AP November 2011

Sraith Nua Iml 34 Uimhir 10 November / Samhain 2011 PRICE €2/£2

anphoblachtPRIORY HALL HOUSING SCANDAL NELSON McCAUSLAND

MINISTER FOR EVICTIONS?

NELSON McCAUSLANDMINISTER FOR EVICTIONS?

FUNDING FEARS FOR RURAL TRANSPORT NETWORK

NIGHTMARELEGACY OF THE CELTIC TIGER

NIGHTMARELEGACY OF THE CELTIC TIGER

McGuinnessmade thedifferenceJULIA CARNEY ON THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONJULIA CARNEY ON THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONJULIA CARNEY ON THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

2 | November / Samhain 2011 www.anphoblacht.com

IN PICTURES [email protected]

Philly Maguire, Gerry McClory and Donal Óg Cusack at the October 8th memorial Gaelic footballchallenge between a St Teresa’s Select and Kevin Lynch’s Select to honour the Hunger Strikers

(SEE AN PHOBLACHT ONLINE FOR REPORT)

Dublin vigil on the 30th anniversary of the end of the 1981 Hunger Strike

Lanterns were launched across Derry City in October to mark the end of the 1981 H-Block Hunger Strike

ON THE CANVASS WITH THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENTCastleisland,Kerry

Sligo Town

Baile Bhuirne,Chorcaí

Tallaght, Dublin

Carlow

Derry

Moore Street,Dublin

Roscommon

Galway CityGalway City

Aranmore IslandAranmore Island

BallinasloeBallinasloe

PortlaoisePortlaoise

AN PHOBLACHT is published monthly by Sinn Féin. The views in AnPhoblacht are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflectthe views of Sinn Féin.

We welcome articles, opinions and photographs from newcontributors but please contact the Editor first.

Eag

arfh

oca

l Editorial

anphoblachtWHAT’S INSIDE…4

We must face the realityof eurozone chaos11

Ní leór plean Keane don Chothromas Diúltach16-17PAT FINUCANE ASSASSINATION

Cameron’sDowning StDishonour19POLITICAL EX-PRISONERS

Trying to break thechains of the past22

PALESTINIANFATAH LEADER SPEAKS TO AN PHOBLACHT24THE MIAMI FIVE

STILL FIGHTING FORJUSTICE 14 YEARS ON27

CORK’S TADHG BARRYREMEMBERED31MATT TREACY’S ‘MORE THAN A GAME’

SOVIET SOCCER SATURDAY

anphoblacht November / Samhain 2011 | 3www.anphoblacht.com | [email protected]

ON NOVEMBER 2nd, the Fine Gael/LabourGovernment handed over €711million of taxpayers’money to an unguaranteed bondholder in the toxicAnglo Irish bank.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD raised theissue in the Dáil well before the deed was done.Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his advisers signed off lastmonth on a 50% cut on debt for Greece. Gerry Adamssaid then:

“The Government is now on a plane home to get acheque for €700million ready to hand over to unguar-anteed Anglo Irish bondholders. There is no political,legal or moral obligation on the Government to paythis.”

Gerry Adams explained that Sinn Féin is notopposed to the write-down in Greek debt. “But what isgood enough for Greek citizens should be goodenough for Irish citizens. Irish taxpayers are beingforced by this government to endure extreme hard-ship while paying billions of private banking debt tounguaranteed bondholders. The only people arguingthat this should happen is the Government and theAnglo bondholder.”

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald TD

returned to the issue yet again on November 1st, onthe eve of the bondholder bonanza:

“This pay-out comes just one month before anausterity budget which will inflict hardship on chil-dren, on carers, on the disabled and on the workingpoor. In January, a further €1.2billion will be paid out –tomorrow is only the first payment of billions of tax-payers’ money.

She pointed out that there was still time to stop theoutrageous handover.

Sinn Féin has launched a campaign to halt the han-dover of billions of taxpayers’ money to toxic banksbeyond November and against swingeing cuts andausterity up to and after the Budget. You can help stopthis banking bonanza madness by getting involved inSinn Féin’s ‘Stop the Handover’ campaign. Lobby yourTDs – email, write, phone them – get out and protestand let your voice be heard, sign the online petitionsand get everyone you know who feels angry to do thesame. Follow the campaign at www.sinnfein.ie

People power can force the Fine Gael/LabourGovernment to do what it should do – stand up forcitizens, not toxic banks and bondholders.

Raise you voice – join the fightback.

AN PHOBLACHT www.anphoblacht.com

Kevin Barry House44 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland

Telephone 8726100

Email [email protected]

Stop the Handover

MARTIN McGUINNESS’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN

see Pages 5 to 9, 21 and 30

5 Mary Lou McDonald TD speaks to the media during the ‘Stop the Handover’ protest at Leinster House on November 1st


» BY MAIRTÍN Mac EOINIF IT WASN’T all so serious – and if theconsequences weren’t so dire for ordinaryIrish citizens – the shenanigans inBrussels with finance ministers and headsof state trying to square the circle of Greekindebtedness would be amusing.

It is obvious that the debts imposed onGreece by European banks looking for extrav-agant investment returns during the boomcannot be repaid. The huge austerity pro-gramme that Greece has been forced into isdestroying the economic potential of thecountry before our eyes, with its debts nowset to reach twice the gross domestic productof the country.

No one can repay debts of that magnitude.But instead of recognising that the austeritypackage is killing the patient, the EuropeanUnion and the IMF call for more. No wonderthe markets – those arbiters of capitalist goodtaste and proper order – are less thanimpressed.

Here at home, with austerity biting deepinto employment, with widespread fear aboutthe economic future for those who have lostor face losing their jobs, the Fine Gael/LabourParty Government is actually preening itselfthat we are ‘the good boys of Europe’!

Those bold Greeks apparently take to thestreets and rally and resist in their tens ofthousands, but not us. We are taking our med-icine and swallowing it, albeit with bad grace.

But just as the austerity is killing off theGreek economy, austerity in Ireland will take adecade or more to recover from. And, onceagain, it is the ordinary Joe and Mary Soap

who will carry the burden while the richremain untaxed. Otherwise, in the immortalwords of Fianna Fáil’s finance spokesperson(yes, they haven’t gone away you know),Michael McGrath, these delicate creatures willflee the country.

Michael seems unperturbed by the factthat thousands of young Irish working peopleare already leaving the country in their drovesbut boasts instead that Fianna Fáil’s austerityplan, now being faithfully implemented byFine Gael and Labour, is working. But it isn’tworking.

Revelations that the Greek debt crisis isworse than even previously thought justemphasise how ludicrous the efforts to savethe euro are. Ludicrous because it just cannotbe saved.

For us this is urgent because the powersthat be are continuing to pour our billions intozombie banks that are serving no useful pur-pose in the economy just so that Europeaninvestors will not be hard hit, that their bankscan be defended and, so they hope, the euroresuscitated.

We need to devalue our currency againstour major trading partners (Britain and the US)but the political dogma of the state is thatimmersing ourselves in Europe is the only waywe can be free of Britain. It’s a strange free-dom that leaves us marginalised and impo-tent, indebted and poor.

The dogma is that Europe is a pooling ofsovereignty but the angst of the talks betweenGermany’s Angela Merkel and France’s

Nicholas Sarkozy shows that sovereignty is notpooled but surrendered wholesale to the newmasters of Europe.

Our rulers should remember Connolly’s oldslogan (particularly the Labour Party, whichblasphemously pretends to be his heir): “Weserve neither king nor Kaiser.” Being ruled toimpoverishment by either Britain or Europe isnot the new Republic that Michael D Higginswaffles on about.

What we need is a radical break with sub-servience to European financial interests to getout of the burning building before it comescrashing down.

ECONOMIC CRISIS | AUSTERITY IS KILLING THE PATIENT

We must

face reality€urozone chaos

THE OF

36 Trade unionists take part inan anti-austeriy rally in Athens'Syntagma (Constitution) square

5 Being ruled to impoverishmentby Britain or Europe is not the newRepublic that so many talk of

» BY ROBBIE SMYTH

FIRST OFF it was Harry McGeewriting in The Irish Times theSaturday after the Presidentialelection, as the count was beingcompleted, who said that the votefor McGuinness “reflected tradi-tional Sinn Féin voting patterns,with none of the party’s break-through constituencies in the gen-eral election shoring up his sup-port. He performed poorly in someMunster constituencies, includingKerry North”.

Okay, let’s do the maths. Sinn Féinhad new TDs last February inSligo/North Leitrim, Cork East and NorthCentral, Donegal North East and SouthWest, Laois/Offaly and Meath East.

The five Cork constituencies hadhigher shares of first preferences thanFebruary 2011, with four of them regis-tering higher total votes than Februarydespite the lower turn-out.

In Kerry South, the party didn’t run in2011 and this time took 14.9% of thevote. In Limerick City, the voteincreased; and in Limerick County,where Sinn Féin didn’t run in Februarylast week, saw McGuinness take a 10.6%vote share.

In Tipperary North, the vote share

increased from 6.3% in February to 11.9%for McGuinness. In Tipperary South, thevote more than doubled, from 4.5% to13%. In Waterford too, the vote went up;and in Clare, where Sinn Féin didn’trun in February, McGuinness took a10.5% vote share. But, yes, Harryyou are right here: in KerryNorth, one of 13 Munsterconstituencies, the voteshare fell, though there isthe small matter ofincreases in the other 12.

In constituencies withnew TDs such as DonegalNorth East, Laois/Offalyand Sligo/North Leitrim, theSinn Féin vote share

increased on the February result.Eoghan Harris, writing in the Sunday

Independent, claims that the Sinn Féinvote only increased by 1%. He chose

to compare vote totals ratherthan a percentage turn-out,

which is the method used inmost other media outlets.It’s part of a statistical ideacalled “comparing likewith like”.

In the 2004 and 2009EU elections, Sinn Féintook 11.1% and 11.24% offirst preferences respec-

tively. So this 13.7% is morethan 2% above the party’s

previous best.

Then enter Odran Flynn, writing inThe Irish Times on November 1st. Likesome other media commentators writ-ing about Sinn Féin, Flynn makes claimsabout party strategies and intent with-out actually quoting a representative orhinting that he actually had made con-tact with any.

Flynn claims that Sinn Féin made noheadway in the Presidential poll, aswhen you compare the 220,661 voteswon by the party in the Presidentialelection in the same 38 constituenciesthey contested in February,McGuinness won only 222,051 in theseconstituencies.

Like Harris, Flynn forgets to mentionthe little issue of turn-out – that it wasover 70% in February and just 56% lastweek. He also overlooks the fact that, in21 constituencies, Sinn Féin’s votes castfigure increases compared to Februaryand that in 31 of the 38 constituenciesthe party’s vote share increased on

February.Have a look at the tables onpage six and maybe post a

copy to Messrs McGee,Harris and Flynn.

www.anphoblacht.com November / Samhain 2011 | 5

BÍ LE SHINN FÉIN/ JOIN SINN FÉINBí le Téacs / Join by Text:

Seol an focal JOIN ansin d'ainm agus seoladh chuig / Text the word SINN FEIN followed by your NAME and ADDRESS to:

51444 (26 Chondae / 26 counties) 60060 (6 Chondae / 6 counties)Ar Líne / Join online: www.sinnfein.ie/join-sinn-fein

Seol d'ainm, seoladh agus uimhir guthán chuig / Send you name, address and phone number to:

44 Cearnóg Parnell, Baile Átha Cliath 1 / 44 Parnell Square, Dublin 1.

Ainm / Name: ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Seoladh / Address: ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Fón/R.phost / Tel/Email: .........................................................................................................................................................................................................

SOME MEDIACOMMENTATORSCAN’T COUNT

EOGHAN HARRIS

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2011 | MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS


IN FEBRUARY 2011, 220,685 peoplevoted for 41 Sinn Féin candidates in38 constituencies in the LeinsterHouse election, electing 14 TDs, arecord performance for the partywho won 9.9% of first preferences.The turn-out was 70.1%.

Martin McGuinness running in thePresidential election campaign polled243,030 votes, a 13.7% share of first prefer-ences. The turn-out was 56.11%.

Of the 38 constituencies contested bySinn Féin in February, 31 showed increas-es in percentage vote share, while MartinMcGuinness also took double-digit voteshares in four out of the five constituen-cies that Sinn Féin didn’t run candidates infor the Leinster House election.

In 23 constituencies. the vote total forSinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness was higherthan the party vote in February despite thesubstantially lower turn-out.

The high-performing constituencieswere: Carlow/Kilkenny, Cork NorthCentral, Cork North West, Cork South

Central and Cork South West. In Dublin, itwas Mid West, North Central, South, SouthEast, and West, which had higher totalvotes. Galway East and West were higher,as were Kildare North and South, LimerickCity, Longford/Westmeath, Mayo,Roscommon/South Leitrim, TipperaryNorth and South, Waterford and Wexford.

In Tipperary South, the vote jumpedfrom 1,860 first preferences for Sinn Féin inFebruary to 4,188 in the Presidential poll -an increase in vote share from 4.5% inFebruary to 13% for Martin McGuinness.

Martin McGuinness won 14% of firstpreferences in Wexford, taking 8,112 votescompared to a 5.8% share in February and4,353 first preferences.

The five constituencies not contestedin February were Clare, where Martin won10.5% of the vote; Dublin North 10.4%;Dún Laoghaire 6.9%; Kerry South 14.9%;and Limerick 10.6%.

Sinn Féin polled 178,224 votes in theAssembly elections last May - combinedwith Martin McGuinness’s vote, it showsan island of 421,254 republican voters.

CONSTITUENCY LEINSTER HOUSE PRESIDENCY2011 VOTE | % 2011 VOTE | %

CARLOW/ 7,033 7,257KIKENNY 9.5% 12.4%CAVAN/ 18,452 11,471MONAGHAN 25.9% 20.6%CLARE 4,950

10.5%CORK 6,292 6,193EAST 11.1% 13.8%CORK 7,923 8,201 NORTH CENTRAL 15.2% 20.0%CORK 3,405 4,329NORTH WEST 7.4% 11.6%CORK 5,250 7,496 SOUTH CENTRAL 8.2% 14.1%CORK 3,346 4,608SOUTH WEST 7.3% 13%DONEGAL 9,278 9,085NORTH EAST 24.5% 32.2%DONEGAL 14,262 8,738SOUTH WEST 33% 28.4%DUBLIN 4,526 4,485CENTRAL 13.1% 16.1%DUBLIN 5,060 5,374MID-WEST 11.85% 15.9%DUBLIN 4,097NORTH 10.4%DUBLIN 2,140 3,678NORTH CENTRAL 5.6% 11.2%DUBLIN 5,032 4,484NORTH EAST 12% 13.2%DUBLIN 7,115 4,985 NORTH WEST 21.7% 19.9%DUBLIN SOUTH 1,915 4,186

2.6% 6.5%DUBLIN 6,804 6,803SOUTH CENTRAL 13.4% 16.6%DUBLIN 1,272 2,289SOUTH EAST 3.6% 7.5%DUBLIN 8,064 6,006SOUTH WEST 17.2% 16.6%DUBLIN 2,597 4,278WEST 6.1% 11.9%DÚN LAOGHAIRE 3,335

6.9%GALWAY 3,635 4,489EAST 6.1% 10.4%GALWAY 3,807 5,392WEST 6.3% 10.7%KERRY NORTH/ 9,282 5,739LIMERICK WEST 20.3% 16.8%KERRY SOUTH 4,723

14.9%KILDARE NORTH 2,896 3,796

5.7% 8.8%KILDARE SOUTH 2,308 3,553

6% 11.5%LAOIS OFFALY 8,039 7,663

10.8% 13%LIMERICK (CITY) 3,711 4,150

8.6% 12.1%LIMERICK 3,854

10.6%LONGFORD/ 4,339 5,885WESTMEATH 7.5% 13.1%LOUTH 15,072 11,499

21.7% 20.0%MAYO 4,802 6,300

6.5% 11.9%MEATH EAST 3,795 4,095

8.9% 11.7%MEATH WEST 6,989 4,865

17.4% 14.9%ROSCOMMON/ 4,637 5,286SOUTH LEITRIM 9.8% 14.6%SLIGO/ 5,911 5,464NORTH LEITRIM 13.3% 16.1%TIPPERARY 3,034 4,459NORTH 6.3% 11.9%TIPPERARY 1,860 4,188SOUTH 4.5% 13%WATERFORD 5,342 5,737

9.9% 13.6%WEXFORD 4,353 8,112

5.8% 14%WICKLOW/ 7,107 6,664EAST CARLOW 10.1% 11.6%

MARTIN McGUINNESS – VOTE SHARE AT A GLANCE243,030 votes 13.7% of first

preferences31 out of 38constituencies highervote share thanFebruary’s LeinsterHouse election

21 constituencieshigher total vote thanFebruary despite lowerturn-out

10% and higher infour of the fiveconstituencies notcontested by Sinn Féinin February

SINN FÉIN VOTE SHARE (26 COUNTIES) 1997 TO 2011

% SHAREYEAR ELECTION OF FIRST

PREFERENCES

1997 Leinster House 2.5%

1999 Local 3.5%

1999 EU 6.3%


2004 Local 8%

2004 EU 11.1%


2009 EU 11.24%

2009 Local 7.3%


2011 Presidency 13.7%

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2011 | THE NUMBERS

Record vote performancebreaks new ground

5 Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams arrive at the Dublin Castle results centre


» BY GERRY ADAMS TDPRESIDENT OF SINN FÉIN

MARTIN McGUINNESS is a trail blazer.That much must be clear. Even to hisdetractors. A life devoted to strugglehas seen many examples of this.Martin, in good times and bad, has hadmany opportunities and occasions todraw on these pioneering qualities. Thenet outcome has generally benefitedthe people he struggled alongside. Ithas also, particularly in this time ofpeace, assisted those, in time of war,who would have been or seen them-selves as his enemies or opponents.

Rarely has this been acknowledged by‘the great and the good’. But no matter. Noneof this is done to win favour with them. Theyknow that. They have their values; we haveours. The Presidential election brought all thisto the surface.

