Members of Dungannon Thomas Clarke’s GAA club have walked 100 miles from Dublin to Dungannon
John Monaghan
LOYALIST victims campaigner Willie Frazer has branded participants in a fundraising walk for a Tyrone GAA club as “dissidents” and “republican scum.”
The walk for Thomas Clarkes GFC began at Arbour Hill Cemetery in Dublin on Wednesday at the burial place of the club’s patron, a key figure in the 1916 Easter Rising, and finished on Sunday in Dungannon with a 5k run and a programme of family entertainment at O’Neill Park.
The proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards a planned new club complex – including a new main pitch, seated stand and floodlights, modern pavilion, as well as indoor training and playing facilities – to co-incide with its centenary next year.
However, at the weekend Mr Frazer posted a video on social media in which he lashed out at the event.
“Apparently some dissidents and their colleagues are walking from Dublin to Dungannon to commemorate 100 years ago the boys leaving Dungannon to go to the Rising.
“I know some of them would certainly need to do a bit of walking when you see the cut of them.
He added: “It is a total and utter disgrace that these people are allowed to go out to commemorate terrorists. Apparently they have walked from Dublin but they probably got the bus to Keady.”
The Co Armagh victims campaigner then went on to claim most of those involved “are dissidents” and urged viewers of his video-post to “find out how these people have been given permission to walk 40 miles in Northern Ireland without anybody saying it is contentious.”
He said: “We can’t walk a few hundred yards without it being contentious.
“There is the Thomas Clarke (sic) GAA club as well…it is not them but obviously they must be connected in some way or another.
Mr Frazer added: “If it is anything to do with the 1916 Rising they will probably be running as that is what most of them did during the Rising.”
In a separate post showing posters from the GAA club highlighting the event, Mr Frazer said: “This is what a walk of real shame looks like by Republican scum taking place this weekend. They made sure to take the long road so not too have come past Markethill. Lol”
The postings led to a number of derogatory comments about the fundraiser from Mr Frazer’s supporters, including one which read: “A landmine wouldn’t go amiss.”
Other online comments ridiculed Mr Frazer’s video, with one woman stating: “Ahh have you ever heard so much bitterness? There’ll be an army there alright to meet them, #TsC25K army which is totally inclusive regardless of religion, nationality and any politics whatsoever.”
Thomas Clarkes GAC chairman Damian Cahalane told The Irish News the club was aware of the video but would not be commenting.
Fuair Chris baile nua dúinn atá 300 troigh ónár n-ionad láithreach.
Chris found a new home for us that is 300 feet from our present location.
Béidh ár rang deireanach againn sa “Sean-Rocky’s” an tseachtain seo chugainn, oíche Mháirt, 18ú Deireadh Fómhair.
We will have our last class in the “Old Rocky’s” next week, October 18th.
Ina dhiaidh sin, leanfimid ar aghaidh ag an Irish Haven, 5721 Ceathrú Ascaill, Brooklyn, ag tosú ar 25ú DF, go osclaítear an “Nua-Rocky’s”, i Mí Shamhna, le cúnamh Dé.
After that, we will continue at the Irish Haven, 5721 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, starting on Oct, 25th, until the “New Rocky’s” is opened, in November, God willing.
Brian Feeney. Irish News (Belfast). Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Charlie Flanagan tells us the Irish government will seek ‘legal recognition of the unique status of the North and the circumstances on the island’. However he was talking in terms of the free movement of people and goods on the island. That seems to be what the Taoiseach’s planned ‘All-Island Civic Dialogue’ seems to be concentrating on too. (You daren’t call it an ‘All-Ireland Civic Dialogue’ in case you offend Unionists who aren’t turning up anyway).
Most experts think that will be a tall order. In the last week the indications are that other EU members are lining up to make negotiations as difficult as possible for the British government after Theresa May and her ministers’ aggressive and provocative remarks at her party’s rally in Birmingham. The Conservative Brexiteers really know how to make friends and influence people.
May and her immediate xenophobic entourage are the only people who count. That’s clear now. Our proconsul, her local little Englander Sir Echo, is her political lapdog who has worked with her during his years at the Home Office where her authoritarianism was evident in every statement. Our proconsul takes care to use exactly the same words as May, for example ‘no borders of the past’, without having a clue what that means in the future or how it will be implemented.
