Anthony McIntyre's Blog, page 1203

Voting As Counter Revolution

From People And Nature, a guest post by Anti-War.

How the politicians who gave us the vote saw things one hundred years ago. One hundred years ago, the British ruling class decided to extend the vote to most women over 30, and to almost all working class men. By expanding the franchise from a minority to a majority of the adult population, they hoped to restore people’s faith in parliamentary government and thereby counter any revolutionary tendencies inspired by the Russian revolution. Sylvia Pankhurst, the feminist communist, put it this way in 1923:

The legal barriers to women’s participation in Parliament and its elections were not removed until the movement to abolish Parliament altogether had received the strong encouragement of witnessing the overthrow of Parliamentary Government in Russia and the setting up of Soviets. … The upholders of reaction … were by no means oblivious to the growth of Sovietism when they decided to popularise the old Parliamentary machine by giving to some women both votes and the right to be elected.

The extent to which the prevention of revolution was the reason Parliament introduced voting and other reforms at this time is remarkable. Here are some quotes from a century ago:

Lord Islington writing to Lord Curzon, January 1917:

The line between order and revolution is as thin as it can be. … [The extension of the vote] stands out as the one hopeful buffer between Government by Constitutional method and revolution. Full quote here.

Herbert Samuel (Liberal), Hansard (the record of parliamentary debates), December 1917:

There may be a revolutionary feeling in the air; but the great safeguard against revolution always has been, and is now, wise constitutional reform, and it is only when … there is full and free access to Parliament for all sections and classes of the community, that the spirit of revolution can be exorcised. Full quote here.

Earl Russell (Labour), Hansard, December 1917:

We do not grant the vote for fitness; we grant it … for the protection of the State, in order that through the ballot box the State may learn, from the organised opinion of those who have grievances and who desire their remedy, what those grievances are. I suggest that the vote is granted nowadays on no kind of fitness, but as a substitute for riot, revolution, and the rifle. Full quote here.

Earl of Lytton, Hansard, December 1917:

What is it in the example of Russia that we should not imitate? Not the fact that she has introduced manhood and womanhood suffrage, but that she did not do it in time. “Too late” is a motto which may be found written over the victims of every revolution. We do not intend that it shall be found written over the ruins of this House. Full quote here.

Major Astor (Conservative), Hansard, April 1919:

Let us measure the cost of our housing proposals by the cost of Bolshevism to the country and the cost of revolution. The money we propose to spend on housing is an insurance against Bolshevism and revolution. Full quote here.

James Wignall (Labour), Hansard, February 1921:

You are going to increase [unemployment] benefit to 18s [18 shillings] a week. It is not enough, and we are not prepared to accept that 18s. as a settlement. We have asked for 40s. … It has been said, and may be said again, that it is encouraging those people who would rather receive doles than work. … All I can say is that, if you cannot set up machinery to deal with the malingerers, you should give us a chance and we will deal with them. … A man or woman who would abuse a privilege of that kind deserves the most severe punishment that could be meted out to them. … Unemployment produces poverty, poverty produces discontent, and discontent produces revolution. The breeding-ground for Bolshevism is poverty and destitution. … The Labour party are at the present moment, figuratively speaking, sitting on the safety valve. … To prevent disaster, to prevent disturbances, to prevent uprising, to prevent tumult, sorrow, suffering and bloodshed, any price you pay is cheap in the end. The Labour party is going on constitutional lines and will continue to do so. The Labour party is anxious to prevent any of these things occurring. Full quote here.

The evident hostility of the Labour Party to revolution – and the fact that it had actively recruited British workers to fight and die in vast numbers in World War One – convinced Sylvia Pankhurst to oppose the Party. She had also noticed that in Europe similar reformist parties were fighting “to stave off the workers’ revolution with as strong a determination as that displayed by the capitalists, and more effectively, because they understand the methods and tactics and something of the idealism of the working class”. Her conclusion was uncompromising.
Striking workers in George Square, Glasgow, 1919. After troops clashed with rioters, a 47-hour week was agreed

We must not dissipate our energy in adding to the strength of the Labour Party; its rise to power is inevitable. We must concentrate on making a Communist movement that will vanquish it. (Sylvia Pankhurst writing in the Workers Dreadnought, February 1920.)

To the women, as to the men, the hope of the future lies not through Parliamentary reform, but free Communism and the soviets. (Sylvia Pankhurst writing in the Workers Dreadnought, December 1923.)

===
Jeremy Corbyn on Stalinism: “I am concerned at the break-up of the Soviet Union and the leadership it gave!”

Jeremy Corbyn gave a speech in 1991 at a meeting to discuss the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the speech, Corbyn does criticise the Soviet Communist Party for its elitism but he clearly has no understanding of the way the Soviet regime did all it could to sabotage any genuine revolutions. Corbyn also makes no clear references to the mass killings, secret police, militarism and economic failures that were fundamental to the Soviet system.