Martin is the first Sinn Féin person ever tocontest a presidential election. He fought asix-week campaign. And as a result of this,

despite the short time involved, many of theissues he argued for are now firmly on thepublic agenda. These include the votingrights for Irish citizens. The need for a newRepublic based on genuine core republicanvalues. The fact that there is an alternative togreed and corruption and austerity. The needfor and merits of Irish unity. The imperative ofan ongoing process of reconciliation. Forreunification through reconciliation.

The issue of victims was also raised -legitimately by relatives of some victims. Thisis a matter which needs to be dealt with,properly and in a manner acceptable to allvictims.

There has also been huge attention andcomment on the RTÉ TV Frontline debateand Martin’s outing of Seán Gallagher’sinvolvement with Fianna Fáil leaders and with

its former leaderships’ corrupt practices,fund-raising activities and with policies thathave brought the Irish people into the awfuleconomic and social mess that is the causeof so much distress and hardship.

Seán Gallagher’s problem wasn’t that hewas involved in this - it was that he wasdenying such involvement and presentinghimself as a casual and occasional volunteerfrom the Fianna Fáil grassroots, alongsidemany other good and decent people whoundoubtedly work for that party.

At the time of the Frontline debate, opin-ion polls indicated that this stroke might workand that the premature rehabilitation of thistype of unacceptable politics was almostupon us.

Hugh Morgan had contacted our cam-paign office and given us a breakdown onSeán Gallagher’s approaches to him. He hadalready spoken to the media about this. Heturned to us when this failed to get tractionand we asked Mr Morgan to brief Martin inadvance of the Frontline programme.

We also decided that Martin should chal-lenge Seán Gallagher on this. And Martinchallenged Seán Gallagher in the knowledgethat, at that stage in the campaign, depend-ing on how Seán Gallagher responded,Michael D Higgins would be the main benefi-ciary of any such challenge. Martin was and isentirely satisfied that this was the right thingto do. So am I.

Michael D Higgins will be a very goodPresident. I wish him and Sabina and theirfamily well. I gave Michael D my second pref-erence vote. The tally people tell me thatmany of his voters returned the favour toMartin a thousandfold.

Martin McGuinness’s entry into thePresidential election was bound to lead to areaction from the Dublin Establishment. Ourcampaign team knew that. A small cadre ofthe usual media suspects, particularly(although not exclusively), in the IrishIndependent group of newspapers led thecharge. Some of these at least have beenconsistent over the years. Revisionists, two-

nationists, supporters of Section 31, the oddhard-boiled, old-fashioned partitionist andopponents of the Peace Process, were pro-voked into action once again. Nothing but thesame old story.

We should not tar all the media with thesame brush or rail against robust scrutiny,even if we suspect the motivation. Good, fairand balanced interrogative or investigativejournalism is to be applauded. And RTÉshould be especially encouraged to providesuch a public service. After all, the taxpayerfoots that particular bill.

There was a certain hysteria within thewider political establishment. This hysteriawas led by Fine Gael, best personified by GayMitchell’s strident negativity, and most mem-orably represented by the attack on Martin by

Fine Gael ministers and Chief Whip PaulKeogh via Twitter. Their contribution wasentirely self-serving and cynical. And arro-gant. That is an emerging and growing trait ofthat party, especially in Leinster House.

Little wonder Fine Gael did so badly in theby-election and particularly the Presidentialelection.

They obviously need to be given time tocome to terms with the new dispensationthat now exists across this island. Like theunionist leaderships, most of them, thoughmaybe not all of them, will come around.Until then, this infuriating and self-servingnegativity is just something they have to gothrough. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait forthem to play catch-up. The rest of us can geton with narrowing the political gap betweennorth and south. That gap was considerablyclosed in the course of this Presidential elec-tion campaign.

For that and for many other achieve-ments, thank you, Martin.

REFLECTIONS ON THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION | THE CHALLENGE TO SEÁN GALLAGHER

MARTIN McGUINNESS – TRAIL BLAZER

5 Before the Frontline debate, SeánGallagher was the frontrunner

Martin challenged SeánGallagher in the knowledgethat, at that stage in thecampaign, depending on howSeán Gallagher responded,Michael D Higgins would bethe main beneficiary of anysuch challenge

Many of the issues Martinargued for are now firmly onthe public agenda

FROM the reporting of the first tal-lies on Friday morning, October28th, to the publication ofMonday’s daily papers on October31st, large sections of theEstablishment Irish news mediawere making conceRTÉd efforts torecast not just the actual result ofthe Presidential election campaignbut the last days of run-in topolling on the 27th.

It wasn’t just newspapers. It was thetone of RTÉ’s TV and radio commentaryon the results and the various talk showsover the weekend across the commer-cial media.

The themes offered (in no particularorder of bias) were:

(1) Sinn Féin hadn’t done that well inthe election, though it did per-haps cause bile in presenters’mouths to have to continuallyacknowledge that Sinn Féin hadcome third in the election con-test.

(2) 26-County – or ‘Southern voters’as they like to describe them-selves – were not ready for the‘harsh edge’ of a Sinn FéinPresident.

(3) Martin McGuinness’s one ques-tion on the RTÉ Frontline pro-gramme after four other live TVand radio debates was proof of anorchestrated dirty tricks cam-paign by the party during thepresidential election contest.

It is undeniable that MartinMcGuinness’s questions to SeánGallagher in the final TV debate of thecampaign changed the course of theelection. As one Twitter follower of AnPhoblacht said, parodying a famous Sunheadline: ‘It’s McGuinness wot won it.’

THE RED TOPS AND IRISH MAIL ON SATURDAY

Not all the news media fell into theseruts but many slipped easily into the oldmantra of ‘Sinn Féin bad, everyone elsegood’.

The Irish Sun can’t tear itself awayfrom the language of the battlefield. Sowe are told that “Former IRA command-er Martin McGuinness” was deemed tohave come in “a credible third place”.

The questioning between McGuinessand Seán Gallagher on the Frontlinedebate is described as McGuinness hav-ing “put the boot into Gallagher’s image”and that Gallagher had accusedMcGuinness of “mounting an ambush totake him out”.

This language continues in The Suneditorial titled “It’s D Day” and they claimthat Gallagher “allowed McGuinness toshoot him in the foot”. “Shot down onFrontline” was an inside page headlinesplashed across two pages in the IrishMirror.

It was good and bad in a separatecommentary by Pat Flanagan whowrote that McGuinness had “laid a land-mine question” to “blow his [Gallagher’s]Presidential election dreams to kingdomcome”. But at least Flanagan didacknowledge that “Sinn Féin will behappy enough with its support and willbe celebrating taking out a proxy FiannaFáil President”. True on both counts, Pat.

The Star editorial pronounces that“Sinn Féin would have hoped to domuch better” but doesn’t tell us whatthat measure would be.

The Daily Mail lost the run of them-selves and had cartoon images on theirfront page of a Celtic Higgins on a horsewith an Irish wolfhound by his side.“Higgins Slays the Dragon” is the head-line, brushing over the fact that it was, infact, McGuinness, while Michael D stoodwatching like a damsel in distress.

Inside, the Mail tells us that

McGuinness finished a “distant third”and also talked of a Frontline “ambush”.Suzanne Breen declares that the resultwas “a good, though not great result forSinn Féin” and takes a whole columnanalysing the party’s performance with-out one quote or reference to havinginterviewed any party members to com-plete her piece. Though at least thestrapline does declare that“McGuinness’s stunning intervention putSinn Féin on the map”.

THE BROADSHEETS ON SATURDAY

It is the Irish Independent claimingthey led the way on Seán Gallagher’slink to “secret FF fund-raiser” and theyreproduced the October 20th front pagethat made the initial claims.Interestingly, this is not mentioned inany other news media as being an‘ambush’.

The Independent also recognisesthat “Martin McGuinness’s third placeranking has given Sinn Féin an electoralboost” and makes the point that theparty are “up almost 4%” compared tothe February general election.

Caroline O’Doherty in the Examinerwrites in an article headlined“McGuinness bags the Áras for rival can-didate” that Sinn Féin “can be reasonablysatisfied”.

The weird world of vote counting

lived in by Harry McGee of The IrishTimes is dealt with in a separate article;Eoghan Harris and Odran Flynn are dealtwith there too. Paul Cullen reports thatSinn Féin “plans to build on its relativesuccess”. Fintan O’Toole keeps up thewar language when he writes of “MartinMcGuinness’s controlled explosion onthe Frontline debate”. Stephen Collinsalso talks of Seán Gallagher being“ambushed” by McGuinness in an articletitled “Gifted amateur no match for sea-soned professional”.

THE SUNDAYS

The outpouring of sympathy forSeán Gallagher (crocodile tears to youand me) continued in the SundayIndependent. Gallagher and his wife,Trish, are pictured on the front page of aphoto titled “Rising above dirty tricks”.It’s mentioned in the article also: a “dirtytricks campaign by Sinn Féin”.

John Drennan writes inside of “TheSF strongholds that imploded”. He too -like Eoghan Harris, McGee and Flynn -refuses to introduce the idea of turn-outto his analysis; and, yes, he doesn’t actu-ally quote any Sinn Féin representativesand, no, the increased vote share, thegains in 31 out of 38 constituencies . . .We could go on.

Eoghan Harris is obsessing aboutRTÉ for daring to report that “Sinn Féinpolls well”. I wonder even if he wasmade head of RTÉ, the BroadcastingAuthority of Ireland and IndependentNews and Media Group would that real-ly make him happy? No, I didn’t think soeither.

Brendan O’Connor, like others, usesthe language of war and one of his arti-cles is headlined “TV bomb was explo-sive, decisive . . . and dodgy”. Maybesomeone should show him the IrishIndependent front page that claimsresponsibility – was that “dodgy”,Brendan?

The red tops on Sunday are all aboutMichael D Higgins but The SundayTimes still finds space to write aboutSeán Gallagher being “ambushed” byMcGuinness, both in an article and theeditorial.

I’m particularly liking the headline toa whole page inside article by SarahMcInerney and Stephen O’Brien. It has alarge photo of McGuinness in conversa-tion with Higgins under the title: “Youowe me one”.


‘CALLING ALL columnists, opinion writers, radio and TVpresenters and pundits, we need to know how many waysthere are to downplay the performance of Sinn Féin’sMartin McGuinness in the Presidential election and wherepossible marginalise their role in the whole campaign’.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2011 | WHAT THE PAPERS SAY

It’s McGuinness wot won it

5 It is undeniable that Martin McGuinness’s questions to Seán Gallagher in the final TV debate of the campaignchanged the course of the election


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» BY ROBBIE SMYTH

PAUL DONNELLY’S performance inthe Dublin West by-election showedfurther growth for Sinn Féin inDonnelly’s second outing for theparty here.

The 8.9% vote share signals a stronglikelihood of the party winning back theFingal County Council seat won here inthe 2004 local elections.

An Phoblacht spoke with SeamusHazlett, the Dublin West campaign PRO,who said that although every candidateobviously likes to win elections “it wasgood to get an increased vote”. He saidthere was an even better reception on thedoors this time around compared to lastFebruary in the general election.

Hazlett said the party polled well inboth the Castleknock and Mulhuddartlocal election areas. He was also pleased asthis campaign had spread into new areassuch as Carpenterstown and Castleknockwith “new people joining up through the

canvass and some old hands coming back”– good for the party’s future growth in theconstituency.

The main issues raised on the doorincluded bed closures and fears for agreater rundown of services inBlanchardstown Hospital as well as unem-ployment and emigration. Hazlett said thatjobs were the key issue door-to-door,wherever they went during the canvass.

It was a big effort in the campaign withNorthern Assembly members and MPssuch as Michelle Gildernew and ConorMurphy coming out to canvass for PaulDonnelly while Martin McGuinness andGerry Adams were also on the campaigntrail in the constituency.

THE FACT that Seán Gallagher had can-vassed business people for substantialdonations to Fianna Fáil with the promiseof meeting Taoiseach Brian Cowen wasknown by the media for several daysbefore the RTÉ Frontline debate onOctober 24th. Seán Gallagher knew thestory was out there but no media took itup. That is why Martin McGuinness chal-lenged Seán Gallagher on it and whyGallagher was taken by surprise andcaught out. Then the media could nolonger ignore the story that many ofthem were sitting on.

Hugh Morgan says this is what hap-pened with Seán Gallagher and FiannaFáil.

JUNE 6th 2008Seán Gallagher contacted Hugh Morganby phone and invited him to attend aFianna Fáil fund-raiser in the Crown PlazaHotel in Dundalk on July 1st. Gallagherrequested a €5,000 donation and waspromised that in return he would get a“private audience” with the Taoiseachand a photograph taken with him.

JUNE 9th 2008 Seán Gallagher contacted Hugh Morgan,again by phone, to ensure his attendanceat the event. Morgan confirmed he wouldbe attending and that he was prepared togive the requested donation. Gallagheralso provided two mobile-phone num-bers on which to contact him.

JUNE 27th 2008Seán Gallagher visited Hugh Morgan’sbusiness premises at Killean, CountyArmagh, where he personally collected a€5,000 cheque. The cheque number is13014. This cheque was declared inMorgan’s company accounts and wascleared on July 1st 2008

JUNE 30th 2008Fianna Fáil accounts confirm that thecheque for €5,000 was lodged in theparty account on June 30th.

JULY 1st 2008Hugh Morgan attended the fund-raisingevent at the Crown Plaza Hotel inDundalk. As guests arrived at the hotel,

Seán Gallagher greeted them and direct-ed them to a room in the hotel where theevent was being held. During theevening, Morgan was introduced toTaoiseach Brian Cowen by SeánGallagher who also facilitated a photo-graph being taken of Morgan and theTaoiseach.

JULY 8th 2008 (approx)Approximately one week after the fund-raising event, Seán Gallagher called toMorgan’s business premises at Killean,South Armagh, to deliver the photograph.

SEÁN GALLAGHERAND HUGH MORGAN

» THE TIMELINE

DUBLIN WEST BY-ELECTION | INCREASED VOTE FOR SINN FÉIN

FINGALCOUNTYCOUNCILSEATTARGET

DUBLIN WESTVote % of poll

1997 2,004 5.0%

2002 2,404 8.02%

2007 1,624 4.78%

2011 (Feb) 2,597 6.1%

2011 (Nov) 3,173 8.9%

THE CAMPAIGN SAW NEW PEOPLE JOINING UP and some old hands coming back – goodfor the party’s future growth in theconstituency

5 Gerry Adams and Paul Donnelly addressing the media

Seán Gallagher

Hugh Morgan


» BY MÍCHEÁL Mac DONNCHASINN FÉIN DUBLIN CITY COUNCILLOR

AS WE approach the centenary of the1913 Lock-Out, we might have hopedthat the sight of families being movedout of their homes because they wereliving in dangerous buildings was athing of the past. But memories of thecrumbling tenements of Dublin havebeen revived as scores of families andindividuals were moved out of thePriory Hall apartment complex in northDublin, many to emergency accommo-dation in hotels.

“Refugees in our own country” is how res-idents describe themselves - and it is no exag-geration. Shortly after they moved in, I visitedthe Regency Hotel and it was a very sad sightto see parents with young children having to

live out of luggage in cramped hotel rooms.For young people who had made their homesin Priory Hall, many paying very large mort-gages, it has meant shattered dreams.

These people are victims of the worstexcesses of the Celtic Tiger and the propertybubble. Unscrupulous developers, Coalport,were allowed to build unsafe, sub-standardapartments in what was presented as a show-case for the new Dublin, the ‘Northern Fringe’of the city north of Donaghmede, with itshundreds of apartments and houses.

Priory Hall apartments are on both sides ofwhat was supposed to be a main thorough-fare linking one end of the new suburb with itsmain street of shops, small businesses and aDART station.

Today, the ‘Northern Fringe’ stands half-finished. While there are many sound housesand apartments and an award-winning park,the area is still without even a supermarketand many of the units designed for shops andbusinesses are empty. The DART station is afine piece of architecture but it was to be thefocus of a thriving urban space which is nowmore empty than thriving. One side of whatwas to be the main street is a derelict buildingsite.

But for the residents of Priory Hall thenightmare is far worse than an incompletetownscape.

There were problems with these apart-ments from the beginning. The problems with

fire safety and construction led Dublin CityCouncil to move out its social housing tenantsin 2009. This left hundreds of residents whowere either owner-occupiers paying mort-gages or tenants of private landlords.

The owner of Coalport, Tom McFeely, isone of the worst developers of the Celtic Tigerera. Major problems surfaced with his devel-opment at Áras na Cluaine in Clondalkin also.Much has been made in the media of the factthat he is a former republican prisoner andparticipated in the 1980 Hunger Strike. But, asI have pointed out at meetings and a rallyorganised by a determined residents’ commit-tee at Priory Hall on October 29th, McFeelyhas betrayed everything Irish republi-canism and his comrades stoodfor by his treatment of the resi-dents of Priory Hall. This hasbeen reiterated by MartinMcGuinness and Mary LouMcDonald.

If the prime culprit in all this isMcFeely and Coalport, muchresponsibility must also be shared by suc-cessive governments and the local authority,Dublin City Council. Thanks to cronyismbetween ‘official Ireland’ and the developersand speculators, there has been totally lax reg-ulation of construction. Fire safety certificateshave been issued solely on the basis of paperexercises with very few inspections. Similarly,construction standards are ‘enforced’ almostsolely on paper and on trust.

As one of the speakers at the October 29thrally asked: “30 years on, have we learnednothing from the Stardust tragedy?”

It was the danger of fire that led the HighCourt, at the request of Dublin City Council, toorder the evacuation of Priory Hall. Butbeyond the immediate fire safety issues thereare major construction problems at Priory

Hall. These have been identified in an inspec-tion report commissioned by the City Council.A report under building control legislation isdue to be given to the Council soon. With

other councillors representing the area, Ihave called for the publication of these

reports. As all speakers pointed out at

the rally, people should not haveto pay mortgages on the PrioryHall apartments. The Government

should call in the lenders andrequire them to come up with a plan

which will allow people who are willingand able to pay mortgages to have a home to

show for their hard-earned money. The High Court gave Coalport five weeks

to rectify the fire safety issues. No one believes

that the work will be completed in that time.Many believe that, ultimately, Priory Hall maybe facing demolition.