What we know for sure is this: May and her braying conference place immigration at the top of the agenda. Control of numbers means leaving the single market and probably the customs union too. She, and of course her local lapdog, witter on about the Common Travel Area, deliberately confusing it with free trade in goods which it certainly isn’t. How the two are going to be equated in Charlie Flanagan’s ‘legal recognition’ is a mystery when Britain leaves the single market.
Puzzling enough as that conundrum is, there’s another more profound political conundrum. How do you retain the right to pursue the aspiration towards Irish unity to be operated by a Border Poll, as provided in the Good Friday Agreement, when the North isn’t in the EU? So far only the Taoiseach has made a passing reference to this problem in an important speech a couple of weeks ago. Suppose post Brexit—in a decade with an inevitable Nationalist voting majority— especially as economic hardship bites, suppose people did vote for Irish unity, how would that work when the North isn’t in the EU? How does it join?
The Taoiseach compared the problem to West Germany’s position after 1989 when the wall came down. It joined with East Germany which was admitted automatically after 1990 to the EEC as it then was. Could the North do the same, and , if so, what would the Scottish government think if the same arrangements weren’t available to Scotland? Would other EU members agree? Would Spain want similar arrangements to incorporate Gibraltar as their price?
Charlie Flanagan and the Irish government need to start thinking about how they incorporate such a process as the German one into the ‘legal recognition of the unique status of the north’ instead of just talking about trade. The Irish government goes on about how a hard border will cause difficulties for the peace process. Fair enough. [But] what will cause incomparably more difficulty is if the carefully worded deal in the Good Friday Agreement—about how to advance Irish unity peacefully and democratically— is casually set aside unilaterally by the British government with no concern for the inevitable consequences.
Let’s state quite simply what [the consequences] are:A boost for republican dissidents, destabilisation of Sinn Féin’s political position and general Nationalist outrage that a British government has once again reneged on a deal, in this case an international agreement.
The Irish government has to start making these points explicitly because the Brexiteers in this horrible British government care nothing of the consequences for the North of their Gadarene rush towards a UKIP-lite position. Cutting immigration is the number one priority in order to steal UKIP’s clothes and undermine Labour.
Dublin should remind them of the consequences of ignoring Ireland.
Pauline Mellon on the Ardoyne parades dispute, from her blog,
‘The Diary of a Derry Mother’.
Let me take you out of Derry tonight and into the heart of North Belfast
to a place called Ardoyne. Ardoyne has been at the centre of a lot of
controversy recently following negotiations to dismantle the Twadell
Protest Camp. The Protest Camp was set up in July 2013 in opposition to
a parade ruling to restrict an Orange Order Parade. What was effectively
an act of trespass on the part of the protesters ended up costing the
taxpayer a staggering #21 million to police, with the the camp located
close to the nationalist Ardoyne area. Yes folks you’ve read that
correctly, at a time when health, education and welfare budgets were
being slashed, #21 million was spent on policing an illegal camp.
Welcome to Starship Norn Iron!
A few weeks ago it emerged that negotiations to dismantle the Twadell
camp were not only ongoing but at an advanced stage. Key to these
negotiations were two gentlemen in particular, the Reverend Harold Goode
and Derry ‘business’ man Jim Roddy MBE. The Reverend Harold Goode is
well known for his input in situations of a sensitive nature but I fail
to see where Jim Roddy fitted here, in fact I’m equally curious as to
what line of business he is in.
Let me clarify, it is not my intention to dismiss Jim’s efforts, on the
contrary, his temerity is to be commended. With the removal of the
Twadell camp marking the first phase of a possible many Jim now has the
task of engaging with residents who are clearly unhappy with the process
and the outcome of the negotiations both he and others played a pivotal
role in. So on that note, Good Luck Jim!
The angry scenes in Ardoyne last weekend dominated news headlines and
singled out one Ardoyne resident in particular, GARC spokesperson Dee
Fennell. In a spate of unbalanced media reporting Fennell has been
heavily criticised and labelled a bully for his forthright manner
towards local clergy member Fr Gary Donegan. What some press outlets
have failed to show or mention is that Fennell’s input came about as he
tried to diffuse a potentially volatile situation involving irate
residents. This is clear from the unedited version of video footage
which appeared online. In the ‘edited version’ the media didn’t show Mr.