Despite his love for Cuba, Corbyn does not want to impose a Stalinist dictatorship in the UK. Contemporary Stalinism is more about making vacuous speeches about “socialism”, attaining office through elections and then never seriously confronting big capital. Chavez in Venezuela and Syriza in Greece are recent examples of this strategy with its inevitable demoralising outcome. 20 June 2017.

■ What would Corbyn do?

■ Let’s take Corbyn’s climate proposals seriously (September 2016)

■ Jeremy Corbyn strikes a blow at Blair-ism. And now what? (September 2015)

False Accusations

In a press release Donegal Anti-Water Charges Activists welcome the Jobstown protesters being found not guilty.Local Donegal campaigners in Right2Water welcome the not guilty verdict delivered by the jury in the trial of those accused of falsely imprisoning the then Tanaiste Joan Burton and her colleague in Jobstown, Dublin in November 2014.

Charlie Mc Dyer, Chairperson of Right2Water Donegal said:

This trial underlines how desperate the state were to send out a message those who are prepared to protest against austerity that their resistance wont be tolerated.

Activist Owen Curran added to that by saying:

This trial represented an attack on all of us who got involved in the anti-water charges movement, which was the biggest grassroots protest movement in years. The purpose was to portray all protesters as being part of a violent mob - instead of what they are, real people standing up for themselves and their communities against those with power whose reckless austerity policies have ripped the heart out of those communities.

Philip Mc Fadden, Secretary of Right2Water, Donegal said:

Another 11 defendants who have trials starting in October and next year still face an uncertain situation. How can further prosecutions based on the same investigation now proceed? All charges must be dropped now and the guilty verdict against the 17 year old already convicted overturned.

Maire Nic Fhearraigh, Gortahork based activist concluded:

This trial has also opened many peoples eyes to how senior Gardai got involved in what could be termed political policing. This verdict is a victory for all, including those in Donegal who have, and no doubt will again in the future engage in peaceful disciplined protest. We have had Mick Murphy, one of the accused, address a meeting in Falcarragh a few months ago. And everyone who attended are delighted that he and his co-accused have been found not guilty, and in doing so have defended the right to protest for us all.

Back To Basics - Alliance Party

In this third part of his series on the way forward for the main political parties in the North, Political Commentator Dr John Coulter examines the future for the Alliance Party with the movement becoming a broad Left alliance and rebranding itself as the Liberal Democratic Alliance.

What role for Alliance in an increasingly polarised, two-party community with Sinn Fein on course to be the kingmakers in the next Dail poll, and the DUP perfectly positioned to be equal kingmakers at Westminster?

Okay, liberals, ecumenists and secularists will point to the fact that Alliance held all its eight seats in a reduced Assembly. But the hard fact is that Alliance may have peaked as leader Naomi Long failed to re-capture the East Belfast Commons seat by a clear margin.

So where does Alliance go from the Westminster poll? In Britain, the anti-Tory feeling saw the Liberal Democrats increase their Commons tally. Alliance can boast all it wants that it is the Lib Dems in Northern Ireland, but the fact remains – Alliance is a separate party, not the Lib Dems.

Alliance must formally become the actual Lib Dems otherwise it will remain as it is now – a parochial party, and it must take advantage of growing support for socialism across the islands and relaunch itself as a clearly secular/ecumenist centre Left party.

Alliance may point to the fact that rebranding itself as a UK national party did not help the Tories win seats in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Conservatives are a mere shadow of the 1990s movement which came within 4,000 votes of unseating the supposedly totally safe Sir James Kilfedder in North Down.

NI Tory boss Dr Lawrence Kennedy slashed the 14,000 majority of the Ulster Popular Unionist Party leader in a General Election in the only constituency it had a reasonable chance of winning.

As for the British Labour Party, it has struggled for years to try and gain mainland recognition to formally contest elections in Northern Ireland. Alliance already has a significant profile with MLAs and councillors east of the River Bann, which is more than Labour can claim.

An initial step is for Naomi and Alliance to form a united and joint secular/ecumenical front with the Green Party and even People Before Profit. Could this be strategically achieved under the banner of the Liberal Democratic Alliance (LDA)?

Given the current ecumenical Presbyterian influence within the Alliance Party, there is the very strong possibility the relaunched LDA could attract significant numbers of liberal unionists when the Ulster Unionist Party eventually splits, with traditional UUP members joining the DUP and the liberal secularists drifting into Alliance.

To give the new-look LDA real meaning, it needs to win seats west of the River Bann; a region dominated by Sinn Fein and Right-wing Unionism. West of the Bann, Alliance is nothing but a ‘wine and cheese fringe social club’. If the LDA is serious about wanting to move into this potentially lucrative electoral territory, it must embark on another merger – with Fine Gael.

West of the Bann has turned dark green and the LDA must go with the flow. While Fine Gael has always been seen as a centre Right movement, especially with its history based in the fascist Blueshirt movement of the 1930s Ireland, a FG/LDA coalition could be electorally beneficial in combatting the poll rise of Sinn Fein and the decision of the rival Fianna Fail to not only organise in Northern Ireland, but also contest elections by 2020.

