Posted by Jim on October 12, 2015
Fianna Fáil Chairman of Coiste 1916 Commemorative Committee Éamon Ó Cuív TD has today introduced a Bill in the Dáil aimed at creating a 1916 historical quarter in the heart of Dublin City.
The 1916 Quarter Area will include the General Post Office, its surrounding streets and Moore Street as well as all other 1916 related sites.
Deputy Ó Cuív commented, “The legislation we have introduced will protect the key locations and areas which are linked to the 1916 Easter Rising.
These include all of the locations where Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army fought during Easter week.
“We are proposing to establish an urban development company tasked with creating a 1916 Quarter Area in the heart of Dublin city. Its aim will be to create a lasting memorial for the men and woman who fought in 1916.
This area will include the General Post Office and adjoining streets alongside the Moore Street area. These locations are of historical significance and must be given the prominence that they deserve.
“Our plan will bring about the redevelopment and revitalisation of a significant part of Dublin city centre. It will be modelled on the success of the Temple Bar redevelopment project and will allow for the historical and economic significance of the 1916 sites to be preserved. We are also proposing that a ‘Freedom Trail’ be established so that the sites associated with the Easter Rising are clearly identified.
“The Government has no real plan for safeguarding these important locations. The centenary of the Easter Rising will come and go, but it is important that we invest in our heritage to ensure it is preserved to allow future generations of Irish people to recognise the sacrifices made in 1916. This Bill will safeguard these places and give them the recognitionthey deserve.”
Posted by Jim on
CONTACT: 917-291-1373
Kevin Martin, the National Treasurer of the 1916 Societies, the fastest growing Republican separatist organization, which began in Tyrone and is spreading across Ireland, began a whirlwind visit to New York to introduce its new political strategy and “One Ireland One Vote” initiative in America. The centrepiece of the tour was a well attended public meeting, in mid-town Manhattan, at the fashionable Wolfe Tone Irish Pub. The tour included a live radio interview with the influential Radio Free Eireann program, briefings of journalists and officers of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and has been expanded to conduct follow-up meetings in the New York area.
Before the first public meeting Mr. Martin visited the Brooklyn studios of WBAI Radio, where he gave a wide-ranging interview to Radio Free Eireann hosts John McDonagh and Sandy Boyer, lasting thirty minutes. Mr. Martin said when asked what the 1916 Societies are:
“The 1916 Societies were formed in 2009 in East Tyrone, and is now spreading around the country. We are proposing peaceful alternative strategies to revive feelings about a United Ireland and rebuild momentum to that aim. We contend that current British strategy gives former republicans, now constitutional nationalists the trappings of power at Stormont while trapping citizens with a permanent unionist veto at Stormont over any real change, much less movement to a united Ireland. The 1916 Societies are committed to exclusively peaceful means and advocate a ONE IRELAND ONE VOTE, initiative supported by debates, petition for a new All-Ireland Referendum.”
When asked whether we were getting closer to seeing the ideals of a united Ireland, Mr. Martin replied:
“Today those ideals seem to be getting further away than ever. A recent poll in the GUARDIAN newspaper showed that only one in five people in the occupied 6 counties believes there will be a United Ireland within 20 years, and that this number is half what it was in surveys after the Good Friday Agreement. Sadly there are some in the 26 counties who seem to feel that they have little or no obligation towards fellow Irish citizens living under a British administration directed by David Cameron. This cannot be allowed, therefore, the 1916 Societies are campaigning for the only alternative which is a free and open, All-Ireland referendum, to determine future constitutional arrangements for Ireland. We have a vision and a strategy for Irish freedom which is gaining traction against the failed existing establishment.”
Asked what he thought of current political strategies to gain a united Ireland, he said:
“Nationalist political parties in Stormont promised a united Ireland by 2003, then 2014, then 2016. They now say we are in a ‘countdown’ to freedom, while evidence shows the British are succeeding in ensuring that won’t happen as it has been written into the detail of the Good Friday Agreement under the guise of a Border Poll. NO constitutional change through a border poll as set out in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement will ever happen. In actual fact, a border poll completely denies the citizens in the 26 Counties their democratic right to vote on Irish unity and is in reality designed to suit the Unionist majority voters in the 6 counties by excluding all voters in the 26 Counties.