As I said at the rally, the residents face along struggle for justice but with the supportshown on October 29th, and if they stay unit-ed and strong, they shall overcome.

A HOUSING SCANDAL THAT MAY BE REPLICATED IN OTHER PLACES AROUND THE COUNTRY

PRIORY HALLNIGHTMARE LEGACY OF THE CELTIC TIGER

PARENTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN AREHAVING TO LIVE OUT OF LUGGAGE INCRAMPED HOTEL ROOMS

THERE WERE PROBLEMS WITHPRIORY HALL FROM THE BEGINNING

5 Many residents have to pay mortgages on homes which they cannot live in

5 Residents of the Priory Hall apartment complex in north Dublin, which comprises 187 units, are beingforced to vacate the complex due to fire and safety issues

5 Coalport owner Tom McFeely

» BY LAURA FRIELNELSON McCAUSLAND is in dangerof becoming “the Minister forEvictions”, according to the SinnFéin spokesperson on Housing, FraMcCann. The West Belfast MLA wasspeaking after the DUP, backed bythe Ulster Unionist Party and theAlliance Party defeated a “Prayer ofAnnulment” motion by Sinn Féin inthe Assembly which would havestopped thousands of people fromlosing their homes.

Around 6,000 people living alone andcurrently in receipt of the single accom-modation rate of Housing Benefit are atrisk of eviction after the DUP ministerrefused to challenge a British Governmentdirective to raise the age threshold of enti-tlement from 25 to 35 years of age as partof the Welfare Reform Programme.

To date, single people over 25 wereentitled to Housing Benefit for a one-bed-roomed, self-contained flat while thoseunder 25 could only access help with rentfor a single room in shared accommoda-tion. Now, with one stroke, thousands ofpeople already living in private rented flatswill see their rent relief reduced by half.For many, a 50% reduction in housingbenefit is tantamount to a notice to quit.

Fra McCann told An Phoblacht:“If they were housed in social housing

their rents would be paid but years of offi-cial failure means there isn’t enough socialhousing. Our homeless hostels are burst-ing at the seams and if we are forced toresort to emergency accommodation inB&Bs and hotels, it will be more costly thanthe Housing Benefit it replaces. The spec-tre of rough sleeping stalks this issue.

“British Works and Pensions MinisterIain Duncan Smith argues this ruling hasnothing to do with cuts. He claims provid-ing public support for single-occupancytenancy for those under the age of 35‘erodes the incentive to work’. He iswrong.

“Homelessness, insecure housing andrough sleeping undermine the ability of aperson to secure work. It renders themless employable, not more. Why does thecurrent British Government persist in ped-dling the notion that to incentivise the richyou must make them richer but, by thesame token, the poor must be made poor-er.”

Last month, at the suggestion of FraMcCann, the Committee for SocialDevelopment agreed to take the matterbefore the Assembly by triggering what is

known as a “Prayer of Annulment”, a last-ditch attempt to stop Statutory Rule 293from being endorsed by appealing to theHouse.

Fra McCann said:“Men under the age of 35 will be the

most adversely affected: the same socialgroup that carries the highest risk of sui-cide here in the North. Many of those whowill lose their homes do not have the kind

of family ties that might support them in acrisis. The figures for women are less but,for those affected, the loss of their homewill be just as traumatic.

“No longer eligible for support as a sin-gle person, people are being told to seekshared accommodation. But there isn’tenough multiple occupancy housing(HMOs) in the Six Counties! UnlikeLondon, we have no tradition of sharedaccommodation and few Victorian townhouses to convert. There are only 4,000registered HMOs and they are mostly ear-marked for students. In rural areas, it iseven worse with only 87 shared houses

available. But even if sufficient sharedaccommodation magically became avail-able, would it really be suitable?

“I know one thing for certain: the expe-rience of students sharing a house while atuniversity or young professionals sharingwhile saving to buy their own home willnot be mirrored by the experience of thepoorest in our society. Image the plight ofa woman or vulnerable man driven by thethreat of destitution into accepting a roomin a house where they don’t feel safe.”

A recent report conducted by academ-ics from universities in York and Edinburghhas warned the combination of insuffi-cient shared accommodation and anincrease in the number of people seekingshared accommodation will push theyoungest out of the market, into hostelsand onto the streets.

The report concluded that, as a directresult of the British Government’s imposi-tion of this change, many single peoplewill be forced into accepting a room inunsuitable even unsafe accommodationwhich in turn will lead to greater insecuri-ty of tenancy, repeated periods of home-lessness and an increase in the incidenceof rough sleeping.

Fra McCann also told An Phoblacht:“Nelson McCausland publicly accepted

that this ruling would result in particularhardship here but he still refused to doanything about it. The DUP argued that toreject this would risk the BritishGovernment imposing cuts elsewhere.The UUP and Alliance Party voted in sup-port of the DUP minister.

“This new regulation relies on an arbi-trary change in definition of who consti-tutes a young person from 25 to 35 yearsof age. In the words of American folksinger Woody Guthrie, ‘some will rob youwith a six-gun and some with a fountainpen’.”

www.anphoblacht.com November / Samhain 2011 | 11THOUSANDS AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR HOMES | DUP, UUP AND ALLIANCE BACK TORY PLAN AND OPPOSE SINN FÉIN FIGHTBACK

NELSON McCAUSLAND

‘Minister for Evictions’

AROUND 6,000 PEOPLE LIVING ALONE and currently in receipt of the singleaccommodation rate of Housing Benefit

ARE AT RISK OF EVICTION

‘This new regulation relies on an arbitrary changein definition of who constitutes a young personfrom 25 to 35 years of age’

FRA McCANNSINN FÉIN ASSEMBLY HOUSING SPOKESPERSON

Iain Duncan Smith


Women’s Aid‘Safe Place’

SOUTH ANTRIM Sinn Féin office inRandalstown has become the firstparty office in Ireland designated byWomen’s Aid as a Safe Place forpeople suffering from domestic vio-lence to obtain information for help.

Sinn Féin Councillor Anne MarieLogue reports the achievement cameafter an extensive training coursereceived through Women’s Aid andPolicy and Training Officer LindsayHarris by staff and party activists.

By signing up to be a Safe Place, SinnFéin in South Antrim will support thecampaign pledge:

1 Never to commit, condone orstay silent about domesticviolence;

2 Acknowledge domestic violenceis a problem that impacts on allof us as a society and we will beprepared to play our part insupporting victims and sending aclear message to perpetratorsthat domestic violence isintolerable;

3 Ensure a safe place for victims ofdomestic violence toconfidentially accessinformation;

4 Ensure that we caneffectively respond to disclosureof abuse and how to seeksupport;

5 Ensure that a victim of domesticviolence will not bedisadvantaged within the termsand conditions of theiremployment and will take allreasonable measures to facilitateany needs in the workplace;

6 Commit to working/participatingwith other organisations tofacilitate best support for victims

Following the successful Árd Fheis2011 motion by South Antrim SinnFéin, all Sinn Féin constituency officesand advice centres will now beencouraged to sign up to the SafePlace initiative.

» LE MÁIRTÍN Mac EOIN

BÍONN A LÁN cainte ann na laethantaseo faoi chothromas diúltach, ach isbeag plean atá ann le tabhairt faoinafadbanna sóisialta a leanann é.

Tá díomá fairsing ann faoinTuarascáil Keane a foilsíodh an mhíseo caite, mar cé léirigh sé cé chómhtrom-chúiseach is atá an fhadhb –pointe, ar ndóigh, ar leag iar-uachtarán Mheiriocá Bill Clinton béimair i gcaitheamh na míosa freisin – nídheachaigh na moltaí réitigh sáchfada.

Go bunúsach faoi téarmaí Keane,choinneódh daoine a gcuid tithe achd’íocfaidis cíos le húdarás áitiúil nó lecomhlacht speisialta tithíochta éicínt.Ach bheadh na fiacha fós ar dhaoine –fiacha atá ann mar gheall ar bhoilsciúphraghas maoine le linn an TíogairCheiltigh.

Tá na brábúis ag na bainc, nó ag nadíbhintiúirí taobh thiar dena bainc atá

le cosaint ar aon chostas agus is cumaan dochar a dhéantar don ghnáth-shaoránach nó don choras eacnamúil.

Sa mhéad is nach gcuirfí daoine asa gcuid tithe is maith an scéal é, ach níréiteach ar an bhfadb é mar sin fhéin.

Deireann an rialtas go bhfuil sé igceist acu na rialacha a bhaineann leféimheacht (duine a bheithbaincbhriste) a leasú. Faoi láthair, fiú igcás duine a bhfuil fiacha tithíochta airní féidir fáil réidh leis an bhféimheachtgo cionn dhá bhliain déag.

Agus tá an scéal seo ceangailte lescéal na riaráistí morgáiste sa gcaoinach féidir le daoine – fiú faoi mholtaíKeane – ealó ó fhiachais.

Is léir go bhfuil sláinte na mbaincníos tabhachtaí don rialtas ná sláinteghnáth-shaoránaigh.

Agus amhdaíonn an rialtas nachfeidir leo na fiacha seo a fhágáil leis nabainc mar gurb é an stáitchiste – nasaoránaigh – a líonfaidh aon pholl abhéas ann sna cuntais.

Ach, mar a déarfadh an Ciarraíoch,ní thosódh sé anseo dá mbeadh sé agiarraidh taisteal ansin. Ní feidir linndaoine a shábhailte toisc go bhfuilmuid ag sabháint na mbainc.

Arís, mar a mhol Sinn Féin ag anam, nach mbeadh sé níos ciallmh-maire ón tús airgead an stáit a infheis-tiú i mbanc úrnua de chuid an stáitagus ligint do shealbhóirí na ndíbhín-tiúir dul tí diabhail.

Tá dhá chineál daoine i gceist leisan bhfadhb seo: ar dtúis an mionlacha chuir airgead infheistíochta i dtithe is

árasáin; agus an móramh a chean-naigh áit chónaithe.

Faoi rialacha an rachmais, is cóirligint don chéad dream seasamh lenabpriacail fein agus a gcuid caillteanaisfein a sheasamh. Ach is cóir cúnamhfírinneach a thabhairt don dara dream– go háirithe do dhaoine a chaill agcuid postannaí agus ata i bhfiachamar gheall ar an tubaist a bhuail aneacnamaíocht, tubaist a tharala marthoradh ar shaint lucht an airgid.

Fillimid ar na ceisteannaíbunúsacha arís. Tá Pairtí an LuchtOibre ag tabhairt cluas bhodhar dooidhreacht Shéamuis Ui Chonghaíle isag cloí go dílis le beartas déine nahEorpa a chuireanns an t-ualach ar anngáthdhuine is a thuganns anbhuntáiste don duine saibhir.

Agus sin é an fáth go bhfuil fíor-réiteach do fhadhb an chothromaisdhiúltaigh dhá chur ar an méir fhada,agus sin é an fath go gcaithfí an chéimtarrthála a theorannú ar fhaitíos gogcuirfeadh sé isteach ar lucht an air-gid.

Feall eile ó Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre

Ní leór plean Keane donChothromas Diúltach

Is léir go bhfuil sláinte nambainc níos tabhachtaí donRialtas ná sláinte ghnáth-shaoránaigh

Bill Clinton

Ceannaire Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre Eamon Gilmore


THE establishment of anIndependent International TruthCommission - independent of thestate, combatant groups, politicalparties and other vested interests -is the best way of dealing with whathappened during the conflict, theSinn Féin spokesperson on Victims,Mitchel McLaughlin MLA, told theMcCluskey Civil Rights SummerSchool.

As a result of independent investiga-tion, such a commission should beenabled to:-• Deliver the truth to bereaved fami-

lies; • Encompass all the victims and sur-

vivors;• Analyse the policies and practices

that sustained and fuelled the con-flict;

• Address the responsibility of all theprotagonists.“Grief and pain recognise no political

or geographical boundaries and affectsall who were part of the armed conflict

and many non-com-batants,” he said.

Mitchel wasaddressing the 4thMcCluskey Civil RightsSummer School inCarlingford, CountyLouth, on September24th.

Over the past fourdecades, BritishGovernment legisla-tion, institutions,agencies and person-nel have fashionedstructures, practicesand procedures toensure that the truthabout its activitiesduring the conflict iswithheld from publicscrutiny, he said.

“So far, theapproach of theBritish Governmenthas been to challenge,frustrate and drive upthe cost of inquiries so

as to make them politically unaccept-able.”

He acknowledged that truth recoverycan be a very complex and difficultprocess. It entails those involved “relivingand revisiting the terror and trauma ofthe original incident which resulted inthe death of a loved one or serious injuryand pain for survivors”. But it can work,he said.

“The Saville Inquiry heard evidencefrom a significant number of witnesses.Some of that testimony was vivid andexplicit despite the passage of threedecades. An interesting dynamic was thedivergence in the detail of the testi-monies of survivors of the BloodySunday massacre. Even though theywere at the time standing within yards ofeach and were describing the same inci-dent.”

Mitchel McLaughlin said this is,apparently, a commonplace dynamic,particularly when experiencing events ofhigh drama and danger.

Nevertheless, inquiry chairpersonLord Saville and his expert colleagueswere able to assemble the ‘Mosaic ofTruth’ and his findings were accepted bythe British Government as the definitiveaccount which demolished and exposedthe fraud of the infamous WidgeryTribunal, held in the aftermath of the

massacre and dubbed the ‘WidgeryWhitewash’ for its exoneration of theBritish Army and its blaming of the vic-tims.

He said:“Sinn Féin is very mindful of the diffi-

culties involved in truth recovery, partic-ularly for victims and their families, butwe believe that as a post-conflict societythere is a requirement that all of usaddress the tragic human consequencesof the past. However,Sinn Féin rejects anyattempt to create ahierarchy of victimsand survivors. Allmust be treated onthe basis of equality.

“Sinn Féin wouldargue that if you onlyseek evidence fromsome of the protago-nist groups, or if youonly ask some of thequestions, then youwill only establishsome of the truth.”

In Sinn Féin’sopinion, he said, theestablishment of anI n d e p e n d e n tInternational TruthCommission is thebest way of takingthis issue forward.

“This would be the responsibility ofthe British and Irish Governments.However the critical issues of independ-ence and credibility require that thereshould be maximum involvement fromthe United Nations or a similar interna-tional organisation in the process.”

“This is the most effective way toharvest all of the fragments of recover-able truth and assemble the ‘Mosaic ofTruth’ for everyone in our community.”

‘Grief andpainrecognise nopolitical orgeographicalboundariesand affectsall who werepart of thearmedconflict andmany non-combatants’

MITCHELMcLAUGHLINSinn Féin MLA

‘If you onlyseek evidencefrom some of

the protagonistgroups, or ifyou only asksome of the

questions,then you will

only establishsome of the

truth’

MITCHELMcLAUGHLIN

THE 4th McCLUSKEY CIVIL RIGHTS SUMMER SCHOOL | SINN FÉIN MLA MITCHEL McLAUGHLIN MLA

5 The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission was hailed as a great success

Mitchel McLaughlin

FINDING THE

TRUTH IN CONFLICTTHE


WHAT THE CENTRAL STATISTICS OFFICE REPORT ON INCOME AND LIVING CONDITIONS SAID:The most significant factor in determining access to serviceswas the geographic location of the household. Householdsliving in rural areas were consistently more likely to reportdifficulty in accessing basic services when compared withthose living in urban areas

Just over half of all households in rural areas reporteddifficulty in accessing public transport compared with just 11% of households inurban areas

WHAT THE McCARTHY ‘BORD SNIP NUA’ REPORT SAID:Given the availability of private sector busalternatives, the high level of car ownership and theunder-utilisation of synergies with other publicly-funded local transport services support the viewthat the level of direct Exchequer assistance canand should be eliminated, particularly in light ofcurrent budgetary circumstances this programmeshould be ended

FINE GAEL/LABOUR ‘VALUE FOR MONEY’ REVIEW COULD SEE FUNDING TO VITAL TRANSPORT LINKS SLASHED

FUNDING FEARS FOR RURAL TRANSPORT NETWORK» BY MARK MOLONEY

SINCE 2006, the Government-fundedRural Transport Programme has providedaccesible local transport for rural com-munities in areas where there are inade-quate transport services. Now there is areal fear among rural communities thatfunding for the scheme is to be axed dueto pressure on the Government from theEU/IMF to cut costs.

The scheme is run by not-for-profit andcommunity-based groups. Currently there are36 rural transport groups operating across thestate, providing 1.2 million passenger journeys ayear with many of those who use the schemebeing elderly people who have no other meansof transport.

As well as being a vital link allowing peopleto attend college, training courses and medicalservices, the scheme also helps to tackle isola-tion by ensuring that those without access toprivate transport can attend social events andfunctions.

In their Programme for Government, FineGael and Labour said that they were commitedto retaining and expanding the rural transportnetwork system. Indeed, both groups hadopposed proposals made by the McCarthy‘Bord Snip Nua’ Report in 2009 which recom-mended that the then Fianna Fáil/Green gov-ernment cease funding the scheme in order tosave €11million. The report argued that, due tothe “availability of private sector bus alterna-tives”, there was no need for the initiative yet aCentral Statistcs Office survey that same year

indicated that 50% of rural households haddifficulty accessing public transport.

Many people in rural areas are worriedthat Fine Gael and Labour will renege on their

position due to pressurefrom the EU/IMF, as theyhave already done in otherareas.

In response to questionsput forward by Sinn FéinTransport spokespersonDessie Ellis TD this July, FineGael Transport Minister LeoVaradkar said “a value formoney and policy review ofthe rural transport scheme”had been completed andthat it would be published“later this year”, adding thatthe findings of the reviewwill be incorporated into theplans for the future of therural transport scheme.

