Posted by Jim on September 5, 2015
The DUP leader Peter Robinson has offered to take part in a fresh round
of multi-party talks as a deep crisis over allegations that the
Provisional IRA still exists appears set to extend over a period of
weeks or months.
The talks will involve input from the Dublin and London governments and
will also include a new attempt to break the deadlock over last year’s
unimplemented Stormont House Agreement.
While the status of the political institutions in the North remains
under threat from the DUP following the withdrawal of the Ulster
Unionist Party, it now appears unlikely that a suspension or collapse
will take place ahead of the talks.
Last week, the UUP said it could no longer work with Sinn Fein because
trust had been “shattered” over claims that individual members of the
Provisional IRA had been involved in the killing last month of Kevin
McGuigan, suspected of being behind the ‘grudge’ murder of top
Provisional IRA figure Jock Davison last May.
The DUP briefly considered withdrawing from the Executive, but now says
it wants to see Sinn Fein excluded rather than see the Executive
collapse. The party has urged the British government to suspend the
Stormont Assembly while negotiations take place, something which
nationalist parties have refused.
While appearing to rule out a suspension, the call for fresh talks was
met with a positive response from the Dublin and London governments and
the other parties. However, Alliance leader David Ford expressed concern
over the “seemingly endless cycle of crisis after crisis”.
UNIONIST INFIGHTING
The escalating conflict between the two main unionist parties, the UUP
and DUP, was at the centre of this week’s events. In the latest twist,
Lisburn councillors Jenny Palmer and her husband John rejoined the UUP
after twelve years in a move that was seen as a morale boost for Mike
Nesbitt’s party. Mrs Palmer had quit the DUP after claiming she had been
bullied for blowing the whistle on the DUP’s efforts to influence the
outcome of a contract.
The DUP’s Arlene Foster defended the party from the UUP’s new hard line
on working with Sinn Fein. She said the UUP’s attitude to the present
crisis had echoes of the party’s actions in the years following the Good
Friday Agreement, and condemned the UUP’s refusal to back a suspension
of the Assembly.
“In the years after 1998 that vision was hallmarked by the UUP
steadfastly refusing to take action against Sinn Fein despite continued
IRA activity,” she said. “In 2015 Mike Nesbitt’s party again chose to
join forces with Sinn Fein to ensure it’s business as usual at Stormont
next week.”
Mr Robinson, who has been on holiday, branded the UUP decision to quit
the Executive as irrational, illogical and based on “political
expediency” rather than principle. Walking away should be a last resort,
he said.
“This is not the time to flee the battlefield, it is the time to
confront violent republicanism, to stand and fight for democratic
principles and to do what is right for the law abiding citizens of
Northern Ireland,” said Mr Robinson.
He said he accepted a police “assessment” that PIRA members were
involved in the murder of Mr McGuigan and that some PIRA structures
remain in place. Such activity is inconsistent with membership of the
Executive, he said.
“The UUP position is just incorrigible.
“How any party could say that they want to take a principled stand and
stand up to Sinn Fein and then allow Sinn Fein in the business committee
to ensure that business would carry on…
“It is just an unbelievable position and one they are going to have to
spend a lot of time explaining to the electorate.”
Writing in the Belfast Telegraph, Robinson added: “We must not allow
republicans who precipitated the crisis, to end up benefiting from it.
It should be republicans and not unionists who pay the price for the
misbehaviour of the IRA.”
‘HYPOCRISY’
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein accused its political opponents of cynically
exploiting the recent killings. It also accused the UUP of hypocrisy
over its united front on parading with the political spokesmen of the
two most active loyalist paramilitary groups.
Conor Murphy, Sinn Fein representative for Newry and Armagh, said: “We
and the 178,000 people who voted for us in the last Assembly elections
will not be excluded or discriminated against. Those days are over.”
Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness said his party had a strong record of
condemning violence and said those who engage in violence are “no friend
of Sinn Fein”.
He described the killers of both Kevin McGuigan and Jock Davison as
“criminals” and “violent dissidents”. Speaking from Stormont Castle, the
Deputy First Minister said any republicans engaging in violence
“immediately become the enemy and they become dissidents”.
He said the UUP action was “all about the election” and said if the DUP
left the Executive it would show a “massive failure of leadership” which
would create a “very real prospect of an increase in violence on our
streets”.
