on the future of our country is required rather than the type of disingenuous stunt we see with this exercise at Queen’s, itself an effort to distract from the fact Sinn Fein has no credible strategy for Irish Unity, its subservience to mechanisms for constitutional change as defined and controlled by an ‘unaccountable British government at Westminster’ the biggest end of the problem.
Posted by Jim on October 30, 2014
In line with traditional Irish Republican principles in 1984 Gary Hart said; “All electoral initiatives up until that point had failed because they have not taken into account the democratic wishes of the people of Ireland as a whole. The best way, and in fact, the only way to establish a lasting peace is within a democratic All-Ireland context”.
Last week he is quoted as saying “My views, expressed three decades ago, emphasized the democratic decision-making process in determining the future of Northern Ireland: that is, they should be free to decide their political affiliation and destiny according to majority will”.
In this last statement Hart is trying to cleverly re-interpret for us his 1984 statement which is very clear in its intention.
To now say “they should be free to decide their political affiliation and destiny according to majority will”, subtly transposes the object of the democratic decision making process from Ireland as a whole to the political affiliation of the six counties. He is now restricting the “democratic decision-making process to within the gerrymandered artificial border which was determined by the British to guarantee a British outcome in any future poll. This is a complete reversal of his 1984 statements.
He is now defending the British partition which suppressed then and still suppresses now, the 32 county republic established by majority-will as a result of the ALL-Ireland British administered elections of 1918.
Senator Hart was correct in 1984 in advocating true democracy for all of Ireland because the British partition of Ireland had negated the Irish democratic will. Although he is still using the terms “democracy” and “majority will” he is clearly siding with the British Empire’s re-definition of democracy which has since 1998 become politically correct given the support of Irish leaders who once sat in republican seats but now sit in unionist seats.
The lesson here is that majority-will is acceptable when the outcome is favorable to the British but not acceptable when the outcome is favorable to the Irish.
What has not changed since 1984 however, is “The best way, and in fact, the only way to establish a lasting peace is within a democratic All-Ireland context”, which was also one of the suggestions of the 1984 New Ireland Forum for peace.
Patrick Pearse said it another way; “Ireland unfree will never be at peace”.
What Ireland needs now in order to establish a lasting peace in a true democratic 32 county republic is for Americans to support Hart’s 1984 traditional definition of democracy not the gerrymandered British colonial definition.
In line with traditional Irish Republican principles in 1984 Gary Hart said; “All electoral initiatives up until that point had failed because they have not taken into account the democratic wishes of the people of Ireland as a whole. The best way, and in fact, the only way to establish a lasting peace is within a democratic All-Ireland context”.
Last week he is quoted as saying “My views, expressed three decades ago, emphasized the democratic decision-making process in determining the future of Northern Ireland: that is, they should be free to decide their political affiliation and destiny according to majority will”.
In this last statement Hart is trying to cleverly re-interpret for us his 1984 statement which is very clear in its intention.
To now say “they should be free to decide their political affiliation and destiny according to majority will”, subtly transposes the object of the democratic decision making process from Ireland as a whole to the political affiliation of the six counties. He is now restricting the “democratic decision-making process to within the gerrymandered artificial border which was determined by the British to guarantee a British outcome in any future poll. This is a complete reversal of his 1984 statements.
He is now defending the British partition which suppressed then and still suppresses now, the 32 county republic established by majority-will as a result of the ALL-Ireland British administered elections of 1918.
Senator Hart was correct in 1984 in advocating true democracy for all of Ireland because the British partition of Ireland had negated the Irish democratic will. Although he is still using the terms “democracy” and “majority will” he is clearly siding with the British Empire’s re-definition of democracy which has since 1998 become politically correct given the support of Irish leaders who once sat in republican seats but now sit in unionist seats.
The lesson here is that majority-will is acceptable when the outcome is favorable to the British but not acceptable when the outcome is favorable to the Irish.