This answer, coupledwith the Government’sunwillingness to publish thereport has led to suspicionby many service providers

who fear that there is to be a cut in funding,and it could be on a dramatic scale.

Sinn Féin’s Dessie Ellis asked in the Dáil forthe Transport Minister to “clarify the positionand meet with rural transport providers to

hear their concerns and make them aware ofthe plans arising from the review of the net-work initiated by the last government”.

When quizzed three months later as towhen the report would be published, JuniorTransport Minister Alan Kelly (Labour) said itwould be published “in the coming weeks”,adding that the transport scheme had been“quite successful in some areas and less suc-cessful in others”. Kelly went on to say:

“It is necessary to examine how we canbring together bus services, whether provid-ed by Bus Éireann or community or voluntarygroups, and examine all other services in anarea so there can be greater connectivitywhile we make the money we have go fur-ther.”

Such a statement seems to indicate thatthe Government is intent on cutting fundingto the rural transport scheme.

Speaking in the Seanad on the issue ofpossible cuts to funding, Sinn Féin SenatorTrevor Ó Clochartaigh, who spent a numberof years on the Bealach Connemara ruraltransport initiative, said:

“Bealach was always inundated withapplications and we never had enoughmoney to service every group that required it.I am not just referring to older people but alsoto young people attending sports events andyouth clubs and to people who were travel-ling between villages and trying to connectwith other services.

There is very real concern that fundingfor rural transport services will be cutas part of thisGovernment’s upcomingBudget proposals. Thisservice is a vital link toolder people and thosewith disabilities whorequire assistance in getting to urbancentres for shopping, paying bills andto socialise

PAUL HAYESSINN FÉIN CORK SOUTH-WEST REPRESENTATIVE


WHAT THE FINE GAEL/LABOUR PROGRAMME FOR GOVERNMENT SAID:The rural transport network isvital for rural communities as areliable and sustainable trans-port service. We will maintainand extend the Rural TransportProgramme with other localtransport services as much asis practicable

WHAT LABOUR JUNIOR TRANSPORT MINISTER ALAN KELLY IS NOW SAYING:The rural transport scheme has provided great services in rural Ireland,which have been quite successful in some areas and less successful inothers. Many of the people who operate these services are determined toprovide rural areas with good transport services. However, it is necessaryto examine how we can bring together bus services, whether provided byBus Éireann or community or voluntary groups, and examine all otherservices in an area so there can be greater connectivity while we make themoney we have go further

“When I canvassed the rural areas of WestCork during last February’s general electioncampaign, I met with many carers and home-helps who told me how their hours had beencut and that the elderly were essentially beingcut off and left to fend for themselves.

“We had a terrible case last winter when anelderly man living alone on the Beara Peninsuladied of hypothermia after having slipped out-side his house and he wasn’t discovered forseveral days!

“This is shocking treatment of people whoworked through the tough times, paying theirtaxes and raising their families. These are thehuman stories behind the Government’s gloat-ing about being on target with their budget cutsand austerity measures to appease their croniesin Europe.”

Speaking to An Phoblacht, Senator Trevor ÓClochartaigh said that the position of ruralcommunities is clear.

“The Government needs to realise that peo-ple in rural areas have the same rights to publictransport services as those living in urban areas.These people should not be targeted toappease the EU and the IMF.”

“The last cut saw a reduction from €11mil-lion to €10.62million. The difference equatesto half the pension recently paid to a seniorcivil servant. How many could have beenserviced through the use of that money or an

even larger sum? We are told repeatedly thatwe must take cutbacks and tighten our belts.The Government is tightening its belt in somerespects but not in others and it us unfair thatthis money is not being spent on rural trans-port and the like.”

This previous €380,000 cut to rural trans-port funding resulted in major difficulties inmany parts of Ireland. In July of this year,Donegal North-East TD Pádraig MacLochlainn highlighted the fact that some not-for-profit rural transport schemes whichemployed assistants to aid elderly and dis-abled passengers were being forced tocharge these passengers due to cutbacks.

The possibility of much more serious cutsto rural transport services is worrying ruralcommunities right across the state. SinnFéin’s Cork South-West representative, PaulHayes, told An Phoblacht there is a very realfear that rural transport services will sufferdevastating cuts as part of the upcomingbudget.

“The proposal to axe the Rural TransportProgramme, as per the McCarthy Report, isshort-sighted and callous and takes no regardof the needs of the people of rural Ireland.

Wait on a bus? Not when you have a Ministerial Merc

5 There is a real fear that funding tothe Rural Transport Scheme will be cutto appease the EU and IMF

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh


» BY PEADAR WHELAN THE British Government has point-blank refused to hold a public inquiryinto the UDA assassination of defencelawyer Pat Finucane at home in frontof his family in 1989. The killing isengulfed in widespread beliefs thatBritish Government security services,the British Army or the RUC - or allthree - and British ministers them-selves were involved.

The Finucane family received the dev-

astating news at a meeting with BritishPrime Minister David Cameron in DowningStreet on Tuesday 11th October.

Refusing to allow a public inquiry intothe 1989 killing, Cameron instead pro-posed an 18-month examination of thecase carried out by Sir Desmond de SilvaQC.

So angry were the Finucane family onbeing informed of the refusal that theywalked out of the meeting. GeraldineFinucane said afterwards: “I am so angryand so insulted by being brought toDowning Street to hear what the PrimeMinister had on offer.”

The Finucane family went on to accuseCameron of reneging on commitments toopen a public inquiry.

John Finucane, Pat’s son, explainedthat up until a matter of weeks ago thefamily was still engaged in negotiationswith Secretary of State Owen Patersonaimed at finalising the terms of referencefor a full public inquiry into Pat Finucane’sexecution. Indeed, the plans for thatinquiry were believed to be so faradvanced that the British Government wasreportedly briefing those senior politicaland security figures who were likely to becalled to give evidence.

» BY PEADAR WHELANGERALDINE FINUCANE, widowof assassinated defence lawyerPat Finucane, has describedBritish Prime Minister DavidCameron as a “dishonourableman”.

Addressing a packed andhighly-charged press conferenceon Friday 14th October in Belfastattended by An Phoblacht, sheaccused Cameron of reneging ona promise to the family to hold anopen, public inquiry into the 1989killing of her husband.

Still angry over how she andher family were treated byCameron and Secretary of StateOwen Paterson at their DowningStreet meeting on Tuesday 11thOctober, Geraldine Finucaneexplained her family’s decision togo public on their contacts withthe British was to set the recordstraight on how the British gov-ernment “misled my family”.

Pat’s widow rubbished claimsby Secretary of State Patersonthat the family were brought toDowning Street “to allow thePrime Minister to apologise per-sonally”.

Also present at the press con-ference was the Finucane familysolicitor, Peter Madden.

Madden outlined, in greatdetail, the contacts he’d had with

legal representatives of the BritishGovernment as they thrashed outdetails of the type of inquiry thatwould best serve the interests ofthe family in theirpursuit of the truthof Pat Finucane’skilling.

Documents pro-vided to the mediaproved that then e g o t i a t i o n sbetween the family,their representativesand the BritishGovernment’s legalteam were about establishing thetype and remit of an inquiry.

The review that Cameron pro-posed in the Downing Streetmeeting was not detailed any-where. In fact, the Northern

Ireland Office (NIO), in one of itsdocuments, outlined three exam-ples of current inquiries “as an aidto discussion to assist the family

in making representations to theSecretary of State”.

Of these three examples thefamily believed that the BahaMousa Inquiry into the killing ofan Iraqi man, beaten to death by

British soldiers in Basra, was onethat, “we could participate in”.

This statutory inquiry appearsto have “a procedure agreed

between the Inquiryand the Ministry ofDefence for the pro-duction and onwarddisclosure of materi-al”.

What is also sig-nificant, from theFinucanes’ point ofview, is thatParagraph 29 of theprotocol for the pro-

duction of documents in the BahaMousa Inquiry allows the inquirychairperson to decide whatshould be restricted.

This is a move away from theInquiries Act of 2005 which

allows the relevant ministerdecide what documents shouldbe made available to an inquiry.

The Finucanes have continu-ally rejected an inquiry under theterms of the 2005 Act, believingthe Minister of Defence, for exam-ple, would hide behind it andrefuse to hand over any relevantmaterial.

While the Finucane familyand their legal representativeswere clear that the final decisionon an inquiry would be made byDavid Cameron, “the indicationsfrom Government officials wasencouraging”, said GeraldineFinucane.

“In a recent telephone conver-sation between a senior NIO offi-cial and Peter Madden, we weretold the Prime Minister was confi-dent we would be happy withwhat was on offer.”

The opposite turned out to bethe case.

Dismissing the proposed DaSilva Review, Geraldine Finucanesaid:

“My family and I have no con-fidence in this process. We cannotbe expected to take the BritishPrime Minister’s word that it willbe effective when he is renegingon a Government commitment inorder to establish it.

“His actions prove beyonddoubt that the word of the BritishPrime Minister is not to be trust-ed”.

PAT FINUCANE ASSASSINATION | PAPERS EXPOSE BRITISH DECEIT

British Prime Minister is a ‘dishonourable man’

‘My family and I have no confidence in this process.We cannot be expected to take the British Prime

Minister’s word that it will be effective when he isreneging on a Government commitment in order to

establish it. His actions prove beyond doubt that theword of the British Prime Minister is not to be trusted’

GERALDINE FINUCANE

PAT FINUCANE ASSASSINATION | PRIME MINISTER STONEWALLS FAMILY OVER INQUIRY

Cameron’s proposal is ‘Widgery 2011’

SAYS SEAMUS FINUCANE

5 John and Geraldine Finucane and Peter Madden address a highly-charged press conference in Belfast

Seamus Finucane


“Over the past 12 months we havebeen in talks with the British Governmentabout a public inquiry and what form itmight take,” John said. “Not once duringthat time was this review process evenmentioned

Speaking to An Phoblacht, SeamusFinucane, Pat’s broth-er, who attended themeeting in DowningStreet, said he toldDavid Cameron thathis apology was “hol-low” and that theprocess Cameron sug-gested “only dealt withthe needs and con-cerns of the BritishGovernment andEstablishment and notthe family. It wasanother attempt toneutralise the con-cerns within thenationalist communityabout collusion.”

Seamus Finucanealso told Cameron thathis refusal to instigate a public inquiry was“a retrograde step from what he hadachieved through his apology to theBloody Sunday families”.

Another concern for the Finucane fam-ily is that, by his actions, Cameron hasreneged on the Weston Park Agreementwhich accepted the need for inquiries intothe deaths of Rosemary Nelson, RobertHamill, Billy Wright, RUC members Bob

Buchanan and Harry Breen (killed by theIRA in South Armagh) as well as theFinucane killing.

Retired Canadian Judge Peter Coryinvestigated these cases and supportedcalls for inquiries.

The Nelson, Hamill and Wrightinquiries have con-cluded. TheB u c h a n a n / B r e e ninquiry is underway.The BritishGovernment has nowstonewalled theFinucane family with adecision that clearlykicks any hope of theBritish Governmenttaking part in an openinquiry into touch.

Cameron, in hismeeting with theFinucane family,admitted that Pat’skilling was the result ofcollusion. But that wasonly stating the obvi-ous.

The Stevens Inquiry - consisting ofthree inquiries set up by the BritishGovernment and led by Sir JohnStevens, Metropolitan Police chieffrom 2000 to 2005 - established thatthere had been collusion between theBritish security and militaryforces, the RUC and loyalistdeath squads.

Judge Peter Cory’s

findings underpinned that conclusion.The real questions in all this are about

how far up the British Establishment chainof command does the evidence about theFinucane killing, in particular, and collu-sion, in general, go?

Four weeks before Pat Finucane wasassassinated, Conservative Party HomeOffice Minister DouglasHogg took to the floorof the British parlia-ment to declare thatsome solicitors in theNorth were “undulysympathetic to thecause of the IRA”.

Three of the princi-pal participants in mur-dering Pat Finucanewere agents operating with the Britishcrown forces: Ken Barrett and WilliamStobie were RUC Special Branch agentswhile Brian Nelson was an operative withthe British Army’s elite and highly secretive‘Force Research Unit’, one of its ‘dirty tricks’units. The FRU, under Colonel Gordon Kerr,was based in the British Army HQ in the SixCounties, Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn.

Former British Tory Defence MinisterTom King, who also served as Secretary ofState in the North, described Nelson in aletter to the Director of Public Prosecutionsas a “valuable agent”. Nelson was facingcharges connected to the Finucane andother killings but after a plea bargainreceived 10 years.

The growing suspicion now is that thisBritish Government, the one that hasengaged in a protracted process of negoti-ations with the Finucane family about thescope of a public inquiry, hasbeen ‘nobbled’ and whathappened on October 11th,according to SeamusFinucane, “reinforces ourbelief that the responsi-

bility for Pat’s killing goes to the heart ofthe British Government andEstablishment”.

Questions are already being askedabout the independence and objectivity ofSir Desmond Da Silva, who has beennamed as the man to carry out DavidCameron’s review of the evidence in the

Finucane case.According to the

Conservative websitewww.politicshome.com,which is lobbyingCameron to have DaSilva nominated to theBritish House of Lords,he held elected officefrom 1980 to 1995, hasbeen involved in the

Conservative Party in the past through theCentre for Policy Studies and the centre-right Bow Group. He is described as “aloyal Conservative”.

‘I am so angry and so insultedby being brought to Downing

Street to hear what the Prime Minister had on offer’

GERALDINE FINUCANEWIDOW OF PAT FINUCANE

Seamus Finucane says theprocess Cameron suggested

only dealt with the needs andconcerns of the British

Government and Establishmentand not the family

Douglas Hogg Tom King Colonel Gordon Kerr

David Cameron

Ken Barrett Brian Nelson William Stobie

4 Assassinated defencelawyer Pat Finucane


THE 2011 Annual Feargal O’HanlonMemorial Lecture was a tribute to thelate Seán Cronin, who was the strategistof the IRA’s Operation Harvest – theBorder Campaign – as well as adistinguished author, historian andjournalist. Seán Cronin died in March ofthis year in the United States, where hespent much of his life. His ashes werereturned to Ireland for burial in Kerry,his childhood home, on 17th September.A number of his old comrades as well asyounger people from across thegenerations gathered in Teach nanDaoine, Cortolvin, Monaghan, on 9thOctober for the Memorial Lecture.

SEÁN CRONIN ANDOPERATION HARVESTThe first part of the lecture was deliv-ered by Dr Ruan O’Donnell of the Histo-ry Department, University of Limerick.

Journalism was Cronin’s main profes-sional calling and he migrated toCanada and the US in 1948 to pursue

this interest. He lived in New York City in theearly 1950s and was already an active mem-ber of the pro-Irish republican Clan na Gaelorganisation when the IRA Army Councilannounced its intention to resume its cam-paign against the British presence in theNorth of Ireland.

On returning to Ireland in 1955, Croninwas, as arranged, inducted into the IRAunder its effective Chief of Staff, TonyMagan. Paid work on the Evening Press cov-ered other endeavours as a Training Officerin the IRA. By 1956, Cronin was the Directorof Operations and, as such, made a key inputinto the ‘Operation Harvest’ documentwhich outlined IRA strategy and was adopt-ed by the Army Council in July 1956.

Cronin devised and ran a series of ‘battleschools’ in which some of the largest train-ing programmes ever organised by the IRAwere held in the Dublin and Wicklow moun-tains. The under-rated ‘Border’ or‘Resistance’ campaign commenced on 12thDecember 1956 with leading IRA figuressuch as Seán Cronin and Charlie Murphyplaying active roles in the first phase ofattacks on barracks and infrastructure.

Although arrested and sentenced to sixmonths’ imprisonment in Mountjoy inJanuary 1957, Cronin remained one of themost dynamic members of the IRA leader-ship. He and Murphy persevered in directingthe campaign in July 1957 when the intro-duction of internment badly disrupted theRepublican Movement. Pamphlets and arti-cle written by Cronin helped sustain aneffort which, if serious in intent and compre-hensive in scale, had failed to ignite theanticipated level of public support.

Problems arising from factionalism with-in the Curragh Camp, where Cronin washeld from September 1958, complicated the

task of waging an unequal armed struggleagainst vastly more numerous andresourced British forces.

Following the closure of the camp inearly 1959, Cronin retained sufficient confi-dence among the IRA to be reinstated asChief of Staff. Rearrested in June 1960, theKerryman had lost favour with elements of

the trans-Atlantic support base by the timeof his emancipation. While an IRA Court ofInquiry cleared him of false allegations, hebelieved his presence within the upper lead-ership was counter-productive to the con-duct of the campaign. He remained, howev-er, a popular figure with many Volunteersand his rare combination of military, propa-

ganda and management skills made him avaluable ally to successors at the helm of theRepublican Movement.

THE WRITINGS OF SEÁN CRONIN The second part of the lecture wasgiven by Dublin City Sinn Féin Coun-cillor Mícheál Mac Donncha.

Seán Cronin’s writings spoke initiallyand in a special way for the generationof republicans that carried out the

Resistance Campaign. Cronin producedmuch of the publicity material for theResistance Campaign both as a regularwriter and sometime editor of theRepublican Movement’s monthly newspa-per The United Irishman/An tEireannachAontaithe and as the author of pamphletsand other publicity material.

His most significant production fromthat period was the book ‘Resistance – TheStory of the Struggle in British-OccupiedIreland’ (republished in IRIS magazine,Number 20, 2007).

In 1972, Cronin joined with Wexfordrepublican and journalist Richard Roche andthe Belfast republican and journalist from aProtestant background, Jack Bennett, toproduce a collection of Wolfe Tone’s writ-ings entitled ‘Freedom the Wolfe Tone Way’,which was published by Anvil in 1973. Thiswas an influential book for the republicansof the 1970s and 1980s and is still the bestshort collection of Tone’s writings.

The introduction by Jack Bennett is abrilliant argument against the two nationstheory advanced by Conor Cruise O’Brienand others at the time as their excuse forabandoning the nationalists of the SixCounties and for opposing Irish unity.