“A Border poll gives the British Secretary of State a supreme veto over Irish self-determination; it discriminates against the majority of the people of Ireland and is designed as a triple lock against Irish unity. This makes no sense whatsoever for Republicans pursuing a United Ireland and therefore it should be condemned outright”.
PUBLIC MEETING
Mr. Martin hurried from the WBAI radio studio in Brooklyn to the newly opened Wolfe Tone Irish Pub in mid-town Manhattan, for the formal American public launch of the 1916 Societies. Here he was introduced by well-known Republican Martin Galvin, who said he had been “approached by trusted friends and family members of commemorated patriots, who said that new political initiatives were needed if we were ever able to see an end of British rule in Ireland. A little over a year ago, at the commemoration of my close friend Liam Ryan in Ardboe, I was briefed about 1916 Societies’ initiatives and asked would I help them get a hearing in the United States. Today we are fortunate to have with us Kevin Martin, National Treasurer of the 1916 Societies and to hear first-hand about an All-Ireland petition their flagship initiative which is spreading swiftly right across Ireland.”
ENDORSEMENTS
Kevin Martin began his presentation with a DVD specially prepared for his American launch. The DVD gave a brief historical outline and then concluded with several personal endorsements of the One Ireland One Vote (OIOV) initiative. Derek Warfield of the Wolfe Tones called it “the most important political initiative to unite Ireland he had seen in years.”
Tyrone Councillor Barry Monteith said “if you believe in the principles of 1916 and national freedom, you should believe in One Ireland One Vote.” Councillor Davy Hyland noted he was speaking in Newry, the birthplace of John Mitchel, a patriot who was exiled to America, and urged exiled children in America to support the same aim for Irish freedom by supporting One Ireland One Vote. Councillor Bernice Swift urged Americans and everyone to “get behind the One Ireland One Vote and be part of an initiative which will be heard around the world by signing the petition to play your part for an Independent and Free Ireland.”
OPENING
Kevin Martin then gave an explanation of the 1916 Societies and its strategy. He noted:
“We are approaching the centenary of the Easter Rising, and the ideals and spirit of 1916 remind us that the right to national freedom and sovereignty which they proclaimed has not yet come for the people of 6 Irish counties.
“The 1916 Societies are an Irish separatist movement. We believe the Irish Republic should be a sovereign, independent state as set out in the 1916 Proclamation and are committed to achieving the reunification of Ireland on that basis. We believe in the right of the Irish people to national self-determination and demand this be exercised in the form of a 32-county, inclusive and democratic all-Ireland referendum on Irish Unity, requiring at its end a full British withdrawal from all of Ireland.
“Britain clearly states, backed up by its own legislation, that it will only call a border poll if and when they are satisfied 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. This ‘triple lock’ effectively bars any movement towards ending partition without British agreement, ensuring the notion of Irish Unity remains no more than an aspiration with little prospect of being physically realised.
“This cannot be allowed, therefore, the 1916 Societies are campaigning for the only alternative which is a free and open, All-Ireland referendum, to determine future democratic and constitutional arrangements for Ireland as of right. We have a vision and a strategy for Irish freedom which is gaining traction against the failed existing political establishment.
“The 1916 Societies believe that the potential impact of the One Ireland One Vote initiative is immeasurable in defeating current British strategy and putting us back on track to achieving the ideals and freedom which were proclaimed almost a century ago at the GPO in Dublin”.
Mr. Martin then answered questions from the audience before calling upon respected New York businessman and Republican supporter, who had previously read out The Proclamation, Hugh O’Lunney originally from, Swanlinbar in County Cavan to be the first person to sign the One Ireland One Vote Petition.
BRIEFINGS
Mr. Martin also conducted briefings with journalists including Ray O’Hanlon of the IRISH ECHO newspaper, and officers with the Ancient Order of Hibernians. After joining the AOH for a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral he was invited to address them at an event that followed the service. Here Mr. Martin thanked the American AOH for its support for freedom-for-all-Ireland, and said that the 1916 Societies offered a crucial opportunity to support the rights to freedom and principles of 1916 by a new initiative of debates, forums and referendum.