What has not changed since 1984 however, is “The best way, and in fact, the only way to establish a lasting peace is within a democratic All-Ireland context”, which was also one of the suggestions of the 1984 New Ireland Forum for peace.
Patrick Pearse said it another way; “Ireland unfree will never be at peace”.
What Ireland needs now in order to establish a lasting peace in a true democratic 32 county republic is for Americans to support Hart’s 1984 traditional definition of democracy not the gerrymandered British colonial definition.
Vic Sackett
Posted by admin on October 29, 2014
by Gregg Sheridan.wordpress.com
Over the course of recent weeks the Independent Group has unsurprisingly been the main media outlet seeking to politicise the allegations of abuse made by Mairia Cahill and turn them into an attack on Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin and the Republican struggle.
They have accused Republicans of “cover-up”, they have accused republicans of not co-operating with the police, of trying to prevent an abuse victim going to the police.
Yesterday they launched an attack on a Guardian journalist for having the audacity to question the deliberate omission of Mairia Cahill’s role as a senior member of anti-Policing dissident faction RNU from the Spotlight programme.
Throughout this one of the main journalists involved in this campaign has been long time Shinner hater Ellis O’Hanlon.
Maybe now the time has come to cast a little light into the skeletons in Ellis’ cupboard.
There is of course nothing worse than a hypocrite.
Ellis by her own admission (19/10/14) knew about these allegations of abuse from at least the year 2000.
What did she do??
Did she go to the police??
Did she go to social services??
No she didn’t, the very things she then castigates others for doing.
This law abiding Independent Group hack seemed content in the knowledge that the alleged abuser had been “put out”
No concerns about by whom or to where, no not for Ellis, yet she has no issue now castigating and vilifying others for doing exactly what her own family did.
Now let’s look a little further into Ellis’ cupboard to see what else can be turned up by this holier than thou Independent Group employee.
What about Ellis’ brother Marty?? What ever happened to him??
Yes Marty the one who jumped bail on IRA charges in 1977 and went on the run.
Surely Ellis and her family wouldn’t have been in contact with Marty over the years he was wanted by the police in the north??
Surely Ellis being the law abiding Irish Independent hack would have passed such information on to the authorities??
Well did you Ellis?? Or where you happy to conceal Marty’s whereabouts from the then RUC??
Withholding information I believe is the legal term.
What about when abuse allegations of abuse were made in your own family.
What was your response then??
Did you support the alleged victim?
Or did you side with the man accused??
You see Ellis people have had enough of your lies. Many people know the truth about you and your past.
Maybe you have done a good job so far hiding the dark bits of your past from your bosses in the Indo, but these things have a habit of coming back to bite.
Posted by Jim on October 27, 2014
by Michael J. Cummings
You can examine any trouble spot in the world today and see some comparison or some contradiction with British rule in Ireland. Of course, to do so will require a strong stomach as the stench of British hypocrisy and arrogance infuses each example. But the long view of these few examples is to encourage American policy makers to question British influence on U. S.- Irish relations in the small arena of foreign affairs and to challenge basic assumptions by the British government.
Let us begin with Iraq. Last month U. S. jurors announced murder and manslaughter verdicts of four employees of Blackwater, the mercenary company hired by the U. S. State Department. They killed 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. Now in 1972 the British Army killed 13 innocent unarmed civilians. It took 42 years for the British to stop lying about those killings but it has not charged, much less prosecute, any of the soldiers involved. Nor do they intend to! The British would be the first to claim the slaughter an ‘internal’ domestic matter as there was no threat to the rule of law. Why is it that America can prosecute their mercenaries in 7 years for an incident in the midst of a war but Her Majesty’s government cannot prosecute their soldiers for their murderous rampage of Bloody Sunday in ‘peace’ time?