It was in 1972 also that Cronin publisheda landmark work of Irish history – ‘TheMcGarrity Papers’. This was the fruit of histwo years’ research of the treasure trove ofdocuments left in the care of Clan na Gael inAmerica by Joe McGarrity, the CountyTyrone republican who died in 1940 andspent most of his life in the United States.

One of Cronin’s most significant workswas his study published in 1980 entitled‘Irish Nationalism – A History of its Rootsand Ideology’. This analyses Irish national-ism and republicanism from the UnitedIrishmen up to the 1970s.

I will conclude with a passage from SeánCronin that I think is especially relevanttoday as we take up the task of national rec-onciliation, reunification and building a newRepublic. With our new imperial masters theIMF and EU in mind we recall what Croninwrote in 1972:

In Tone’s Republic, the resources ofthe nation would be used for the ben-efit of all the people of the nation.Education would not be the preserveof a few, and poverty and emigrationthe lot of the many. In Tone’s Irelandthis land would not be merely a tribu-tary for foreign finance, a base for for-eign forces or a bridgehead for impe-rialism, political or economic.

FEARGAL O’HANLON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2011

SEÁN CRONIN IRA strategist, historian and journalist

Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha and Dr Ruan O’Donnell

» BY MARK MOLONEYWHEN political prisoners werereleased under the terms of theGood Friday Agreement it washoped that no more young Irishmen and women would be forced toendure jail sentences for conflict-related actions.

But while prisoners were releasedfrom 1998 onwards, it was not uncondi-tional. Many prisoners are technicallyreleased “on licence”. This means thatshould a prisoner breach the law, evenfor a minor offence, they may have theirlicence revoked and be sent back toprison to serve the full length of theiroriginal sentence handed down by anon-jury Diplock court.

In other circumstances some prison-ers, such as Gerry McGeough, have beenforced to serve up to two years in prisonafter being charged with conflict-relatedincidents which occurred before theGood Friday Agreement.

Political ex-prisoners also face regulardiscrimination in employment. Much ofthis comes down to that when applyingfor a job an applicant must tick a box asto whether or not they have any “criminalconvictions”. Those who served time forpolitical reasons are required to tick thisbox.

In 2007, the Office of the First Ministerand Deputy First Minister issued guide-lines for employers to assist them inrecruiting people with conflict-relatedconvictions. The document advisesemployers that any conviction for a con-flict-related offence which pre-dates theGood Friday Agreement should not betaken into account when dealing with jobapplications.

Meanwhile, the Sinn Féin teams onStrabane and Omagh councils put for-ward a motion which committed thecouncils to ensuring that “former politicalprisoners are allowed to compete foremployment on exactly thesame terms as every other cit-izen”.

Despite opposition from theDUP and UUP (who branded themotion “offensive”, “outrageous”and “divisive” — with Omagh DUPCouncillor Bert Wilson going asfar as storming out ofthe council chamber),both councilspassed themotion.

Commenting on the motion,Strabane Sinn Féin Councillor KieranMcGuire said that while it “will not solveall the outstanding issues, it representsanother important step in ensuring thatformer political prisoners are not discrim-inated against”. He said:

“Foremost of these outstanding issuesis the need to fully ‘expunge’ all politicalconvictions relating to the conflict whichare still used as a discriminatory toolagainst former political prisoners.”

Speaking to An Phoblacht, MartinMcGuinness said that the motions

were “hugely important”.“This is something which

needs to be addressed inorder to allow people to play afull role within society and togain jobs.

“The majority of ex-prison-ers are hugely and strongly sup-

portive of the Peace Processand are people who work

in their communities.But for them to beforbidden from

achieving other

jobs within society is an injustice whichneeds to be corrected.

“If we are to move forward, reconcil-ing people within society and within thecommunity, it’s very hard to do whenpeople have convictions for pre-1998,political-related incidents which can leademployers to be discouraged fromemploying them, and I think that iswrong.”

Sinn Féin has also criticised com-ments made by Secretary of State OwenPaterson who attempted to rule out atruth commission to deal with the legacyof the conflict.

Sinn Féin MLA Mitchel McLaughlinsaid:

“For Owen Paterson to attempt to ruleout a truth commission style of approachto truth recovery is arrogant and com-pletely ignores the fact that the BritishGovernment were parties to this conflict.”

Martin McGuinness said that the rea-son the British are ruling out the possibil-ity of a truth commission is because “theyhave a huge amount to hide”, particulary“in relation to their intelligence agencieswho were involved in the killings ofnationalists in the North”.


CONFLICT RESOLUTION | DEALING WITH THE LEGACY ISSUES

POLITICAL EX-PRISONERSTRYING TO BREAK THE CHAINS OF THE PAST

MOTIONS PASSED AT THE 2011 SINN FÉIN ARD FHEISThis Ard Fheis calls for theestablishment of an IndependentInternational Truth Commission aspart of an effective truth recoveryprocess to address legacy issuesrelated to the past conflict, and forthose who contributed to this conflictto engage with this Commission toassist victims, victims’ families andsurvivors to secure the closure theydemand and deserve and also tocontribute to genuine nationalreconciliation and an inclusivehealing process.

This Ard Fheis calls for:• The immediate release of those

prisoners currently held inMaghaberry on the basis of arevocation of licence, and whowere originally sentenced forconflict-related charges.

• The release of those prisonerssentenced for conflict-relatedcharges prior to the signing ofthe Good Friday agreement,including Gerry McGeough.

TRYING TO BREAK THE CHAINS OF THE PAST

Gerry McGeough

Councillor Kieran McGuire


» BY GERRY ADAMS TDPRESIDENT OF SINN FÉIN

THE decisive and positive termsof ETA’s response on October20th to the ‘Declaration’ inDonostia-San Sebastian by theInternational Conference Groupin October is to be welcomed, asis the response of the SpanishGovernment and others.

It has taken many years ofpatient work to get to this pointand every effort must be made tobuild momentum into theprocess.

I first became involved in theefforts to build a peace process inthe Basque Country at the time ofour own peace agreement in1998. An Irish priest, Fr Alex Reid,who I have known for almost 40years, had played a key role increating the Irish Peace Processand he was asked by a priest in

that region to bring his expertiseto bear.

In the years since then, SinnFéin leaders, including myself,have travelled regularly to theregion and met representativesfrom the Basque Country and theSpanish state.

It is obvious that many ofthose in the Basque region whowe met are committed to peaceand that they have consciouslysought to learn from the Irish

experience. Almost two yearsago, a new group, Abertzale Left,which includes the bannedBatasuna party, agreed a newpolitical strategy for progress.

For those familiar with thepeace process in Ireland, the lan-guage used by Abertzale Left isstrikingly similar to that used inIreland.

Abertzale Left committeditself to using “exclusively politicaland democratic means” toadvance its political objectives.And it seeks to advance politicalchange “in a complete absence ofviolence and without interfer-ence” and “conducted in accor-dance with the MitchellPrinciples”.

These principles were devisedby US former Senator GeorgeMitchell, who was chair of thepeace negotiations in Ireland.

On October 17th, I returned toDonostia-San Sebastian inEuskadi for an ‘InternationalConference to Promote the

Resolution of the Conflict in theBasque Country’.

An international group ofleaders (myself, Kofi Annan,Jonathan Powell, Bertie Ahern,Pierre Joxe, and Gro HarlandBruntland) had been asked tospeak on that issue and to set outour view of the next steps neededto encourage a step change inthe Basque peace process.

In my contribution I pointedout that violence usually occurswhen people believe there is noalternative. Transforming a situa-tion from conflict to peacerequires therefore creating analternative. This is hugely chal-

lenging. It demands that we seekto understand what motivates,what inspires, what drives ouropponent.

Each conflict is different but inthe course of our efforts Irishrepublicans learned that there aregeneral principles of peace mak-ing and methods of conflict reso-lution that can be applied else-where and which can help endconflict if applied properly.

These elements include:-» Dialogue;» Tackling the causes which

lie at the heart of theconflict;

» A good faith engagementby all sides;

» An inclusive process - withall parties treated as equalsand mandates respected;

» All issues must be on theagenda;

» There can be nopreconditions, no vetoesand no attempt topredetermine the outcomeor preclude any outcome;

» There should betimeframes.

Most importantly, participantsmust stay focused and be pre-pared to take risks and engage ininitiatives and confidence-build-ing measures.

But if there is a starting point itmust be dialogue. I emphasisedthis again and again. This is thefoundation upon which anyprogress will be built.

Following our deliberationsthe International Groupexpressed the opinion that “it ispossible to end, the last armedconfrontation in Europe”.

We called upon ETA to “makea public declaration of the defini-tive cessation of all armed actionand to request talks with the gov-ernments of Spain and France to

address exclusively the conse-quences of the conflict”.

ETA’s subsequent statementmeets that requirement. TheSpanish Government has alsowelcomed the statement.

So, a breakthrough has beenachieved but it must be builtupon quickly if its potential is tobe achieved. The next stepsshould now focus on promotingreconciliation, addressing theissue of victims and recognisingthat a serious effort has to bemade to heal personal and socialwounds.

There are other issues whichwill need to be addressed andwhich can act as confidence-building measures within theprocess.

For example, among these arethe issues of prisoners, demili-tarising the environment and ofrespecting and acknowledgingthe democratic rights of all politi-cal parties and treating them asequals. And there is for theBasque people the key issue ofthe right of the people of that his-toric region to self-determination.

As we learned from our ownexperience, making peace is verydifficult. But as the peaceprocesses in Ireland and in SouthAfrica demonstrate, no conflict isintractable. If there is political willand imagination and a prepared-ness to take risks for peace it ispossible to rewrite the script,make progress and achieveagreements.

ETA ENDS ARMED STRUGGLE | GERRY ADAMS ON SINN FÉIN’S ROLE IN DRAMATIC DEVELOPMENTS IN BASQUE PEACE PROCESS

A good day for peace

PARTICIPANTS IN A PEACE PROCESS must stay focused and beprepared to take risks ininitiatives and confidence-building measures

CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURES INCLUDEprisoners, demilitarising theenvironment and respecting thedemocratic rights of all politicalparties and treating them asequals

5 Gerry Adams at a press conference in 2006 with Arnaldo Otegi, leader ofBatasuna, who is currently in prison

Father Alex Reid


E LIES THERE, in the quiet,pre-dawn darkness, with the

sweat cooling on his big,baldy, robot head. Over and

over again the moment plays in his mind. Hestands before the Irish people, proud, confi-dent, mere days away from becoming thePresident of Ireland. He is master of all hesurveys, a leader, a man destined for great-ness.

And then a soft Derry accent quietly says, “I haveto say, you’re in deep, deep trouble,” and it all comestumbling down.

Poor auld Seán Gallagher - from President-to-beto has-been in about 20 minutes of prime-time tele-vision that revealed he’s nothing more than a FiannaFáil bagman, a mobile Galway tent. And he wouldhave gotten away with it too if it weren’t for onemeddling Martin McGuinness and one gutsy punter,Glenna Lynch.

The people of this wee state had a choice. Meremonths after the election in February we could havetaken a step back to the world of mysteriousaccounting practices, cash-bulging and cheque-filled envelopes, the gombeen men and cutehoorism. But, at the last minute, after a quick glanceinto the abyss, we turned away, electing the mostlyharmless and always charming Mickey D instead.

Something to celebrate in that, and in Martin’sperformance overall: the highest republican votesince the 1920s, third place in a statewide electionfor the first time.

But in the Carney household we celebrate a dif-ferent kind of success: Fine Gael’s worst election per-formance in the history of the state. Worst electionperformance. Ever. Six point four per cent of the vote.Mitchell’s own family must have turned against him.

In Wicklow, where the party won three seats outof five in February, Mitchell polled 4.8%. In Mayo, theTaoiseach’s own constituency where they won fourseats out of five and an eye-watering 65% of the votejust eight months ago, Gay Mitchell could just aboutscramble 9%.

Beaten into fourth place in 40 of the state’s 43constituencies, hammered across all 26 counties (orwas it 22, Gay?). Media reports indicate that Mitchellspent more than €700,000 on his campaign - that’s alittle over six euro a vote. For a family who can traceour hatred of the Blueshirts back to the Civil War, thisis like Christmas, Easter and the death of MichaelCollins all rolled into one big celebration.

Before I go, some special men-tions for a very special cam-paign.

Best newcomer: During theFrontline election debate Icouldn’t help but notice thistweet from Ireland’s leastfunny satirist, NewtonEmerson: “Dear Sinn Féin:When this election’s over,can we have the Internetback?” Dear Newton:Where you’re con-cerned, we’re still think-ing about it.

This year was thefirst time onlineSinn Féinactivists (aka#shinnerbotsto the

Twitterati) seriously organised themselves, pushingthe republican message across Twitter and owningFacebook, something noted a couple of times in themainstream media. A big ‘maith thú, comrade’ to@nicolapking and the rest of the crew, ninjas whomove like Jagger.

Most disappointing performance: Like mostwomen in the Irish media, I have a bit of a girl-crushon Miriam O’Callaghan, probably the country’s finestbroadcast journalist. But her chairing of the RTÉPrime Time debate, her vicious personal attack onMartin, and her general desperate air to be as ‘con-troversial’ as Vincent Browne was well beneath her.When an English journalist friend of mine who hasnever had a good word to say about Shinners admits‘she went a bit over the top’, you know a line’s beencrossed.

MOST determinedS h i n n e r - h a t i n g

p e r f o r m a n c e :Only one winner

here after disappointing campaigns fromKevin Myers and Andrew Lynch. Step for-ward, Eoghan Harris, whose determinedrefusal to engage with reality gave me achuckle every week. From claiming RTÉ isbiased in favour of Sinn Féin(!), to using hilar-iously dodgy figures after the election toclaim Martin’s campaign had been a failure,Eoghan never let the real world intrude onhis analysis.

Oddest comment: Jody Corcoran of the SundayIndependent writing about the shape and mould ofMartin McGuinness’s buttocks. The same man oncefantasised in the paper about burying his face in thehair of a woman in front of him on the escalator.Risky to let him out unaccompanied, I would think.

Best new voter: Complete bias here. Pa Carneyhas voted in every election since 1961 - technically healso voted in 1957 but it wasn’t in his own name as hewas under 18 at the time. A staunch Fianna Fáiler, hehas voted the party ticket in every election or referen-dum, parting company only over EU treaties. InFebruary, for the first time, he gave a transfer outside

of Fianna Fáil, to us, I’m delighted to say, but hewent one better last week and gave Martin

McGuinness a Number 1. Most valuable players: It’s one

thing to spend half an hour of aSaturday sharing a smoke withsome Shinners, huddled under a

tree to escape a downpour, it’sanother when those Shinnersdrove almost three hours toget there and face the samereturn journey. Whether it was

Tyrone activists beingsoaked in Roscommon,

Belfast ones unused to abig city getting lost inDublin, or Derry ones

who drove all of 20minutes toBuncrana, a biggo raibh míle to

our friends inthe North.

HE WAKES SCREAMING

Seán Gallagherwould have gottenaway with it if it

weren’t for onemeddling MartinMcGuinness andone gutsy punter,Glenna Lynch


FADY ABUSIDU OF FATAH’S FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMISSION AT THE SINN FÉIN ARD FHEIS

Palestinian leader speaks to An PhoblachtON the historic occasion of the Sinn Féin Ard Fheisheld in Belfast in September for the first in itshistory, An Phoblacht’s PEADAR WHELAN spoke toFADY ABUSIDU of Fatah’s Foreign RelationsCommission.

Peadar began by welcoming the London-basedrepresentative to the Ard Fheis and expressed howhonoured we as republicans were to have aspokesperson of the Palestinian people with us atthis crucial time in the Palestinian struggle.

What is your experience of the solidarity shown bythe Irish people for the Palestinian struggle?

The relationship between Sinn Féin and Fatah andthe Irish people and the Palestinian people goesback many decades. We have similarities in historyand in struggle. The fate of our two parties is linkedin terms of developing a peace process and fight-ing for the rights of our people.

Personally, I was in Ireland about 10 years ago,during the second intifada, and witnessed the sup-port and solidarity of the Irish people.

Some months ago I was part of a delegationthat was here to explain and promote our cam-paign for recognition and admission of aPalestinian state to the United Nations.

We received a warm welcome from Sinn Féinand the Irish people and were given support forour call for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

Can you outline the situation in Palestine now,especially in light of recent attacks by the Israelison Gaza?

The Palestinian territories are all under occupation.

Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem all suffervarious degrees of occupation. Gaza has the mediafocus because of the severity and the inhumaneconditions the Palestinian people are suffering.

The West Bank, or areas of the West Bank, havebecome centres for civil resistance against Israelioccupation.

East Jerusalem is undergoing a rigorous cam-paign of de-Arabisation by the Israelis who are try-ing to change the demographic make-up of thecity.

Gazans have been the victims of Israeli militarymight for a long time.

We have been trying to reach some sort ofunderstanding, a stable ceasefire to end the siegeof Gaza, trying to promote a non-violent solutionthrough international means with internationalsupport. It has been a very difficult task over thelast two years to change the mind of the currentIsraeli government to get them to engage in mean-

ingful, productive negotiations that would lead to alasting peace.

What we are seeing in Gaza and the West Bankis a result of this very strict Israeli position.

Is it easier to deal with one Israeli party than theother?

Negotiations with the Israelis are always very diffi-cult. There were times when Israeli leaders meantwhat they said, times when they didn’t mean what

‘The solution is ready. Theproblem is a lack of politicalwillingness on the Israeli side to acceptresponsibility forcertain actions that have happened and the injustices that have happened to thePalestinian people’

‘The relationship between Sinn Féin andFatah and the Irish people and thePalestinian people goes back many decades’

FADY ABUSIDUFATAH FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMISSION

5 An armed Jewish settler and an Israeli soldier fraternising – under international conventions such contact between an occupying armyand armed settlers is illegal


peace process. The solution is ready. The problemis a lack of political willingness on the Israeli side toaccept responsibility for certain actions that havehappened and the injustices that have happenedto the Palestinian people.

The right of return can be resolved in manyways.