“The only way we can defeat those people is by working together and be
seen to work together,” he said.
Meanwhile, the US administration has urged Stormont politicians to seize
the “opportunity” presented by the new round of talks. Retired Senator
Gary Hart, who represents Secretary of State John Kerry, said the US
remained “actively engaged” and would continue to support the process.
PRISONERS TARGETED
But the DUP has insisted that Stormont must not operate on a ‘business
as usual’ basis and Peter Robinson has threatened that ‘unilateral
action’ could be taken. In a foretaste of what might be planned, DUP
councillors on Belfast City Council moved to temporarily overturn a
decision to fund former prisoners’ groups.
Sinn Fein councillor Jim McVeigh said that community groups should not
be punished in the political fall-out over Mr McGuigan’s murder. He said
the funding had not only been ear-marked for ex-prisoners groups but
also victims groups, and had “become a victim of the electoral battle”
between the DUP and the Ulster Unionists.
“Republicans weren’t involved in the killing of Kevin McGuigan but we
don’t believe that community groups should be penalised,” Mr McVeigh
said.
“They have no connection to the murder of Kevin McGuigan – whether
they’re ex-prisoners’ or whether they’re victims’ groups.”
Posted by Jim on
A prominent former IRA Volunteer has spoken out for the first time to
defend himself after unionists called for him to be returned to prison
by the British authorities.
Sean Kelly, who was injured in an IRA attack on a UDA death-squad in the
Shankill Road in 1993, repeated his support for the peace process and
said he has been used as a “political football”.
The prominent republican spoke out after it was reported that DUP leader
Peter Robinson had asked British Prime Minister David Cameron to revoke
his early release licence and that of another former republican
prisoner.
Kelly is one of 12 people who have so far been questioned by the PSNI
amid claims that individual members of the Provisional IRA were involved
in the ‘revenge’ killing of Kevin McGuigan in east Belfast last month.
Kelly denies any involvement in the attack and says he was on a break in
County Donegal at the time.
“I put it to Peter Robinson, who does he think he is, the first minister
or the chief constable?”
He believes the DUP are focusing on him because they are under pressure
form the UUP, who have pulled out of the Six County Executive over
claims that the Provisional IRA still exists.
“Who do you think you are to use me as a political pawn or any
ex-republican prisoner as a pawn?” he said. “I am a firm supporter of
the peace process and have been since I was released from jail.”
The Ardoyne man said he has worked with former prisoner groups and the
local community in recent years.
“It is a big step for me to do this (giving an interview)” he said. “But
there comes a time when you have to stand up for yourself and tell
people to stop treating you as a political football when they know my
stance on the peace process.”
Kelly said he was “proud to be a republican and will always be a
republican.”
In June 2005 Kelly was returned to jail by then British Direct Ruler
Peter Hain after claims that he was involved in rioting. He was released
weeks later just days before the Provisional IRA formally announced an
end to their armed campaign.
His lawyer Seamus Delaney said that no evidence was put to his client
during ten interviews and two days at Antrim police station last month.
He also revealed his client is set to take legal action against the PSNI
for wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment and described the arrest
as “a demonstration of political policing.”
“From the first interview to the last interview I was asking them, ‘put
the evidence to Sean Kelly’,” he said. “There was not a pick of
evidence, not one scintilla to connect him with the killing.”
Mr Delaney believes the first minister was merely reacting to political
developments by raising the subject of his client at this time.
“Peter Robinson had plenty of time to set out his position and it is not
coincidental that the Ulster unionists up the ante and he is trying to
take a harder stance.”
Sinn Fein justice spokesman Gerry Kelly criticised Mr Robinson’s call.
“The fact that Peter Robinson has asked David Cameron to revoke the
licences of individual republican ex-prisoners is not acceptable,” he
said.
“The DUP have quite deliberately chosen to ignore the fact that both of
these men have been released unconditionally by the police.
“It is also unacceptable that these individuals have had their
identities revealed in the public arena by the media. This is clearly an
attempt by unionists to subvert the justice system.”
Another republican, Sean Clinton, is also suing the PSNI chief for false
arrest, false imprisonment and unlawful detention after he was arrested
and released without charge.