Moving on to Syria. New York Times reporter Marlise Simons revealed that the U. S. and the U. K. are currently funding investigators who are scouring Syria for records that might reveal evidence of war crimes. This is the same government that has ignored provisions of the N. I. Good Friday Agreement of 1998 to support a Historical Enquires Team (HET) to review the killing of nearly 1000 Catholics over three decades. The British have done all they can to obstruct any review of those cases and has most recently claimed there is insufficient funds for the HET. Better to spend money documenting the crimes of Syria’s Assad than to expose one’s own crimes in Ireland!!
Let’s try Russia and the Ukraine. In his recent address to the United Nations General Assembly, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan, blasts the actions of the Russian Federation in Crimea and the Ukraine pointing out they clearly contravene a range of international agreements. He did not take the opportunity to remind the Delegates that Britain carved up N. I. by force and without a democratic mandate, much like Russia’s Crimea takeover. Inexplicably, he does not cite Britain’s contravention of the 1998 international treaty called the Belfast Agreement. Cameron has simply refused to hold the required independent public hearing into their killing of attorney Patrick Finucane. Britain’s murdering and lawless security services, like those of Russia, are seemingly immune to the obligations of international laws and treaties.
The ECONOMIST, a British weekly magazine that frequently represents the views of the Government, had the temerity recently to cite the Cambodian government for failing to arrest and prosecute more Khmer Rouge for their murderous campaign in the 70’s. For decades the British Army and MI-5 colluded with loyalist thugs to kill innocent Catholic civilians. Two soldiers spent less than a year in a military compound for their murder convictions. Remarkably one was restored to rank. Author Anne Cadwallader’s book LETHAL ALLIES documents much of this savagery aimed at ending the Catholic civil rights campaign. The Cameron government takes every opportunity to obstruct any talk of dealing with the past in Ireland. However, it does not hesitate to use its media influence to shine a light elsewhere to distract from its deeds.
South Africa and the United States were also the target of this hypocritical venom from the ECONOMIST. Under the headline “How not to quell a riot” the magazine criticized the Ferguson Police Department . Isn’t that rich? The renamed but not reformed Royal Ulster Constabulary is the most incompetent, lawless and political police force in Western Europe. It escapes scrutiny and change because secret government reports remain sealed to avoid revealing how Northern Ireland’s Murder Inc. operated !!
An opinion piece of the magazine recently rebuked the government of South Africa for interference with the independent judiciary in the work of a Commission investigating the killing of 34 miners. Britain’s corruption of law, justice and the judiciary in N. I. is of biblical proportions . The editors must have read Matthew 7:5: “ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Not content to intern and imprison innocent people, officials at the highest levels of government in London orchestrated campaigns of violence which took the lives of over 1000 British Subjects including attorneys Rosemary Nelson and Patrick Finucane, officers of the court and defense counsel.
South Africa, Russia, Syria, Cambodia. These are but a few—- China, Sri Lanka and Egypt are others—- of Britain’s fellow travelers in respecting human rights, promoting justice, democracy and the rule of law. How can the U. S. effectively challenge injustice and promote freedom with Britain’s colonial corruption hanging like an albatross around its neck? A recent interview with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger about Syria may have touched upon the nub of the problem. He noted the short term obligation to destroy ISIS and of the long term necessity of re-configuring the post W W I boundaries of Middle East nations. Those lines, like the tortured boundary drawn through the 9 county province of Ulster, were drawn up by British bureaucrats over bottles of fine claret and to suit their political purposes.
Northern Ireland is Britain’s showcase of how NOT to govern. It places the UK in the company of scoundrels and tyrants. Making excuses for their treachery in Ireland portrays America as a willing co-conspirator and collaborator and is a constant source of inspiration and justification to those who would do harm to our values. Those who serve Britain fighting evils like ISIS don’t deserve to be associated with the crimes committed in the Queens name in Ireland.
President Clinton rewrote America’s playbook on Northern Ireland . Let’s hope that ‘can do’ attitude animates this latest round of talks and inspires Special Envoy Gary Hart, Nationalists and Unionists together to craft some new ‘game-changer plays’and, better still, to craft a new playing field.