Fennell pointing out to Fr Donegan how local residents were unable to go
about their business, and how the allowing of this parade was not
welcomed by a lot of people in the area. As someone who has crossed
swords (online debate) with Fennell in the past and with no axe to
grind either way I feel that Fennell is being used as a scapegoat to
deflect from a deal which excluded residents from a process they should
have been central to. Something which has has been confirmed by one
Ardoyne resident I am friendly with. Not much of a fresh start!
As the dust settled I was surprised to read that Father Gary Donegan
stated that the ‘confrontation with protesters’ on Saturday reminded him
of the Holy Cross dispute. Oddly, I don’t remember any news reports from
Saturday showing people throwing bombs at children trying to get to
school. It would seem that Father Gary is playing his part in trying to
move the focus away from the issue of contention residents face, which
is they don’t want a loyalist parade in their area. If you’re reading
this Father Donegan I would suggest a period of reflection followed by a
concerted effort to engage with your flock, and this time the entire
flock. After all if I’m not mistaken does Catholic not mean universal
and all encompassing because if I’m right then helping exclude residents
from the process wasn’t very Catholic of you.
To understand why people are feeling angry particularly those who were
prevented from going about their daily business on Saturday those quick
to condemn them should have a cursory glance at Article 8 of the
European Convention on Human Rights. This article provides for the right
to have your family, private life, home and correspondence respected.
Article 9 provides for the right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion, so those parishioners of Father Donegan’s who couldn’t attend
his church, in their own area, or who are being lambasted by the media
for expressing an opinion are having their human rights violated. But
hey why let facts get in the way of deflection!
One of the things that saddened me most this weekend was the scene with
the older man who was clearly frustrated by the way he and his community
had been treated, a man who has since been described as a heckler. Where
was Father Gary’s Christianity as he stood glaring at this older man? It
seemed that Father Donegan was incapable of understanding that this man
was upset and moreover, incapable of responding to him. This was a long
way from when the same Father Donegan was interviewed for an article
called ‘Faith on the Interface’ when he said “the fact that his
parishioners did not have to endure the return parade reduced tension on
the Catholic side.” When my husband watched Fr Gary’s performance on the
news, he said “if ever there was a poster boy for atheism it’s yer man
there.” If the picture had of been in black & white I would’ve guessed
it was back at the time when no one could say boo to man of the cloth,
and just look where that ended up!
As people watch the biased news reports singling out individuals as
bullies or hecklers maybe they should look at what the people of Ardoyne
have had to endure. There were nearly 100 lives lost in the parish
during the troubles and there was the Holy Cross issue and the attacks
on School children. Added to this has been the violence meted out
against residents during successive marching seasons. Violence such as a
leading loyalist ramming his car into a crowd of people injuring a 13
year old girl, and those incidents barely scratch the surface of what
they have endured.
The reality now for the people of Ardoyne is that a precedent has been
set for the return leg of the Orange Order march. As it stands residents
are now in limbo as to what happens next and unsure of what they will
have to ‘endure’. To address this there needs to be immediate dialogue
between the negotiators and local residents, particularly those
initially excluded from the process,. With this I do hope a broad
consensus can be reached. I would also hope that those buying into the
outcome of the alleged consultation on the issue consider that the views
of community groups, most of which are politically weighted, are no
substitute for the views and input of the people who live in the area.
The people who will have to endure the aftermath of each deal imposed
upon them and the precedent it sets.
Jonathan Adair in the UFF Christmas calendarThe death of Jonathan Adair from a drugs overdose is the latest curse to befall members of a young sectarian gang his father Johnny Adair shaped in his own image.
Known as the ‘Hallion Battalion’, the UDA unit was being groomed to eventually take over ‘C Company’ from the shaven-headed terror boss.
But its members are now either in the grave, prison or exiled from their former lower Shankill power base.
Not a single one of these UDA ‘young guns’ was present at Adair Jnr’s funeral in Scotland.
Instead it was left to the terror gang’s old-timers like ‘Skelly’ McCrory and John White to bury their pal Johnny Adair’s oldest child.
Sunday Life today looks at what became of the ‘Hallion Battalion’s’ leading members, and how their associations with Adair led each to either prison, exile or an early death.
JONATHAN ADAIR: Died of a drugs overdose one day after being freed from prison for motoring offences.
At the time of his death the 32-year-old was awaiting trial on drugs charges.
He had previous convictions for heroin dealing and wrecking the home of a woman who refused to sell him cannabis.
