Posted by Jim on October 15, 2013
Three elected Leinster House TDs were video-recorded by specialist PSNI police as they attempted to speak to the family of a jailed republican activist, it has emerged.
Family and friends of eirigi member Stephen Murney had gathered at Newry courthouse last week for a hearing on ‘trumped up’ charges against the outspoken republican involving items of clothing and computer images of police.
The three TDs – Clare Daly, Maureen O’Sullivan and Mick Wallace – had attended the court to observe proceedings in the case.
One of the TDs directly challenged the PSNI as to the legality of recording what was essentially a confidential conversation between the three parliamentarians and Mr Murney’s partner and parents.
The PSNI also continuously monitored and video-recorded all those taking part in a protest against his internment outside the courthouse. Those present at the committal hearing only observed a further judicial delay as the hearing was postponed for a further two weeks.
It later emerged that the eirigi man was forcibly strip-searched twice in Maghaberry prison as he was taken to court and then again on his return from prison.
Speaking after the hearing, eirigi’s Breandan Mac Cionnaith said, “the PSNI, the prosecution and the court system in the Six Counties have successfully colluded with each other to ensure that Stephen has now been imprisoned for almost a year.
“Wednesday’s hearing again resulted in yet more unacceptable delays with the dual purpose of prolonging Stephen’s imprisonment and penalising his family.
“Despite all this, Stephen and his family remain in good spirits and remain confident that he will be completely vindicated of those charges laid against him.”
COREY DELAY
Meanwhile, a hearing for republican prisoner of conscience Martin Corey was due to be held this week but was also postponed by Parole Commissioners.
The 63-year-old republican has been interned by a British order since April 2010. He is facing no charges and authorities have refused to tell him or his legal team why he was detained.
Campaigners say the Lurgan man has the right to go before Parole Commissioners for a review every 12 months but that he hasn’t been given that opportunity in more than two years.
South Down MP Margaret Ritchie says she intends to “make representations” to British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers on the matter.
“It is a form of internment,” she said. “The bottom line is we need to get the Martin Corey case resolved for himself, his family and the sake of the wider community.”
A long-time friend of the Lurgan republican, Jim McIlmurray, said Mr Corey already served the equivalent of a seven-year prison sentence and spoke of his concerns about the state of his health.
“If Martin had committed a crime they would have charged him at this stage,” he said.
Mr Corey’s case was raised in the Dail this week by Independent TD Maureen Sullivan, while Clare Daly TD raised Mr Murney’s case.
Sandy Boyer
Posted by Jim on October 12, 2013
By Brian Feeney (for Irish News)
Sinn Fein spokesmen have been queuing up to express disappointment at
what they complain is a lack of unionist leadership. Where have they
been? Perhaps they have read no history but most of them have lived
through the whole period of the Troubles and therefore the present
stance of unionist politicians should come as no surprise to them.
Unionists have always used violence or the threat of violence to get
their way. For them to join in common cause with the UVF in north and
east Belfast is entirely consistent with past behaviour.
Forty years ago exactly senior figures in what was then the Official
Unionist Party and the DUP sat down with loyalist terrorists to conspire
to destroy any attempt to establish a power-sharing executive. The
following year 1974, members of both parties sat around the table with
the UDA and UVF to organise and carry out the UWC strike which brought
the north to a standstill. Just run your mind over all the other
instances of unionist politicians standing four square with men from
organisations which were relentlessly killing Catholics. Indeed
unionists voted men from the same organisations into ceremonial
positions in councils. Then there’s the ‘Carson Trail’, the ‘Third
Farce’, the 1986 ‘Day of Action’ against the Anglo-Irish Agreement, not
to mention Ulster Resistance with Peter Robinson looking ridiculous in
his red beret and glasses. Why then should anyone in Sinn Fein be
surprised or disappointed to find Robinson throwing in his lot with the
wilder shores of unionism? Don’t forget Robinson has form. Form in the
shape of a criminal conviction for leading a mob into Clontibret which
terrorised the village and injured two gardai.
After a brief flirtation with moderation in 2011 Robinson returned to
form last year when he belatedly added his name to the notorious letter
signed by practically every senior unionist elected in Belfast which
attacked the Parades Commission and encouraged defiance of its
determinations. Oh, and by the way those determinations have the force
of law though we’re all waiting (but not with bated breath) for anyone
to be convicted for a breach of a determination. What we’re witnessing
in the last year is a unionist counter-revolution against the Good
Friday Agreement. Piece by piece and bit by bit unionists are working to
dismantle the agreement. They have stopped working the executive. It
operates only in sectarian silos, each department a law unto itself.
Robinson’s unilateral U-turn on the Maze/Long Kesh deal means that there
is no Programme for Government any more, not mind you that it was
operative. However, Robinson’s U-turn on an item in the programme is a
precedent which means that he can walk away from any item with impunity.