The father-of-four said that during the 36 hours he was held at Antrim
Interrogation Centre, no evidence was put to him either.
“The PSNI arrived at my door around 6am on August 19, they said they
were arresting me in connection with the murder of Kevin McGuigan and
took me to Antrim. The house was then searched for a further 12 hours.
Two cars were taken, one belonging to me, one belonging to my eldest
daughter, who is pregnant. They took phones, they took two laptops, one
belonging to my daughter who is about to start her A-Levels, and they
took the memory sticks with my daughter’s work.”
Mr Clinton says he believes he was arrested simply because he is a
republican and knew both Kevin McGuigan and Jock Davison.
“I’m a republican and my name, my face, suits to be thrown into the
middle of this and I just don’t believe I should’ve been arrested…
“I’m trying to redress this for my family. We have strong connections in
the Short Strand and I feel this has put me back out there when I have
been trying not to be. I’m just a pawn in the middle of this whole
game.”
Posted by Jim on September 4, 2015
Irish News ( Belfast). Friday, September 4, 2015
by Martin Mc Guinness
RECENT events in Belfast are first and foremost a personal tragedy for the families of ‘Jock’ Davison and Kevin McGuigan.
In the immediate aftermath of both of these appalling murders carried out by criminals, I and my party colleagues made our condemnation of these actions clear and publicly called for every effort to be made to bring those responsible to justice.
And in my view the people who killed Kevin McGuigan are dissidents as their attack on him was also an attack on the peace and political processes.
This was not the first time I have challenged criminality and threats to the peace and political processes and I take very strong exception to anyone calling into question my commitment to peace.
My record is there for all to see in my words and actions following the murder of two British soldiers in Antrim, the murders of Constables Stephen Carroll and Ronan Kerr, the murder of Prison Officer David Black and many other actions by dissident groups.
I have stood with Chief Constables and the leader of the DUP condemning the actions of those who would try to drag us back to the past.
In facing down these elements I have encountered threats against my life and attacks on my family home.
I did not bow the knee to those behind those threats and attacks then and I do not intend to start now.
We have also seen violent actions from sections of the loyalist community and I have made countless attempts to get joint statements from the five party leaders in the Executive condemning those actions.
Not once could I get a unionist leader to stand with me, yet some of those same unionists have questioned my commitment to peace and that of my fellow Sinn Féin ministers.
I also take exception to those party political interests north and south who have attempted to fuel this crisis for selfish electoral advantage.
What is happening between the DUP and the Ulster Unionists is really about the election. It is about the UUP trying to gain advantage over the DUP by attempting to bring about a situation where the DUP walk out and abandon the political institutions.
If that happened it would represent a massive failure of leadership.
The recent posturing by political unionism has nothing to do with concern for the families involved, or to aid the efforts to bring those responsible to justice; instead it is the latest act in the increasingly shambolic fall-out between the parties.
The actions of Mike Nesbitt in particular have been nothing short of shameful. He has seized upon these tragedies for naked political advantage. He has played fast and loose with the peace process and left
it hanging at the mercy of violent extremists.
That is not leadership.
The fact of the matter is that there are some within political unionism who have never been comfortable with sharing power with republicans and nationalists.
Sinn Féin entered into power sharing because we wanted to; unionists because they had to. And some, led by the rejectionists within the UUP and their fellow travellers from the TUV and Ukip, now think they have found a way to get back to majority rule.
But they will not succeed. Far from protecting the democratic process, what Mike Nesbitt and Nigel Dodds have proposed in seeking to exclude Sinn Féin would not only disenfranchise nationalists and republicans but also the large section of the Unionist population who want the political institutions up and running and working on their behalf.
Both Unionist parties need to understand that the institutions without Sinn Féin are meaningless.
I made that point clear to British prime minister David Cameron when we spoke yesterday and told him that any suggestion of suspending the political institutions is not an option.
Sinn Féin will robustly resist any attempt to undermine the political institutions – and the mandate given to us by a whole section of our community.
We will continue to stand on that mandate to seek justice for the Davison and McGuigan families.
This is a time for leadership and I am prepared to give that leadership. I expect the same commitment from Peter Robinson, Mike Nesbitt, Alasdair McDonnell and David Ford, and from An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the British prime minister.