Jonathan fled the Shankill Road in 2003 after his father’s ‘C Company’ faction was purged by the mainstream UDA.
He was being groomed for a senior role in the unit and had been pictured for a UFF calendar wearing a balaclava and carrying a machine-gun. A year earlier he was kneecapped by the terror gang for hitting a woman during a filling station robbery and breaking into the home of a pensioner.
WILLIAM HILL: A violent ‘C Company’ member who hero-worshipped Johnny Adair and ended up being convicted of murder.
The 32-year-old is due for release in the new year after serving a minimum 13-year life sentence for beating chef David Cupples to death outside the old Girdwood Army barracks.
Hill, who had spent the night taking drugs and drinking in a ‘C Company’ shebeen, mistook his victim for a Catholic.
Popular David was walking along Clifton Park Avenue for an early morning shift when he was set upon by the frenzied sectarian thug.
Hill beat the innocent Protestant with a brick, and the following day threatened staff at a nearby service station to delete CCTV footage that recorded him at the premises the night before.
After the UDA thug was jailed it emerged he had carried out pipe-bomb attacks on the north Belfast office of SDLP politician Alban Maginness and the home of rival loyalist John ‘Grugg’ Gregg.
WAYNE AND BENJI DOWIE: The brothers were among two-dozen Johnny Adair loyalists who fled the Shankill when his faction was exiled by the UDA in February 2003.
Two years later Wayne, 36, was cleared of the UDA feud murder of Jonathan Stewart during a Christmas party in north Belfast.
The 2002 killing was carried out by a ‘C Company’ gunman because the victim was related to a loyalist who had fallen out with Adair.
His brother Benji, 35, was jailed for five years in 2004 for conspiracy to sell crack cocaine and heroin alongside Jonathan Adair.
Despite their associations with ‘C Company’ resulting in them being exiled from Northern Ireland, the Dowie brothers remain in awe of Adair.
In 2003 Wayne Dowie told reporters: “From when I’ve been growing up he’s been the biggest loyalist in my eyes. As Ulster’s young men we looked up to Johnny. We idolised him.”
ALAN ‘BUCKY’ McCULLOUGH: His body was found in a shallow grave at Mallusk in June 2005 two months after he left a safe house in Bolton to return to the Shankill Road.
The 21-year-old, who idolised Johnny Adair, was among the ‘C Company’ members who fled their Belfast home in February 2003 after being attacked by the mainstream UDA.
He moved to the north-east of England, but was unable to settle and sought assurances from the UDA that he would be safe if he returned to Northern Ireland.
Within a month of moving back to the Shankill McCullough disappeared. The body of the dad-of-one was discovered one month later.
Leading UDA member Mo Courtney — a former close friend of Johnny Adair — was convicted of the manslaughter of McCullough and sentenced to eight years in prison.
ANDREW ROBINSON: The knife maniac is serving a minimum 20-year life sentence for the horrific murder of his fiancée Julie-Ann Osbourne in 2000.
The 38-year-old stabbed his helpless girlfriend 50 times and left her body impaled to the floor of their Shankill Terrace home.
Robinson slaughtered Julie-Ann, 22, because she threatened to leave him and take their baby daughter Melissa with her.
At the time of the killing the thug was a ‘C Company’ enforcer who treated Johnny Adair as a god-like figure.
Robinson — who had an appalling record of domestic violence against his partner — was tasked with carrying out punishment attacks for the UDA.
He was behind bars when Adair’s faction fled the Shankill in 2003.
However, he will not be able to return there when he is freed from prison such is the revulsion towards him for murdering Julie-Ann
DEE COLEMAN: The only member of Johnny Adair’s ‘Hallion Battalion’ who is still with the mainstream UDA.
The 32-year-old was behind bars when his then he ro was forced from the Shankill by the mainstream UDA.
But rather than join him in Scotland on his release, Coleman opted to remain in Northern Ireland within the ranks of the terror organisation.
Coleman’s stint in a juvenile jail came about after he was convicted of involvement, aged just 14, in a UDA gun attack on rival UVF supporters during the 2000 loyalist feud.
He was caged again in 2007, this time for six years, for trying to extort £5,000 from an undercover policeman who he thought was a builder.
Coleman, who is currently the UDA’s second-in-command on the lower Shankill, wed two weeks ago in a lavish ceremony.