You can spot the next target easily because Robinson’s next position is
Jim Allister’s current one. Whatever Allister sets his sights on is
where Robinson will be in a couple of months. Therefore the next target
is the definition of victim. Unionists will refuse to operate any deal
on the past until republican victims are excluded from it. In this
context the fact that after meeting Dr Haass unionists scuttled up to
Twaddell Avenue to signal solidarity with the Orange Order and UVF is
highly significant. Letting loud mouths from the order do their dirty
work has always been normal practice for unionist politicians. You stand
behind them on the platform and in the case of Nelson McCausland last
weekend applaud with your hands below your waist so the crowd and
journalists, though not the cameras, can see but your presence endorses
and justifies the remarks.
You can see why Sinn Fein is disappointed and dismayed by this behaviour
but if they review the last year they can come to only one conclusion
and it is that unionism has not changed in any way. The DUP has always
opposed the Good Friday Agreement, its principles and underlying
concepts. Now with the support of loyalist mobs they feel justified in
stopping operating it. Many in Sinn Fein now question whether they have
a partner in what they still call ‘government’. In the last year no DUP
minister has said a word to lead them to believe they have.
Posted by admin on October 11, 2013
The Museum is honored to have been selected by the government of Ireland to present an exhibit and related programs honoring James Connolly, the Irish labor movement, and the Dublin lockout of 1913. At 11 a.m. on Friday, November 1, join the Museum and very special guest, the Ambassador Consul General of Ireland Noel Kilkenny, for a rededication of the James Connolly Memorial at the Riverfront Park in Troy, NY, at River St. & 2nd St. — assemble behind the Uncle Sam statue.
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| James Connolly |
On Saturday, Nov. 2, at 12 noon, “Labor & Dignity: James Connolly in America” will open to the public for an extended presentation after being on view at the Irish Consulate in New York City. The Museum’s public exhibit hours are Wednesday-Friday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday, 12 Noon – 4 p.m. Metered parking on Albany streets weekdays, free on weekends. Connolly, who lived briefly in Troy, NY, was not only a labor organizer, but also one of the seven signatories of the 1916 Easter Proclamation who paid for his patriotism with his life when all seven were executed for their roles in seeking Ireland’s independence. The Museum is part of the team that helped plan the exhibit curated and produced by Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, in conjunction with Hofstra University, Rutgers University, the AFL-CIO, the National AOH, International Union of Operating Engineers, Irish American Labor Coalition and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Posted by Jim on October 7, 2013
Sinn Fein First Minister Martin McGuinness has challenged unionists to confront the paramilitary UVF in east Belfast, who he accused of being closely linked to the anti-Catholic Orange Order. He was speaking out amid increasing violence by the loyalist organisation, including the shooting of a woman six times last week in an apparent revenge attack. Mr McGuinness said that had republicans been involved in the gun attack on 24-year-old Jemma McGrath last Wednesday there would not have been silence from unionist ranks in the assembly. Citing his own condemnation of republicans in the past, he said there was a need to “stand by the agreements that we have made”. “It is about the commitment of all of us to face down violent extremists, whether they be so-called dissident republicans or extreme loyalists,” Mr McGuinness said. “That is the test for this assembly and that is the test for this executive and I think thus far serious questions have to be asked about the commitment to stand by the PSNI.” Mr McGuinness again said the Orange Order and the PUP (Progressive Unionist Party) were “indistinguishable” from the UVF in north Belfast. In response, an Orange Order spokesman rejected the comments. He said were a “cynical attempt to increase tensions”. The PUP claimed the “unity of purpose” among unionists over flags and parades had “unnerved” Sinn Fein. But links between the organisations appeared to be in evidence again this week as masked paramilitaries attempted to march into a nationalist area of north Belfast to ‘complete’ a July 12th Orange Order parade. Repeated attempts to stage a sectarian parade through Ardoyne and other nationalist areas has been refused by the Parades Commission since the summer. Members of all three organisations were also busy last weekend when they joined thousands of other hardline unionists and loyalists to mark the founding of the UVF in west Belfast. Last weekend the Orange Order again sought permission to allow a loyalist parade through Ardoyne this Saturday — as a precondition for future talks. But this was again refused by the Parades Commission. North Belfast Sinn Fein assembly member Gerry Kelly said the Orange Order’s so-called ‘Twaddell initiative’ — named after the ten-week old loyalist encampment at the interface between the two communities — was an attempt to undermine the Parades Commission. “The Orange Order has announced its intentions through the media without discussing things with or providing prior notification… If they really wanted to assist community relations or the Haass process an initiative might be to move their protest off the interface at Twaddell,” he said. “What needs to happen is direct dialogue, without preconditions in place, between the local residents and the Orange Order.” The Greater Ardoyne Residents’ Collective also denounced the idea “as there is nothing cultural or religious about sectarian marchers demanding to coat-trail through our community where they are clearly not welcome,” they said. “Any attempt to force them upon greater Ardoyne will be resisted by any means necessary.”