The settlement issue has been discussed; landswap is a method to overcome the settlementissue. However, it should all be done through aprocess of negotiation.

We cannot accept the continued grabbing ofour land while we negotiate — it’s just politicallynot viable.

We cannot go to the negotiating table whileour water resources, our land is being taken fromour hands — it doesn’t work.

they said, and times when they didn’t say anythingat all.

The difficulty with different administrations,and this one in particular, is they are composed offundamentalists, hardliners and ones who want totake the conflict back to disengagement from thePalestinian issue and promote the land of Israel.

This has been very costly to the peace process.

You mentioned earlier that the Palestinian peopleare engaged in a campaign to end the occupationthrough non-violent methods. How is that beingreceived internationally and would it be looked onmore favourably in Europe than in the UnitedStates, regardless of what administration is inpower?

It has always been the understanding that the endresult of peace agreements, of negotiations of theprocess, would be a two-state solution: a

Palestinian state and an Israeli state. The interna-tional community has been patient waiting for thetwo parties, us and the Israelis, to reach that stagethrough negotiations.

During the past few years we have proved thePalestinian capability, ability and readiness forstatehood through developing security forces,implementation of development projects andbuilding institutions on the ground.

There have been various international reportspublished proving our readiness for statehood.

Parallel to that there is a lack of willingness onthe Israeli side to engage in a process that will leadto the two-state solution.

The international community recognises thesituation, understands the difficulties and wants tosee an end that will lead to the two-state solution.

Therefore our bid to go to the United Nationsto get recognition is in line with all these process-

es, in line with the two-state solution and hasgained a lot of momentum.

European countries and Latin American coun-tries are taking very clear positions for the first timein support of the two-state solution, so we havedecided to take matters forward, take a positivestep, go to the UN make clear the two-state solu-tion is our strategic choice and it will eventually bea way back to negotiations. This means that even ifwe are successful at the UN we would still have tonegotiate a lot of matters with the Israelis.

We will not reach a magic solution and imposea solution on the Israelis. On the contrary, we willgo back to the negotiating table as two states. Wewill talk about borders, about security arrange-ments, about refugees, about water resourcesbecause these are matters that will not changewith a UN resolution.

The issues of water, settlements and refugees areimportant as it’s about the rights of the Palestiniansto go back to their land. It seems the Israelis areadamant the refugees will not return and theyseem to be showing no willingness to stop build-ing settlements. What is your response?

The issues of refugees and settlements have beendiscussed thoroughly throughout the course of the

‘The Palestinian territories are all underoccupation. Gaza, the West Bank and EastJerusalem all suffer various degrees ofoccupation’

‘Gaza has the media focus because of theseverity and the inhumane conditions thePalestinian people are suffering’

FADY ABUSIDU is a representative ofthe Fatah ForeignRelationsCommission. He isPhD researcher at theUniversity of Bradfordwhere he focuses onregional security ofthe Middle East. Heworked with thePalestinian NationalAuthority on mattersof arms control andregional securitywhere he acted aspart of a negotiatingteam representing thePalestinian position atvarious internationalgatherings.

5 Gerry Adams in the Gaza Strip

5 There is no Palestinian flag at the United Nations

5 Palestinian civilians have long been the victims of Israeli occupation forces


» BY SIMON MCGUINNESSNATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR, CUBA SUPPORT GROUP IRELAND

ON OCTOBER 7th, René González,one of the five men known as theMiami Five or Cuban Five, wasreleased from a federal prison inFlorida after more than 13 years inprison. The remaining four membersof the Miami Five have just beguntheir 14th year of unjust imprison-ment in US jails, for the sole crime ofstruggling to prevent terrorist actsagainst Cuban civilians by Florida-based militant gangs. They did thissuccessfully by infiltrating thesegangs and collecting information ontheir plans.

Their convictions were the result of amanipulated trial and are unsafe. That isthe opinion of former Presidents JimmyCarter and Mary Robinson, along withAmnesty International and the UnitedNations panel on Arbitrary Detentions.Even the Atlanta District Court of Appealsformed a similar opinion, until its decisionwas hurriedly revised following pressurefrom the US Attorney General. The USSupreme Court declined to hear an appealagainst the convictions (following pressurefrom President Obama) in spite of anunprecedented number of internationalpetitions delivered to the court, includingone from 54 Irish parliamentarians.

Numerous international appeals fromparliaments, government ministers, citi-zens’ groups, trade unions and legalexperts for justice and fair treatment havealso been unsuccessful. While in prison,they have been subjected to additionalpunishment with two of their wives beingrepeatedly refused visas to visit their hus-bands — an additional and unnecessary

burden described by Amnesty as “a form oftorture”.

As a final, last-ditch attempt to have theUS legal system deliver some semblance ofjustice, US lawyers have presented com-pelling arguments for immediate HabeasCorpus relief. Using the Freedom of

Information Act, it was revealed that the USGovernment had paid thousands of dollarsto Miami TV, radio and print journalists towrite and print prejudicial and biased arti-cles against the Miami Five at precisely thesame time they were conducting a legal

prosecution against them in the Miamicourts. This delivered a prosecutorialatmosphere described by the US AppealsCourt as “a perfect storm of prejudice”.

The case of René González, the first ofthe Miami Five to serve his full sentence(and who was released on October 7th) isrevealing. René was sentenced to threeyears’ parole after his custodial sentenceand is required to fulfil this in the USA,where his life will be at risk from thosesame militant gangs he infiltrated. In theinterests of safety, we ask that he beallowed to return to Cuba and join his fam-ily.

We urge you to support the Miami Fiveat this critical juncture and join us in callingon President Obama to use his Presidentialpowers to release these men and facilitatetheir safe return home to their homelandand their families.

CUBA SUPPORT GROUP IRELAND15 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Phone 087 678 5842. Text 087 236 0234. Website www.CubaSupport.com

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THE Miami Five (also known as the Cuban Five) arefive Cuban men handed down four life sentencesand 75 years collectively after being convicted in USfederal court in Miami on June 8th 2001.

They are Ramón Labañino, Fernando González,Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández and RenéGonzález (René González has just been released onparole from federal prison).

The Five were accused by the US Government of

committing espionage conspiracy against the UnitedStates and other related charges but the Five pointedout vigorously in their defence that they were moni-toring the actions of Miami-based terrorist groups toprevent terrorist attacks on their country of Cuba.

Campaigners point out that the Five’s actionswere never directed at the US Government, theynever harmed anyone nor ever possessed nor usedany weapons while in the United States.

WHO ARE THE MIAMI FIVE?

THE MIAMI FIVE CONVICTIONS WERE THE RESULT OF A MANIPULATED TRIAL and are unsafe. That is the opinion offormer Presidents Jimmy Carter andMary Robinson, along with AmnestyInternational and the United Nationspanel on Arbitrary Detentions

CUBAN ANTI-TERRORIST AGENTS IN JAIL | PAROLED PRISONER MADE TO STAY IN FLORIDA

Miami Five still fighting for justice 14 years on

5 Simon McGuinness, Eleanor Lanigan, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD, Maureen O’Sullivan TD, Finian McGrath TD, DesBonass, Eddie Glacken, Bernie Dwyer and Eugene McCartan pictured at Leinster House in support of the Miami Five

CÉ GUR gheall mé cúpla uair go raibh méchun éirí as an nós, tá mé fós ar Facebookagus ag caitheamh cuid de m’amaluachmhaire gach láag féachaint ar cadatá daoine eile agdéanamh (nó ag rágo bhfuil siad agdéanamh) agus agsmaoineamh (nó agrá go bhfuil siad agsmaoineamh). ‘Sé anrud a bhí ag cur asdom ná na céadtatagairtí do dhaoine agbailiú ainmhithe agus féir ar Farmville nó14K Gold Morganite Ring ar Gemswap II.Cá bhfuil an fhuascailt,arsa mé liom féin, sateicneolaíocht seomura bhfuil ann achcluichí faoi dhomhainfhíorúla? Nach bhfuiláiteanna níos fearr ná“5362nd place inVitalyte SportsNutrition's BouncingBalls contest” lebaint amach? Lán defhrustrachas, thosaigh mé ag dumpáil‘cairde’ as mo leathanach – ach níor thugsiad faoi deara, fiú. Bhí siad ro-ghnóthach,is dócha, ag freagairt ceisteanna táb-hachtacha faoi cénbhróg a chuireannsiad orthu féin ardtús gach maidin, nóa leithéid.Agus ansin, tháinigmé ar leathanachFacebook atá in annmé a mhealladh ar aisarís agus arís eile, agusbeagnach gach lábíonn rud éigin nua,agus úr le feiceáil ann. Nua agus úr?Bhuel, thiocfadh sean agus níos sine a ráansin, nó is minic gombíonn na rudaí ‘nua’agus ‘úr’ sin, thuas lefiche, tríocha, nó fiúcéad bliain d’aois cénach bhfaca siadsolas an lae le bliantafada anuas.Níl aon dabht ná gurtaisce den scoth é anl e a t h a n a c hFacebook seo,Magilligan Ex Pows, ina bhfuil grianghraif,cáipéisí agus eolas faoi chimí poblach-tacha ó gach glúin ó 1798 ar aghaidh. Tá

an cuma ar an scéal gur thosaigh anleathanach amach mar shuíomh ina

mbeadh roinnt iarchimíó Champa MhaighGhiolla Uí Chathain inann teagmháil adhéanamh lena chéileach a d’fhás ó shin gobailiúchán d’ábhair óna príosúin eile, óthréimhse ChillMhaighneán araghaidh. Tá riarthóiran leathanaigh i ndi-

aidh ábhar a rangú de réir tréimhsí staire,de réir na bpríosún éagsúla agus de réirgrianghraif, caipéisíocht agus lámhchear-

daíochtaí.Ní fios fós cé mhéadduine san iomlán achuaigh tríd napríosúin ar son nacúise, ach thig leat abheith cinnte go raibhna mílte, mílte acu agusgo bhfuil a scéal féin aggach glúin acu siúd. Arleathanach Magilligan ExPows insítear an scéal sabhealach is simplí, is

neamhchlaonta: tríd na pictiúir féin. Bhína haghaidheanna óga céanna ag breath-

nú amach ar an cheama-ra i bhFrongoch i 1916a’s a bhí ag breathnúamach as cásannaMagilligan nó an CeisFhada i 1972. Déanannúinéir an leathanaighiarracht an suíomh achoinneáill saor ó ion-saithe pearsanta nópolaitiúla ó ‘cara’amháin ar ‘chara’ eile -

níl ach aon chuspóir ag an leathanachagus is é sin go n-inseofaí scéal na gcimíféin.

Is fiú cuairt a thabhairt ar an chart-lann nua seo, atá agfás agus ag líonadh lehábhar stairiúil agusspéisiúil. nó b’fhéidir gombeidh cuid ‘memora-bilia’ agat féin, leagthago domhain ag buncófra nó i bhfolach sanailéir a bhfuil mar mhíreile i míreanna mearaína staire s’againne. Tógamach é. Tá ardán agus

spás ag fanach dó anois, ar Facebook, aran leathanach tiomnaithe seo.


EU governments delayingmore maternity leave

THIS IS FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN UNITED LEFT/NORDIC GREEN LEFT (GUE/NGL)

Another Europe is possible

ONE YEAR AGO, the EuropeanParliament adopted a very clear positionon the revision of the Maternity LeaveDirective. MEPs voted to increase theminimum period of maternity leave fromthe current 14 weeks to 20 weeks fullypaid and also introduced two weeks’fully paid leave for fathers.

We sought more, of course, but wel-comed the vote at the time as “a boostfor mothers and fathers across Europe”.Portuguese GUE/NGL MEP and genderpolicy co-ordinator Ilda Figueiredo saidthat MEPs’ approval of proposals toguarantee decent maternity leave wouldsupport pregnant workersand aid efforts to narrow thegender pay gap.

“In recognition of thesocial, economic and healthbenefits of decent maternityleave with full pay, theEuropean Parliament hasshot down shameful right-wing attempts to damagethe status of maternity and paternity asfundamental social values,” saidFigueiredo following what was a majorvictory for the Left in Strasbourg.

Unfortunately, EU governments in theEuropean Council have since blockedthe dossier, refusing to accept the pro-posals of the Parliament regarding these

minimum standards.For the European

United Left / Nordic GreenLeft, Council’s position isunacceptable.

Decent maternityleave provision benefitschild development, childand maternal health,reduces the costs of

childcare, increases productivity andhelps to achieve better work and familylife balance. In short, it makes social andeconomic sense.

Decentmaternity leave

provisionmakes social

and economicsense

BAIRBRE DE BRÚN MEPis a member of the GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament

Is fiú cuairt ar chartlann nua

AS AN GHEIBHEANN,ISTEACH SA

LE EOGHAN Mac CORMAIC

Ilda Figueiredo


TORTURE of detainees by NATOforces has been widespread dur-ing the wars in Afghanistan andIraq. Forty years ago, torture bythe government of a supposedlyliberal ‘Western democracy’required a hasty cover-up. Thegovernment in question was ‘HerMajesty’s Government’ in Londonand the torture victims were Irishcitizens detained without trial inthe Six Counties.

Internment without trial wasimposed across the Six Countieson 9th August 1971. Theinternees were taken initially tovarious barracks and campsbefore being detained in CrumlinRoad Prison and on theMaidstone prison ship in Belfast

Harbour. However, a numberwere singled out for specialattention and these were the menwho became known as the‘guinea-pigs’. They were experi-mented on with techniques oftorture, including ‘sensory depri-vation’. This mainly took place inPalace Barracks, Hollywood,County Down.

Many of the internees werebeaten and ill-treated in a varietyof ways during and immediatelyafter the internment swoop bythe British Army in the early hoursof 9th August. But for 14 men inparticular this was the beginningof a prolonged nightmare. Theywere picked to be experimentedon with the principal techniquesof ‘sensory deprivation’. Thesewere:- 1. Hooding of prisoners prior to

interrogation. Black hoodswere placed over their headsand shoulders.

2. Use of ‘white noise’ producedby a machine, a constant,repetitive, intensely irritatingsound.

3. Forced immobilisation in a

position of stress – feet wideapart, leaning against a wallwith only finger-tips touchingthe wall.

4. Little or no food or drink. 5. Being forced to wear loose

overalls several times too big. 6. Deprivation of sleep for days

on end. The treatment continued for

hours and days, turning the mento mental and physical wrecks.

Internee, Joe Clarke, thenaged 19, described what hap-pened:

“There then followed a seriesof collapses – I could not say howmany times I collapsed. Initially

my hands and legs were beatenwhenever this happened and theinsides of my feet were kickeduntil my ankles were swollen toalmost twice their normal size . . .The noise was insistent, drivingmental resistance to its utmost. Ithought I was going mad.”

Paddy Joe McClean, a teacherfrom County Tyrone, describedhis ordeal:

“I stood there, arms againstthe wall, feet wide apart. My arms,legs, back and head began toache. I perspired freely, the noiseand heat were terrible. My brainseemed ready to burst . . . Arethey coming to kill me? I wishedto God they would, to end it. Mycirculation had stopped. I flexedmy arms to start the blood mov-ing. They struck me several timeson the hands, ribs, kidneys andmy knee-caps were kicked. Myhood-covered head was bangedagainst the wall.”

The British Army tried to con-ceal what was being done butword soon got out that men werebeing tortured. Press reports and

protests from relatives and politi-cal organisations forced theBritish Government to act to limitthe political fall-out.

On 31st August 1971 BritishHome Secretary ReginaldMaudling appointed Sir EdmundCompton to chair a committee ofinquiry. The committee had nopower to compel witnesses toattend or to have documents pro-duced. It sat in secret. Detaineeswere at first allowed no legal rep-resentation; when they were,their lawyer was not allowed tosee, hear or question British Armyand RUC witnesses who werethemselves legally represented.As a result, all but one of the 342men interned on 9th August boy-cotted the ‘inquiry’.

The Compton Report was aclassic whitewash, designed tocover up the real actions andintentions of the British Army.

Compton admitted that therehad been ill-treatment ofdetainees but denied there wasbrutality or torture. In the mostnotorious passage of his report,Compton essentially argued thatit was only torture if the torturerenjoyed it:

“We consider that brutality isan inhuman or savage form ofcruelty, and that cruelty implies adisposition to inflict suffering,coupled with indifference to, orpleasure in, the victim’s pain. Wedo not think that happened here.”

But by the time Compton waspublished, the brutality inflicted

on internees was widely knownand the report was greeted withdisdain and ridicule. In September1976, the European Commissionon Human Rights found that, inits treatment of the detainees, the

British Government breached theEuropean Convention on HumanRights “in the form, not only ofinhuman and degrading treat-ment, but also of torture”.

The Compton Report, dis-credited even before it appeared,was published on 16th November1971, 40 years ago this month.

REMEMBERING THE PAST | BY MÍCHEÁL Mac DONNCHA

The Compton Report –a whitewash for torture

Sir Edmund Compton’scommittee of inquiry sat insecret

All but one of the 342 meninterned on 9th Augustboycotted the ‘inquiry’

Compton essentially arguedthat it was only torture if thetorturer enjoyed it

British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling

Sir Edmund Compton

UNITING IRELAND CONFERENCE NEWRY TOWN HALL

7pm SATURDAY19th NOVEMBER 2011

Key figures participating: Sinn Féin party president Gerry Adams TD, Martin McGuinness MLA,John McAllister MLA, economist John Bradley and Ruth Tallion, Centre for Cross Border Studies.

Towards a New Republic

I dtreo Poblacht Nua


» BY TREVOR QUINNSIPTU, Cork

TADHG BARRY was to have the ominousdistinction as one of the last peoplekilled by the British forces in the revolu-tionary years. Just some three weeksbefore the signing of the Anglo-IrishTreaty in 1921, he was shot through theheart on November 15th by a Britishsentry at Ballykinlar internment camp inCounty Down.