Before returning to Ireland, Mr. Martin conducted a series of follow-up meetings with individuals who are interested in the 1916 Societies and those who want to explore its political strategy to achieve a united Ireland.
Posted by Jim on October 10, 2015
By Brian Feeney (for Irish News)
As events at the Nama committee dominated headlines last week, the NIO
released its policy paper on implementing the Stormont House Agreement
You probably didn’t notice and there’s no reason why you should, but the
same day that a certain loyalist blogger and serial self-publicist was
giving evidence to Stormont’s Nama inquiry the NIO snuck out its policy
paper on implementing the Stormont House Agreement. Needless to say it
got virtually no coverage in the tidal wave of sensational allegations
made about the alleged recipients of money from the Cerberus deal.
If you’ve ever wondered why the NIO decided to draft the Stormont House
Agreement Bill 2015 and bring it through Westminster rather than allow
the clowns on the hill to legislate, once you read the policy paper all
becomes clear. Quite simply the British government intends to control
the Historical Inquiries Unit (HIU), what information it can have and
what it can reveal.
Anyone who believes the Policing Board will hold the HIU accountable is
living in cloud-cuckoo land. “The Secretary of State will have oversight
of the HIU regarding reserved and excepted matters.”
The UK government will prevent disclosure of any material or information
‘likely to prejudice national security (including information from the
intelligence services)’. None of this material can be published ‘without
the consent of the secretary of state’.
Now as we all know from past experience, ‘likely to prejudice national
security’ is whatever our proconsul for the time being decides is
national security.
When you look at the policy paper you see it begins with a questionable
statement and continues to ignore all suggestions and recommendations
made by interested parties, nationalist political parties, NGOs like the
Committee for the Administration of Justice and university academics. In
short, it’s a classic NIO document.
It begins with the unconvincing claim that ‘the institutions have the
needs of the victims and their families are at their heart’. No. The
needs of secrecy in the Ministry of Defence, the NIO and the Home office
are at their heart.
It has never been any different in the secretive British state. For
example it was only in 2002 after Freedom of Information requests that
details of Special Branch investigation into Charles Stewart Parnell and
other Irish MPs were released and even then only in restricted fashion.
The names of informers and amounts paid are still secret 125 years after
the fact.
Academics at QUB, Sinn Fein politicians and the CAJ among others
recommended that former RUC and RUC Special Branch personnel be not
employed in the HIU partly because they may have been complicit in
collusion or cover up or both. The great merit of the Historical
Enquiries Team was that its personnel were seconded from English forces
and we all know why.
However, ignoring all that, ‘the Bill does not prohibit the HIU from
recruiting persons who have previously served in policing or security
roles in Northern Ireland.’ So the HIU won’t work and the NIO has made
sure it won’t work because it will only investigate and publish what the
NIO allows it to investigate and publish.
Then there’s the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR).
It’s modelled on the Independent Commission on the Location of Victims’
Remains (ICLVR) which has worked extremely well. However the NIO policy
paper goes out of its way to make clear that while information given to
the ICIR is inadmissible in court, if that information is obtained or
can be obtained by other means then prosecution may follow.
That puts the kibosh on the ICIR because given the record of the PSNI
over the past four years, starting with the Boston college fiasco (all
hearsay) and continuing with their apparent trawling after the killing
of Kevin McGuigan with almost a score of people arrested and released,
who is going to risk giving information to the ICIR to pass to families?
Inevitably individuals in the PSNI would be working backwards from the
material a family received. In mitigation it has to be said on the basis
of evidence so far, that’s only likely in the case of prominent Sinn
Fein figures.
Buried in the policy paper is our proconsul’s admission that ‘on some
detailed questions covered in the Bill, there is not yet a clear
consensus between the five main Northern Ireland parties. Work will
continue to build consensus on remaining points of difference.’ Yeah
right.
Posted by Jim on
There has been a deafening silence from unionist leaders in response to
a statement attributed to the unionist paramilitary UDA in which it
declares it will never “go away”.
The statement was made in a loyalist magazine which is associated with
the UDA in south Belfast.
“The UDA are still in existence and won’t be leaving any stage whilst
Republicans of any faction still exist,” it declared.
The British government has also refused to acknowledge the statement.