Posted by Jim on September 3, 2015
from The Road to Rebellion by Mike McCormack
As the American-Irish and their Irish-American sons and daughters coalesced into a wage-earning community of Diaporadoes in support of Irish freedom, the rise of nationalist sympathy had already begun in Ireland with the formation of patriotic groups emboldened by the Gaelic Revival. Significantly, despite the subordinate status of women in the British empire, Irish women began to take a substantial role in national affairs as members of the Irish Literary Society (1892) and the Gaelic League (1893). On Easter Sunday 1900, 15 women met in the Celtic Literary Society clubrooms to present a blackthorn stick to Arthur Griffith for defending the outspoken patriot, Maud Gonne, from a maligning editorial. The meeting turned to planning a ‘Patriotic Children’s Treat’ to reward children who would boycott the children’s picnic in Phoenix Park planned to celebrate Queen Victoria’s April visit. More than 50 women enlisted on the committee which funded and sponsored a historic event with 30,000 children parading to an alternate picnic punctuated by anti-British speeches. James Connolly called it ‘the first political parade of the coming generation. It was a great sight to see the little rebels taking possession of the city, a sight more promising for the future of the country than any we can remember!’ The funds left over were used to start Inghinidhe na hEireann (in-EEN-ie na HAIR-inn) or Daughters of Erin – with Maud as President, to encourage all things Irish and boycott all things British. Their feelings were expressed in their newspaper Bean na h’Éireann (woman of Ireland) edited by Helena Molony and advocating militancy, separatism and feminism. They also produced patriotic plays as part of a National Theater Society which had been founded by Lady Gregory and W.B. Yeats in 1898.
On 25 November 1913, the
Irish Volunteers were formed at Dublin’s Rotunda to work for Irish independence. A few months later a group of women met in Wynn’s Hotel, Dublin, to discuss forming an organization of women to work in conjunction with the Volunteers. On April 2, 1914,
Cumann na mBan (Council of Women) was launched in the Pillar Room of the Mansion House. Branches were formed throughout the country and were directed by a Provisional Committee. The first group, named the
Ard Chraobh (High Branch), held their meetings in Brunswick Street. They absorbed Inghinidhe and announced to detractors that they were not the handmaidens nor camp followers of the Volunteers –
we are their allies! Their constitution stated they were to
advance the cause of Irish liberty, to organize Irishwomen in the furtherance of this object, to assist in arming and equipping a body of Irish men for the defense of Ireland and to form a fund for these purposes to be called ‘The Defense of Ireland Fund. The fund helped purchase the arms smuggled into Howth Harbor which members aided in hiding. Its recruits were white-collar workers, professional and working-class women. In September 1914, the Irish Volunteers split over John Redmond’s appeal for its members to enlist in the British Army. The majority of Cumann na mBan members supported the 2,000 men who rejected this call and who retained the original name, the Irish Volunteers.
On 24 April 1916, when the Military Council of the IRB launched the Easter Rising, it brought Cumann na mBan, along with the Irish Volunteers, Irish Citizen Army, Hibernian Rifles and Fianna Eireann into the ‘Army of the Irish Republic’. Patrick Pearse was appointed overall Commandant-General and James Connolly Commandant of the Dublin Battalion. On the day of the Rising, Cumann na mBan members entered the General Post Office on O’Connell Street with their male compatriots. Winifred Carney arrived armed with both a Webley revolver and a typewriter. By nightfall, women insurgents were in all the rebel strongholds throughout the city except Boland’s Mill and the South Dublin Union under Éamon de Valera and Eamonn Ceannt. The women worked as Red Cross nurses, couriers, procured rations, gathered intelligence on scouting expeditions, carried despatches and transferred arms and munitions between arms dumps across the city and insurgent strongholds. Constance Markievicz, armed with a pistol, shot a policeman as they took control of St Stephen’s Green. Later, along with other female fighters, she carried out sniper attacks on British troops in the city center. She suggested that they bomb the Shelbourne Hotel, but before they could, British troops entered the building by the Kildare street door. At dawn the British opened fire from the hotel on the Green forcing the Irish to retreat. Markievicz, Mary Hyland and Lily Kempson were part of a force of twelve who raided Trinity College and found fifty rifles; but by that time the Green garrison had retreated to the smaller, but stronger, College of Surgeons. Helena Moloney was among the soldiers who attacked Dublin Castle, where she worked with the wounded. A number of Cumann na mBan members died in the Rising.