Born to a working-class family in 1880,around 1909 his interest in journalism wasbecoming recognised. He began to write forthe newly-established Cork Accent and laterbecame a staff writer on the Cork Free Press(1910-1916) as a direct competitor to theRedmonite Cork Examiner. Barry specialisedin GAA affairs and wrote under the pen-nameof ‘An Ciotog’.

Tadhg was to commit himself to the ideaof a free Ireland and the ideals of JamesConnolly. He would be a founding member

of and secretary to Sinn Féin in Cork (1906-08) and prominent within the Cork branch ofthe Irish Transport & General Workers’ Union.As a founding member of the Cork corps ofthe Irish Volunteers in 1913, he became anofficer, having had previous experience fromtraining of the Fianna in Cork from 1911alongside Tomás MacCurtain and SeánO’Hegarty.

Tadgh shared a platform with Connolly inCork on two separate occasions and was onactive service during the 1916 Rising. Barrywas selected Cork delegate to the historicOctober Sinn Féin convention in the MansionHouse in 1917.

During this period he kept up his writingand was a regular for his union paper, TheVoice of Labour on topics of workers’ rightsand the way forward for society. In 1916, hehad the first descriptive book on hurling pub-

lished, Hurling and How to Play It. Barry alsowrote poetry and had several collectionspublished, including Songs and Rhymes of aGaolbird, published shortly after his releasefrom prison in 1917 for delivering a seditiousspeech (he was released early after a hungerstrike).

By early 1918 he had a weekly columnwith The Southern Star. In May 1918, he wasarrested again by British forces as part ofDublin Castle’s so-called ‘German Plot’, whichfalsely claimed a rising was being plannedbetween Sinn Féin and Germany. Barry wasone of the senior republicans picked upacross Ireland and the only republican liftedin Cork. Upon his release in 1919 he becamefull-time branch secretary to the ITGWU inCork and was to the fore in the farm labour-ers’ widespread actions for a decent livingwage between 1919-1920 and also the docksstrike of 1920.

Elected an alderman in the 1920 munici-pal elections which achieved the first republi-can Corporation of Cork, he won on a jointITGWU/Sinn Féin ticket, representing theSunday’s Well and Blarney Street areas,alongside his comrades Lord Mayor TomásMac Curtain and Terence MacSwiney.

1920 also brought new British tactics andthe Auxiliaries (Black and Tans) were set looseon Cork City. Both the now ‘republican CityHall’ and the ITGWU offices on Camden Quaywere targeted and gutted.

Following the cowardly murder of theLord Mayor of Cork, Tomás Mac Curtain, in

the family home and the death of TerenceMacSwiney on hunger strike in Brixton Prisonin London on October 24th, the Corporationgathered at the Courthouse to elect a newlord mayor. Barry and eight other councillorswere arrested. He was transported toBallykinlar internment camp in County Down.

Here he was in the company of 2,000 otherfreedom fighters, including Seán Lemass.

Even though he was incarcerated, he keptbusy and spent much of his time teaching fel-low detainees Irish. He was noted for flyingthe red flag over his barracks, to the greatannoyance of the British. On November 15th1921 whilst saying farewell to comrades leav-ing the camp, Tadhg was slow to walk backand was shot through the heart by a sentry.

Tadhg’s funeral was the largest ever seenin Cork and en-route over 30,000 marchedbehind his coffin in Dublin. Almost all publicbodies in Ireland passed a resolution of sym-pathy. Cork was closed down and the cortegewas led by the Cork IRA with bishops, priests,TDs, lord mayors and representatives frommany other cities in attendance. MichaelCollins was there too even though he was thechief negotiator for the Irish delegation in thepeace talks taking place in London. Thisincredible mark of respect leads you to under-stand the importance of Cork’s Tadhg Barry inthe political and military struggles in Ireland atthe time.

This year marks the 90th anniversary ofthe untimely death of one of Cork’s mostprominent and largely forgotten citizens.

CAMPAIGN TO COMMEMORATE CORK TRADE UNION AND REPUBLICAN ACTIVIST | COMRADE OF CONNOLLY SHOT DEAD AT BALLYKINLAR INTERNMENT CAMP

‘Tadhg Barry Remembered’

Tadhg Barry was elected to the firstrepublican Corporation of Cork on a jointITGWU/Sinn Féin ticket alongside hiscomrades Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain and Terence MacSwiney

Tadhg’s funeral was the largest everseen in Cork and en-route over 30,000marched behind his coffin in Dublin

THE CORK COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS, ALONG WITH CORK CITY COUNCIL INVITES YOU TO A TALK ON OUR

‘Forgotten Hero: Tadgh Barry’ by Dr Donal O’Drisceoil (School of History, UCC)

AT TRISKEL CHRISTCHURCH ON FRIDAY 18th NOVEMBER AT 7pm.

THE CORK COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS, ALONG WITH CORK CITY COUNCIL INVITES YOU TO A TALK ON OUR

‘Forgotten Hero: Tadgh Barry’ by Dr Donal O’Drisceoil (School of History, UCC)

AT TRISKEL CHRISTCHURCH ON FRIDAY 18th NOVEMBER AT 7pm.

6 The funeral of Tadhg Barry leaving Corkrail station

5 Back Row: David Cotter, Seán Murphy,Donal Barrett, Terence MacSwiney andPaddy Trahy. Front Row: TadhgBarry, Tomás Mac Curtáin and P O’Higgins

PeterJohnCaraher

South ArmaghTHE lanes and hills of Cullyhanna came toa standstill on Wednesday 12th Octoberwhen South Armagh said ‘slán abhaile’ toone of its most well-respected leaders, agiant in the republican community, PeterJohn Caraher, who died the previousMonday morning.

The wake and funeral were attendedby thousands of people who wished topay their own quiet tribute to Peter Johnand to sympathise with the Caraher familyon the loss of a husband, a father, a grand-father and a friend.

Following the funeral ceremony in StPatrick’s Chapel, Cullyhanna, a movingand personal tribute was paid to PeterJohn by long-time family friend GerryAdams, who began by extending solidarityto Peter John’s wife, Mary; to their daugh-ters, Maria, Therese and Joanne; and theirsons, Francis, John, Miceál, Phelim, andCathal; to Peter John’s surviving siblings;his 19 grandchildren; the wider Caraherfamily; and to Peter John’s friends andneighbours.

Gerry outlined Peter John’s back-ground:

“He was born, the eldest of seven chil-dren, not far from here on 9th May 1928 onCreenkill Hill, Crossmaglen. His was arepublican family. His father, John, amember of the 4th Northern Division, wasimprisoned in Newbridge, County Kildare,in the 1920s. He escaped and was recap-tured and received such a severe beatingthat he died at the early age of 44, leaving14-year-old Peter John as head of thehousehold.

“Peter John went to Kildare to work asa bricklayer and when his brother, Francie,contracted polio he returned home to helpwith the farm. Francie died in 2005 at theage of 73, a Volunteer of Óglaigh na hÉire-ann. Another brother, Owen, was impris-oned in 1959 during the ‘50s campaign.

“Peter John married Mary on 4thSeptember 1962 and they had a family of 9children. Like his father before him, PeterJohn was a Volunteer in the IrishRepublican Army.

“South Armagh in those days was partof the Orange state: oppressed and underBritish military occupation. It was a very

proud republican heartland and PeterJohn was rightly proud of the actions ofthe volunteer soldiers of the IRA. In theearly years of the conflict he was adjutantto Michael McVerry, who was killed inaction while carrying out an attack onKeady Barracks in 1973. Mickey McVerryand Peter John were firm friends and hisdeath had a huge impact on him. Therewas never a day went by that he didn’tspeak of him. The flag on Peter John’s cof-fin today is the same one that was drapedon Mickey McVerry’s coffin.

“In the aftermath of Mickey McVerry’sdeath, Peter John took on the role of O/Cand he instigated the building of the mon-ument to his comrade and friend whichwas opened a year to the day after hisdeath.

“Peter John was always very keen thatpeople should recognise the central roleplayed by his wife, Mary, and he alwaysvalued her opinion and advice.

“The family suffered a great hurt whenin December 1990 Fergal and Miceál werethe victims of a shoot-to-kill action by the

British Army. Fergal was killed and Miceálwas severely wounded. Peter John refusedto be daunted by this huge personal lossand was instrumental in the setting up of apublic inquiry into the events surroundingthe shootings.”

Gerry Adams also commended PeterJohn’s community involvement in groupssuch as the Pioneer Society, the LourdesCommittee, the Michael McVerry Sinn FéinCumann, the Cullyhanna Band,Cullyhanna GFC, and South Armagh GreenCross.

Describing the esteem in which PeterJohn was held, Gerry Adams said:

“He was a giant in our struggle. He waslike a tall tree in very turbulent times in thecentre of his own family and the republi-can community.”

In South Armagh we know the legacywhich Peter John has bequeathed to us.The vibrant Republican Movement, thriv-ing in our area and our strong communi-ties, are a testament to a proud man whogave 100% to the struggle for unity andfreedom.”


2011 Annual Dublin VolunteersDinner Dance

Bhliantúil 2011Átha Cliath Oibrithe DeonachaDamhsa dinnéar

A night of Celebration and

Remembrance

SeamusLoughran

West BelfastTHE funeral of veteran Belfast republicanSeamus Loughran took place on Thursday29th September. He had passed away theprevious Sunday.

Loughran, from Andersonstown, playeda central role in republican politics in theearly 1970s as the war in the North intensi-fied.

In 1972 during a stand off between theIRA and the British army in Lenadoon, WestBelfast, Loughran acted as a go-between.However the situation in the area deterio-rated leading to massive gun battlesbetween the IRA and the British which sawthe collapse of the 1972 truce. Loughranwas later interned and held in the Cages ofLong Kesh.

When he was released, the west Belfastman took on various senior roles within theMovement and was part of a delegation ofsenior republicans who met Protestant cle-grymen in Feakle, County Clare, in 1974.

The talks between the then republicanleadership figures and the clergymen leadto the IRA instigating its 1975 ceasfire.However due to ill-health Loughran, whowas holding down the position as SinnFéin’s Ulster organiser, resigned.

Speaking to An Phoblacht, Sinn Féin’sAlex Maskey, who knew Seamus Loughranwell, praised him as someone “who wasahead of his time politically”. Alexexplained:

“Seamus was very prominent in theearly 1970s. He was always looking for waysto promote grassroots, community basedprojects. He was one of the first people Iheard encouraging people to set up creditunions and promote the idea of a peoples’parliament because he was committed tothe idea of workers becoming empoweredand taking as much control of their lives aspossible.

“He wanted the people to be as self-suf-ficient as they could. He was all for workersrights.”

He described Seamus Loughran as arepublican who stood against the injusticeshe witnessed on the streets of Belfast andthroughout the North.

“He came from a very solid Irish familytradition, he loved his family and I wouldlike to take this opportunity to pass on mycondolences and those of Sinn Féin toSeamus’s wife Josie, his sons Kieran,Seamus and Brendan and his daughtersChristina and Gráinne.”

8pm Saturday 26th NovemberGresham Hotel, O’Connell Street

SPECIAL HONOUREE: ROSE DUGDALECHAIR: SPEAKER:

Seán Crowe TD Rita O'Hare3 course meal, entertainment and special guests. Táille €55

Contact: Pamela Kane | [email protected] | 086 2420906 | Niall Binead | [email protected] | 087 6184010

5 Peter John Caraher, speaking at the 2007 Special Sinn Féin Ard Fheis

5 The funeral of Peter John Caraher took place in Cullyhanna


Next issues of An Phoblacht out on . . . DECEMBER – THURSDAY 1stAll notices should sent [email protected] at least 10 daysin advance of publication date. THERE ISNO CHARGE for I nDíl Chuimhne,Comhbhrón etc. There is a charge of €10for inserts printed in ourImeachtaí/Events column you can get a€30 small box advert or €50 large boxadvert. Contact: [email protected] details

1 October 1977: Seán Ó CONAILL, Sinn Féin (Parkhurst Prison)1 October 1996: Pat McGEOWN, Sinn Féin 2 October 1971: Volunteer Terence McDERMOTT, BelfastBrigade, 1st Battalion2 October 1978: Volunteer Pat HARKIN, Derry Brigade6 October 1972: Volunteer Daniel McAREAVEY, Belfast Brigade,2nd Battalion9 October 1976: Noel JENKINSON, Sinn Féin (Leicester Prison)9 October 1990: Volunteer Dessie GREW, Martin McCAUGHEY,Tyrone Brigade10 October 1972: Volunteer John DONAGHY, Volunteer PatrickMAGUIRE, Volunteer Joseph McKINNEY, Belfast Brigade, 2ndBattalion

16 October 1972: Volunteer Hugh HERON, Volunteer John PatrickMULLAN, Tyrone Brigade 16 October 1976: Volunteer Paul MARLOWE, Belfast Brigade,2nd Battalion; Volunteer Frank FITZSIMMONS, Volunteer JosephSURGENOR, Belfast Brigade, 3rd Battalion16 October 1992: Sheena CAMPBELL, Sinn Féin18 October 1974: Volunteer Michael HUGHES, Newry Brigade23 October 1971: Volunteer Dorothy MAGUIRE, Volunteer MauraMEEHAN, Cumann na mBan, Belfast23 October 1979: Volunteer Martin McKENNA, Belfast Brigade,3rd Battalion23 October 1993: Volunteer Thomas BEGLEY, Belfast Brigade,3rd Battalion

24 October 1971: Volunteer Martin FORSYTHE, Belfast Brigade,1st Battalion25 October 1982: Peter CORRIGAN, Sinn Féin26 October 1990: Tommy CASEY, Sinn Féin27 October 1970: Volunteer Peter BLAKE, Volunteer TomMcGOLDRICK, Belfast Brigade, 2nd Battalion28 October 1976: Máire DRUMM, Sinn Féin28 October 1987: Volunteer Paddy DEERY, Volunteer EddieMcSHEFFREY, Derry Brigade30 October 1974: Volunteer Michael MEENAN, Derry Brigade31 October 1975: Volunteer Seamus McCUSKER, Belfast Brigade,3rd Battalion

MEEHAN, Martin. In proud memory ofVolunteer Martin Meehan, whose fourth anniver-sary occurs on 3rd November. Rememberedalways by the Clarkes (Ardoyne).MURPHY, James. In proud and loving memoryof Volunteer James Murphy, who died on 26thNovember 2007. Always remembered by his lov-ing family, parents Jimmy and Sandy; sister Áine,Conor and Conor Óg; brother Pearse and

Michelle; sister Roisín and Andy.MURPHY, James. In proud and loving memoryof Volunteer James Murphy, who died on 26thNovember 2007. Always remembered by theRepublican Movement, Munster; Sinn Féin CúigeMumhan; Republican Movement, Cork; and SinnFéin Chorcaí.MURPHY, James. In proud and loving memoryof Volunteer James Murphy, who died on 26th

November 2007. Always remembered by TomHanlon, republican prisoner, Portlaoise Jail.MURPHY, James. In proud and loving memory ofVolunteer James Murphy, who died on 26thNovember 2007. Always remembered by hisfriends and comrades Mick, Kieran, Paul and Tony.O’MAHONEY, Liam. In memory of LiamO’Mahoney, Portarlington (5th anniversary), afriend and comrade. Always remembered by

Councillor Noel Harrington, Kinsale. O’SULLIVAN, Timmy. In memory of TimmyO’Sullivan, Passage West (2nd anniversary).Always remembered by Councillor NoelHarrington, Kinsale.QUIGLEY, James. In proud and loving memoryof Volunteer Jimmy Quigley, whose 39th anniver-sary occurred on 29th September. Always remem-bered by his brother Tommy and family.

ALWAYS REMEMBERED BY THE REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT

I nDíl Chuimhne“Life springs from death and from the graves of patriot men and women spring living nations.” – Pádraig Mac Piarais

CARAHER, Peter John. Deepest sympathy isextended to the family of Peter John Caraher,Cullyhana, South Armagh, who died recently.From Conor McLaughlin and family, Cork. CARAHER, Peter John. Deepest sympathy isextended to the family of Peter John Caraher,Cullyhana, South Armagh, who died recently.From Sinn Féin Cúige Mumhan and theRepublican Movement, Munster.DIXON, Christy. It was with great sadness thatI learned of the passing of Christy Dixon, agood friend and comrade. My condolences tohis family and friends. From Councillor Noel

Harrington, Kinsale.DONAGHER, Teresa. County Wexford SinnFéin extends heartfelt sympathy to our friendand comrade, Colum Donagher, his sons Danieland Johnny; and the extended family on thedeath of Teresa. She was a much loved wife,mother, daughter and sister who bore her suf-fering with dignity and spirit. God rest hersoul. DONAGHER, Teresa. Deepest sympathy isextended to our colleague Colum Donagher, hissons, Daniel and Johnny, and the extended fam-ily on the death of Teresa, a beloved wife,

mother, daughter and sister. May she rest inpeace. From the Fr Murphy/Keegan/Parle SinnFéin Cumann, Enniscorthy.FLEMING, Colum. Deepest sympathy isextended to the Fleming family on the sadpassing of their brother Colum. From thePádraig Pearse Sinn Féin Cumann, Bogside andBrandywell, Derry.FLEMING, Colum. Deepest sympathy isextended to Nuala and all the Fleming familyon the sad passing of their brother Colum.From the Eamonn Lafferty Sinn Féin Cumann,Creggan, Derry.

Comhbrón

ROSE DOYLE (née Stagg) passed away sud-denly on 14th September at Our Lady’sHospital, Navan, after a short illness follow-ing her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Alifelong, committed republican, she has leftbehind her husband, James, and her six chil-dren: Kevin, Neil, Robert, Trevor, Roisín andDarina.

Rose’s brother, Frank Stagg, died onhunger strike on 12th February 1976, inWakefield Prison in England.

Rose was born on 4th March 1943 inHollymount, County Mayo, a village halfwaybetween Claremorris and Balinrobe. Shewas the sixth child of a family of 13 andeffectively headed up the younger half ofthe siblings.

She emigrated to Britain and settled inCoventry, where she became a qualifiednurse. In 1961, she met James Doyle, anoth-er emigrant, from Killarney, County Kerry.They were married in October 1965 and sixchildren came along thereafter, with thefour boys being born in Coventry and bothgirls born in Trim, County Meath, in the1970s.