And after attempting to play down the levels of UDA violence following
a double bombing in the County Antrim village of Ahoghill, there was a
great reluctance by the police to identify those behind a sectarian
bomb attack on a home in Derry which has been blamed locally on the
UDA.
Rachael Keys has described how she narrowly escaped injury when the
device ripped into her house in Lincoln Court in Derry’s Waterside last
Saturday night.
She described seeing a “big flash and loads and loads of smoke” when
the bomb detonated.
“I was sitting in the house, in the living-room, and the next thing the
whole lot came in round me,” she said.
“It really just scared the life out of me.”
The woman moved into the house 10 months ago but said the PSNI had
warned her it would not be safe for her to return.
“You just, sort of, get used to people putting you out of places, they
obviously just don’t want you here,” she said.
HYPOCRISY
Last month, the DUP withdrew its Ministers from the Six-County
powersharing Executive in response to allegations that the Provisional
IRA continues to exist.
Declaring it could not be “business as usual”, DUP leader Peter Robinson
announced a tactic or reappointing Ministers who would then offer their
resignations. This week it emerged that these Ministers are still
receiving their executive salaries, despite a party promise this would
not happen, and still using their ministerial cars.
On Tuesday, Sinn Fein responded to the loyalist statement by asking
unionist leaders where their outrage was. South Down representative
Chris Hazzard said their silence was “in deafening contrast” to their
reaction to claims regarding the Provisional IRA.
The continued activities of the UDA are being almost entirely ignored
by the political establishment and the mainstream media in Britain and
Ireland.
Drug-dealing and other forms of criminality have grown, but still
interspersed with bouts of sectarian violence and inter-factional
feuding. Recruitment posters have appeared in several areas.
“This is the same UDA whose political wing unionism stood shoulder to
shoulder with, in an effort to force an Orange march through a
nationalist community,” Mr Hazzard said.
“Perhaps that’s why there are no statements or social media posts from
the DUP or UUP on the UDA’s continued existence.
“Or maybe it’s just that they don’t care when it comes to unionist
paramilitaries.”
TALKS PROCESSION
Meanwhile, the crisis talks at Stormont, ostensibly intended to deal
with paramilitarism, are continuing British Prime Minister David Cameron
said he believes there is a will among the politicians to solve the
problems.
He added: “You can’t have politicians that are holding a ballot box in
one hand and a gun in the other, in any shape or form,” he said. The
comment is understood to have been directed at Sinn Fein, rather than
the unionist parties.
And speaking on BBC radio on Wednesday night, the DUP’s Edwin Poots
spoke of a “stench that still rises” from Sinn Fein, but added that “we
have peace in Northern Ireland, so we’ll hold our noses and do business
with you.”
Despite the offensive slur, the statement has been interpreted as a sign
of progress.
Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness told a meeting of his party on Wednesday
that the political talks will be successful “against the odds”.
He said the devolved institutions “are worth saving and I believe the
vast majority of people share that view”.
But he said the parties must agree to protect the most vulnerable and
ensure Stormont has “a workable budget so that public services are
delivered to the standard that the public expect and deserve”.
Posted by Jim on October 9, 2015
Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly has said that there are still many questions for the PSNI and British Government arising out of the revelations around the sectarian murder of Daniel Mc Colgan in 2002.
Mr Kelly said,
“During the ongoing inquest into the sectarian murder of Daniel McColgan in January 2002 it has become clear that both the British Government and the PSNI have many questions to answer including the involvement of state agents, the possible passing of information about an informant to the UDA and the disappearance of evidence.
“Despite requests from the solicitors representing the family of Daniel McColgan the PSNI and British MOD have successfully attained Public Immunity Certificates on documents, while many that have been passed on are heavily redacted.
“It has been reported that a file on at least one member of the Special Branch, has been sent to the PPS recommending that he be charged with conspiracy to murder and perverting the course of justice
“There are also concerns on how the PSNI handled an informant who came forward only to be found dead several hours later without being interviewed by CID.
“The Ombudsman investigation was focused on the running of police agents in North Belfast where we already know that RUC agents were involved in murder and other very serious crime in the past.
“These questions need to be answered not only into the murder of Daniel McColgan but also the other killings that were carried out in the area in the same period.
“I will continue to raise these matters so that the whole truth into the collusion by state forces and Unionist death squads is made public.”