At the time of surrender, Pearse insisted that the women leave the GPO saying, when the history of this fight will be written, the foremost page in the annals should be given to the women of Dublin who had taken their place in the fight for the establishment of the republic. He told them that their presence had inspired the men, whose heroism, wonderful though it was, paled before the devotion and duty of the women of Cumann na mBan and he prayed God would give them the strength to carry on the fight. Reluctantly they left except for Julia Grennan who cared for Joe Plunkett, Winifred Carney who tended the wounded James Connolly and Elizabeth O’Farrell who would accompany Pearse to his surrender and carry his cease fire order to the outlying posts. More than 70 women were arrested after the Rising and many of them were imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail; all but 12 had been released by 8 May 1916. The 12 remaining were released by July, 1917. Their release was not the end of their service, for they were to be a significant force in the coming War of Independence.
Posted by Jim on September 1, 2015
The 26 County Taoiseach Enda Kenny is facing calls for his resignation
after an inquiry found today that the former Garda police chief
commissioner Martin Callinan felt obliged to retire as a result of a
message conveyed from the Taoiseach.
Although interpretations vary sharply, the report by the Fennelly
Inquiry appears to confirm that the state’s top police officer was
subjected to constructive dismissal.
Callinan’s retirement in March 2014 came as a scandal erupted over the
secret taping by the authorities of phone calls to and from police
stations around the state, and a subsequent cover-up. The controversy
also centres around the undue influence used by the Taoiseach to bring
about Callinan’s sudden retirement, ensuring that the former
Commissioner took much of the blame for successive failures in the 26
County justice system.
The Fennelly report, which was published this evening, said the
immediate and direct cause of Mr Callinan’s decision to quit in March
2014 was a visit from the then secretary general at the Department of
Justice, Brian Purcell, and the message he conveyed from Kenny.
The Taoiseach said he accepted his decision to send Mr Purcell to the
Commissioner’s house on a Monday evening to discuss his handling of
Garda phone recordings controversy was the “immediate catalyst” in
Callinan’s decision to retire the following day.
The visit to Callinan’s house prompted allegations from the Opposition
parties that Mr Kenny had sent Mr Purcell to effectively sack him.
According to the report, Mr Callinan said after the visit he knew he was
expected to retire. “There was absolutely no options put on the table to
me,” he said, adding: “I was left in no doubt what I had to do then that
evening. I was left in absolutely no doubt”.
Speaking on state-run television immediately after the publication of
the report, Mr Kenny said the charge against him that he had sacked the
Garda chief had been “clearly and unambiguously” rejected by the inquiry
report.
Sinn Fein deputy Aengus O Snodaigh said Kenny’s position on the findings
was not credible, and that the Taoiseach should consider his position.
He said that the orders given by Kenny to send Purcell to Callinan’s
home had the ‘obvious effect of conveying to Commissioner Callinan that
he should resign’.
He called for the Dail to be reconvened to discuss the report next week.
“It was inevitable that Commissioner Callinan would see no other option
but to resign following a visit by the Secretary General of the
Department to his home on the orders of the Taoiseach,” he said.
“The conflicting evidence contained in the Fennelly report is
extraordinary and raises questions as to why the Taoiseach felt the need
to send Mr Purcell on the government’s behalf in the manner in which he
did, rather than waiting until the following morning’s cabinet meeting
to discuss Commissioner Callinan’s position?
“Furthermore, this report calls into serious doubt the position of the
Attorney General who was aware of important information for months and
decided not to communicate this information with Cabinet members and
other relevant parties.
“The events that led to the Commission of Investigation shook public
confidence in the administration of the Gardai. The delay in the
publication of this report, coupled with the confusion caused by the
Taoiseach in his failure to answer questions regarding his own
contribution to the Fennelly investigation and now his
less-than-convincing spin that he is in the clear following the
publication of this report, has only served to make matters worse.
“The response from Fine Gael and the Labour Party to this entire crisis
has at all times been reactionary and has focused solely on political
damage control rather than on addressing the root causes of the problem.”