Times were turbulent in the early 1970sfor a republican family living in the BritishMidlands during the IRA campaign. TwoCounty Mayo Hunger Strikers lost their lives

in British prisons: Michael Gaughan in 1974and Frank Stagg in 1976.

Especially difficult for Rose Stagg wasthat her first daughter was born on 7thFebruary 1976, five days before her brotherpassed away.

The most distressing of all was when theFine Gael/Labour Party Government at thetime did not hand over the body of FrankStagg to his family on arrival at ShannonAirport. Instead, against Frank Stagg’s dyingwish to be buried in the Republican Plotnext to Michael Gaughan, The Governmentchose to bury him elsewhere in the ceme-tery, thereby avoiding what they saw as a‘republican’ funeral. In fact, such was theirfear that his dying wish would be carriedout, a few days before leaving office in 1977they arranged for six feet of concrete to bepoured over the coffin.

Some 20 months after his burial, a teamof six IRA Volunteers in the dead of nightcarried out Frank’s dying wish. A grave wasdug adjacent to where he lay and his coffinmoved to the Republican Plot and buriedthere as he had wished.

Rose Doyle, due to unbearable circum-stances, moved from Coventry in April 1975and settled with her family in Navan, CountyMeath. Despite difficult financial pressures,

she made regular visits to her brother inprison in various prisons all over Britain dur-ing 1975.

Rose did not miss one commemorationof the two Mayo Hunger Strikers or indeedthe 10 Hunger Strikers from 1981, until thisyear, when she was too ill to travel.

Her funeral on Saturday 17th Septemberwould be one that she would have beenproud of. An eight-strong colour guard and

a lone piper escorted her remains to StOliver Plunkett’s Church in Blackcastle,Navan, before burial at the Old KilcarinCemetery, Navan. At her graveside, SinnFéin TD Peadar Tóibín gave a speech on hercommitment and steadfast loyalty to thecause of Irish freedom. Her like is a rarebreed and due to her support and love, herfamily will have the fondest memories ofher for all time to come.

Rose Doyle (Stagg)Mayo and Meath


Caithfidh chuile dhuine a n-intinn féin adhéanamh suas ar cleasaíocht polaitiúil atáanseo nó an é go bhfuil siad fós lonnaithethiar sa stair ó thaobh dearcadh agus curchuige de. Níl aon dabht faoi ach gur bhain napobalbhreitheanna agus an tacaíocht láidir do

Mhartin McGuinness stangadh aisteach ó napáirtithe seanbhunaithe sa Stát seo. Níl aondabht ach oiread ach go ndearna Sinn Féin ancinneadh ceart iarrthóir a chur chun cinn agusgo raibh Martin McGuinness mar sár-iarrthóirdon phost. Tá an-aiféal léirithe ag ionadaithepoiblí i Fianna Fáil go príobháídeach liom nársheas siadsan iarrthóir mar shampla agus gurbotún a bhí ansin, ach níl aon dabht ná gobhfuil siad ag glacadh go fonnmhar le SeánGallagher mar fhear ón ‘gene pool’ - go príob-háideach muna bhfuil siad dhá rá go poiblí.

Tá ardmholadh ag dul do gach duine a bhípáirteach ar fhoireann McGuinness chomhmaith as feabhas na h-ócáidí poiblí aeagraíodh le linn an fheachtais seo. Bhí sluaitemóra ann agus go leor daoine ag cloisteáilscéala Mhairtín den chéad uair agus iad ag fáiltuiscint faoi leith ar chéard a spreag é chundul i mbun feachtais chun cearta sibhialta abhaint amach dá phobal. Bhí suas le seachtgcéad duine ag an gcomhdháil ag d’eagraighmuid i nGaillimh mar shampla agus shínighcuid mhaith acu sin suas linn chun tacú leMáirtín agus chun a bheith páirteach ingníomhaíochtaí Sinn Féin i gcoitinne.

Chaith mé roinnt ama ar an mbóthar leMartin agus an fhoireann toghchánaíochtafreisin, mar bhí muid ag ullmhú dondíospóireacht ar TG4. In ainneoin na dúshláinéagsúla atá tagtha roimh McGuinness inashaol – an strachailt, bagairtí báis, proiséas nasíochána, comhrialtais le hAontachtóirí agusaraile – sílim go raibh níos mó drogall aigeroimh sliocht a dhéanamh i nGaeilge ar anteilifís ná go leor eile acu seo! In ainneoin sin,thug Martin faoin dúshlán seo ar an mbealachis dual dó – le fócas agus le díogras. D’oibrighsé go dian chun an sliocht Ghaeilge a fháil igceart mar gur thuig sé an tábhacht a bhainleis.

Cuma cén toradh a bheidh ar an toghchánseo, níl aon dabht ormsa gurb é MartinMcGuinness an duine ab fhearr sa rása agustréaslaím leis as ucht an fheachtas a rith séagus an mhisneach atá aige féin agus ag gachduine a thacaigh leis ar aon bhealach.McGuinness abú!

AGUS MÉ dhá scríobh seo níl vóta ar bithcaite i dtoghchán na hUachtaránachta,ach tá bua mórálta faighte ag MartinMcGuinness agus Sinn Féin cheana féinsílim. Leathnaigh ainmniúchán an LeasChéad Aire an díospóireacht maidir le rólagus roghnú Uachtarán na hÉireann, achchomh maith leis sin d’ardaigh sé ceis-teanna maidir le seasamh na bpáirtitheagus na hiarrthóirí ar cheisteanna maidirle Éíre Aontaithe, an chríochdheighilt,oidhreacht na dTrioblóidí agus anphroiséas síochána. Rud a d’fhág nameáin agus ag páirtithe an Rialtais eas-namhach ina gcuid freagraí ach goháirithe.

Bhí fhios againn go mbeadh toghchán nahUachtaránachta salach, ach measaim nachraibh súil ag aon duine againn le cuid densuarachas a bhain leis an tráchtaireacht agusan dioscúrsa poiblí ó na polaiteoirí - ní amháini leith Martin McGuinness ach maidir le gachiarrthóir nár bhain le páirtithe an Rialtais darliom. Seans go ndéarfaidh daoine go bhfuilmise claonta, agus b’fhéidir go bhfuil an ceartacu, ach ní mheasaim gur chuir na tráchtairían oiread brú ar Gay Mitchell agus Michael DHiggins agus a cuireadh ar na h-iarrthóirí eilear fad.

Ach, an aiseolas a fuair mise ar an gcineáltráchtaireachta sin, ná dá déine is a bhí naceisteanna agus dá mba mhó an claontacht abhain leo, is ea is mó gur thaobhaigh angnáthdhuine le Martin McGuinness, marshampla. In áit daoine a iompú ina aghaidh isea is mó a bhrú an tráchtaireacht seo daoine idtreo fhear Dhoire. Bhí an rud céanna lefeiceáil freisin i lár an fheachtais leis an ardú atháinig ar thacaíocht do Seán Gallagher snapobalbhreitheanna nuair a bhí sé faoi bhrúmaidir lena ghaol le Fianna Fáil. Tabhair faoideara nár tháinig aon méadú suntasach ar tha-caíocht iarrthóirí Fhine Gael agus an LuchtOibre le linn an fheachtais, in ainneoin –– nób’fhéidir mar thoradh air, na meáin a bheith agdul go bog orthu.

Le fírinne, is é an rud is mó a ndearna méféin suntas dó maidir leis an toghchán seo nágo bhfuil páirtithe an Rialtais sna fiche séchontae thart ar cúig bhliana déag ar gcúl armheon an phobail maidir le proiséas nasíochána. Bhí na hargóintí a bhíodar ag curchun cinn sna meáin agus i dTithe anOireachtais, aineolach agus míthuisceanach archomh fada agus tá muid tagtha chun cinn óthaobh cothrom na féinne do shaoránaithe nasé chontae agus ról lárnach Sinn Féin saphroiséas ar fad.

Na meáin agus páirtithe Rialtais easnamhach

McGuinness Abú!LE

TREVOR Ó CLOCHARTAIGH


Morethan a game

MATT TREACY

Morethan a game

HOSE OF US of a certain vintageand who used to go to dodgyparties with people who had con-gealed Guinness foam in theirbeards will recall the sort of sing-

songs that Dublin republicans and leftiesused to have before they started to go tolate-night wine bars and eat tofu.

If there were Stalinists present then you werecertain to hear Red Fly the Banners, O! It is one ofthose songs that everyone can join in and seemsnever to end as extra lines are added. A bit like TheBog Down in the Valley Oh actually now that Icome to think of it.

So at some point one of the Stickies [Ed’s notefor younger readers who haven’t yet grownbeards to congeal Guinness in: Stickies = theWorkers’ Party] or a Communist Party tankiewould leave off for a moment telling a nurse fromRoscommon why her Da should be forced into acollective farm and her brothers sent to cut turf inOffaly to start off the verse:

I’ll sing you one-O!Red fly the banners, O!What is your on -O!One is workers’ unity and ever more

shall be so.And so it went on. Three was The

Rights of Man. As in: “Three, three therights of man.” Then you went backto the start and added more. Usually,the biggest audience participation camefor the verse about 13 being for the holesin Trotsky’s head. And if there were anyTrots present they might have to hide in thekitchen for a while behind parcels of stout untilthe Stalinists had forgotten their mental note togive them a slap with a copy of Eoghan Harris’sThe Irish Industrial Revolution.

Anyway, the reason for all of this nostalgiaand what brings me back to sport (sort of) isthat one of the lines was about the MoscowDynamos. ‘The what?’ you say.

Dynamo Moscow (Dinamo Moscow orDinamo Moskva, back in the USSR). They finishedseventh in the Russian Premier league last yearand played Celtic in something or other but have

never recaptured their glory days when they wonthe league eleven times and the cup six times. TheSoviet league and cup, of course.

Because they, like the holes in Trotsky’s headin fact, are inseparable from the Soviet era.

Although the club was founded in the 1880s, itcame under the control of Felix Dzerzhinsky,

the head of the Cheka, the Soviet securityagency, in 1917, and adopted the title

Dynamo in 1923. The club’s motto,“Power in Motion”, was coined by the

author Maxim Gorky who was amember of the sporting club that

was attached to the Ministry of theInterior.

There is no record of Stalin havingbeen a big football fan (which is probably

just as well) but his chum Lavrenty Beria,who was the main man at the NKVD secretpolice, was a big Dynamo fan and technicallychair of the club.

He took revenge on their rivals, Spartak,who beat Dynamo in the 1939 Cup semi-finalby having the four Starostin brothers, who

were involved with Spartak, and several playersarrested in 1942 and charged with conspiring tomurder Stalin! (If only Pillar Caffrey had put hisposition within the Garda to such purpose for theDubs.)

That charge was later dropped but they were

found guilty of “lauding bourgeois sport andattempting to drag bourgeois motives into Sovietsport”. That earned them ten bowlers a piece inthe gulags.

It all got a bit weird then.Stalin’s son, Vassily, got Nikolai Starostin out

early to manage the Soviet air force team in 1948but they were so afraid of Beria that they used tosleep together in the same bed. (Now there’s anexcuse that might come in handy some time: ‘Sowhy are you two in the same bed?’; ‘Well, youknow that Beria chap . . .’)

After the Greatest Leader of the WorldProletariat passed on (just reading from a legal let-ter I have here before me ) and his chum Beria gothis comeuppance, Starostin was rehabilitated andreturned to Moscow where he coached the Sovietteam and became President of Spartak.

His autobiography is called Football Throughthe Years. Now that’s what you call masterlyunderstatement!

Dynamo, meanwhile, is currently mainlyowned by the state VTB bank. Worth a line in anoul song, I suppose.

All of this, by the way, was brought to mind bytalking to someone in The Flowing Tide who waswearing a blue jersey with a large cryllic ‘D’ on it.She had never heard of Red Fly the Banners, O!And you don’t talk about Stalin in polite companythese days . . .

‘Soviet Soccer Saturday’

MOSCOW DYNAMO,like the holesin Trotsky’shead, areinseparablefrom theSoviet era

5 The Starostin brothers in 1934; clockwise from top left:Aleksandr, Nikolai, Petr and AndreiVassily Stalin Lavrenty Beria

Josef Stalin Felix Dzerzhinsky

DUE to the hard work being put in by all Sinn Féin activists during thePresidential election campaign, the National Fundraising Committeehas changed the date of the National Draw from October 22nd to November 12th.

This gives activists an extra three weeks to sell their tickets and will hopefully giveeveryone enough time to reach their targets if they have not already been met.Go raibh maith agat.

Tickets can be purchased online at the Sinn Féin Book Shop: www.sinnfeinbookshop.comor can write to: Sinn Féin National Finance Committee, First floor, 58 Parnell Square, Dublin 1.Telephone: + 353 1 873 5546 Email: [email protected]

SINN FÉIN NATIONAL DRAW NOW NOVEMBER 12th MORE TIME TO SELL YOUR TICKETS

To build on oursuccesses and achievea United Ireland weneed your support.Every ticket boughthelps raise money forSinn Féin and ourcampaign for Irishunity andindependence.

Tickets are still available forSinn Féin's 2011 NationalFinance Committee –Private Members Draw.There is a €25,000/£25,000Prize fund with a top prizeof €15,000 or £15,000(Prizes paid in currency theticket was purchased).

32

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A BRAND NEW

iPad2SEE PAGE 24

» BY PEADAR WHELANPOLICE OMBUDSMAN Al Hutchinsonhas finally bowed to the inevitable,announcing he will resign from officein January 2012.

Despite three damning reports andpressure from families of victims, cam-paign groups, Sinn Féin and the SDLP,Hutchinson had previously dug his heelsin, insisting he would not relinquish hispost until June 2012.

In one of the reports that fuelled callsfor Hutchinson to go, independent humanrights organisation Committee on theAdministration of Justice raised concernsabout the capacity of the PoliceOmbudsman’s office to investigate historiccases and questioned the quality of thereports it published.

Recent revelations over his conductwithin the office and accusations that heshowed a lack of leadership forced theCanadian policeman’s hand.

On Tuesday 25th October, the BBCSpotlight programme interviewed SamPollock, Chief Executive of theOmbudsman’s Office, who resigned inApril saying he had lost confidence inHutchinson.

One of the issues that promptedPollock’s decision was Hutchinson’s failureto investigate the RUC’s handling of theiragent codenamed ‘Stakeknife’.

Then PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Ordeasked Hutchinson to investigate the RUC’suse of Stakeknife, alleged to be west Belfast

republican Freddie Scappaticci. Despitethis request, no action was taken.

It has also emerged that Hutchinsongave misleading evidence to the StormontJustice Committee. According to Sinn FéinJustice spokesperson Raymond McCartney,when Hutchinson met the JusticeCommittee in September he gave evidencethat was “misleading and factually incor-rect”.

McCartney said that Hutchinson’sclaims that his office’s proposals for deal-ing with the past had already received pos-itive acknowledgment from the CriminalJustice Inspectorate are “not true”.

In the aftermath of Sam Pollock’s resig-nation, the Criminal Justice Inspectoratecarried out its own investigation into thePolice Ombudsman’s office and concludedthat the independence of theOmbudsman’s office had been lowered bythe nature of its conduct regarding histor-ical cases.

It also highlighted concerns over thehandling of sensitive material and the divi-sions within senior management.

In a separate development, a Sinn Féin

delegation, including Policing spokesper-son Gerry Kelly and Raymond McCartney,met with the Criminal Justice Inspectorateon Thursday 20th October. According toKelly, the meeting “clarified that the claimmade by the Police Ombudsman concern-ing his proposals for dealing with the pasthas not in fact been acknowledged orendorsed at this time by the CriminalJustice Inspectorate”.

Kelly also outlined Sinn Féin’s positionon the Police Ombudsman’s office.

“We want to see the PoliceOmbudsman’s office return to being anindependent, effective and credible mech-anism for holding the police to account.

“The Ombudsman’s office is a powerfuland critical accountability mechanism inthe new policing arrangements but thosepowers were misused, suffered from inter-

ference and were contaminated. There arealready a number of recommendationsmade by Nuala O’Loan which could beused to strengthen the independence andcredibility of the office.”

It has also emerged that the reportingon as many as seven investigations hasbeen suspended after questions wereraised about the independence of the ini-tial investigations.

At the heart of the PoliceOmbudsman’s failures is the unwillingnessto tackle head-on the issue of collusionbetween the British state forces and loyal-ist gangs, effectively letting the RUC in par-ticular off the hook.

In two reports — into the 1971 McGurk’sBar bombing and the 1994 Loughinislandmassacre — Hutchinson never used theword collusion, leading solicitor NiallMurphy to rubbish the Loughinisland report.

According to the Committee on theAdministration of Justice, the PoliceOmbudsman has no clear definition orapplication of the term collusion, whichleads to the belief that the PoliceOmbudsman’s office is restricted frommaking a proactive finding that the policehave collaborated in the past with loyalistdeath squads even in circumstances wherethe evidence points to the inevitable con-clusion that there was collusion.

November / Samhain 2011

DECEMBER ISSUE OUT . . . Thursday 1st December | JANUARY ISSUE OUT. . . Thursday 5th Janruary

EXTENDED OFFER

NORTH’S POLICE OMBUDSMAN ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE | THREE DAMNING REPORTS

HUTCHINSON TO GO IN JANUARY

NOVEMBER 2011 PAGE 32 - POLICE OMBUDSMAN = 670 WORDS

SUGGESTED PIX:-* Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson* SF MLA Gerry Kelly pic with pull quote* McGurk’s Bar/Loughinisland family press conference about Police Ombudsman

report/s

**

(PULL QUOTE)

‘WE WANT TO SEE THE POLICE OMBUDSMAN’SOFFICE RETURN TO BEING AN INDEPENDENT,EFFECTIVE AND CREDIBLE MECHANISM FORHOLDING THE POLICE TO ACCOUNT’

GERRY KELLY, SINN FÉIN MLA