The present Alliance may be regarded with much suspicion in nationalist circles as a ‘small u’ Unionist Party. Ironically, in many unionist strongholds, Alliance – because of its involvement in the Union flag saga – is viewed as a ‘small r’ republican party.

Alliance must take account of the traditional ecumenical views of many Southern Irish Protestants, especially those in the pro-same sex marriage wing of the Church of Ireland. With Brexit rapidly approaching and Northern Ireland largely voting ‘Remain’ during last year’s European Union referendum, there is the real possibility many liberal Protestants would be happy to be under the banner of an all-island structure back in the EU.

The so-called ‘Big Three’ denominations within Irish Protestantism – Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist – all have liberal wings and all are organised on an all-Ireland basis.

Politically, while the LDA would not attract support among Ireland’s fundamentalist denominations, such as the Free Presbyterians (formed by the late Rev Ian Paisley in 1951), Reformed Presbyterians (also known as the Covenanters), Baptists, Plymouth and Exclusive Brethren, the new liberal party could draw support from smaller more ecumenical denominations, such as the Non-Subscribing Presbyterians (known as the Unitarians).

A political shotgun marriage of secularist Catholics (people from the Catholic tradition or upbringing who no longer pledge allegiance to Rome by practising their religion) and liberal, ecumenical Protestants could well form a significant cross-border power block – provided they had a realistic united vehicle to express those interests – so step forward the rebranded LDA.

At one time, the new liberal movement of NI21 – formed by ex-UUP MLAs John McCallister and Basil McCrea – had the potential to become the secular saviour, until it imploded amid scandal and allegations.

The LDA would clearly lead the campaign to have same sex marriage recognised in Northern Ireland, as well as push the integrated education sector, abortion rights and a staunchly pro-EU and increased immigration policies.

As with Unionism, there are too many centre Left parties in that area of the political spectrum, so the very least Naomi Long must do is use her party to form a centrist coalition.

Centrists should remember what happened during the 2003 Assembly poll when the Greens, Alliance and the now defunct Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition cut each other’s throats electorally costing the Centre at least half a dozen seats in that particular 108-seat Assembly.

Follow John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter

Mayday Mayday Mayday

Anthony McIntyre searches for those who will be hardest hit by the DUP-Tory pact.
Watching the political North from Drogheda could be termed the loneliness of the long-distance analyst. It is like playing Solitary. Nobody else seems remotely interested. It is an indifference that is highly infectious.




It takes a lot of single-mindedness to maintain focus on the ennui entrepreneurs who have made long and profitable political careers from emitting the same old boring whine that we have by now grown  accustomed to. In some cases, the same people have been the public face of whining for around four decades. And the more they are offered the peculiar peace process phenomenon of penultimate deadlines the more they will play brinkmanship in the hope of yet another spin on the merry-go-round. It is an addiction for the type of whino against whom rehab would not stand a chance.

Deadline Day (they are yanking our chain) is tomorrow. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams laments the fact that the DUP:

are showing no urgency about dealing with the equality and rights issues, which caused the collapse of the political institutions. There is little prospect that they will do this before Monday.

Whether they do or they don't, as Leo Sayer once sang, The Show Must Go On. It can do nothing else. And the showmen and women will go on showboating with it. It is called processing.

It was only last night through watching The Handmaid’s Tale that I discovered the term Mayday was in fact an anglicization of the French m’aidez or m’aider, meaning ‘help me’. 

The imagination is quick to spot a double irony here. Britain is seeking to restore its former imperial “greatness” and prefix Britain with a “Great” that actually means something more substantive than a toneless chant by the terminally stupid at an English soccer match. While seeking to abandon Europe, the Brits are figuratively using an international distress call that has its origins in French, with France being one of the mainstays of the EU. Then there is the incongruence of an international distress call with its cosmopolitan intonation, being directed towards something as parochial as the DUP. 

In any event, the Mayday call has made Theresa’s day. She is now in bed with those who like their nookie but only when the lights are out so that the awkward joint between daylight puritanism and nighttime debauchery avoids exposure. As surely as day turns to night, somebody will get screwed. 

Although Adams has been keen to stress the impact on Northern nationalists, the people likely to be hardest hit by May's unholy alliance with the holier than thou mob are those on the bottom rung of the British social and economic ladder.  

Sammy Wilson may well have put on a showman's angry performance in the British House of Commons, stridently demanding to know what is grubby about a deal that increases public spending in the North. He would wouldn’t he. As has been observed elsewhere, if you rob Peter to pay Paul you can always rely on the support of Paul. 

Former journalist and current NHS junior doctor Rachel Clarke shows what is grubby about it and that the DUP-Tory pact is not a victimless crime. The North of Ireland might be as British as Finchley but, with this sordid pact, it might not be as poor as Finchley.

Where J Does Not Stand For Justice

The Bradley Family , kin of the late IRA volunteer, Seamus Bradley, killed by the British Army in 1972, have penned a letter to the British Queen, the British Prime minister, the MOD, Judge Mc Kinney, Arlene Foster, Michelle O Neill, George Hamilton, seeking written reassurance that article J will not be in force at the inquest of Seamus Bradley. 
Dear Sir/Madam,

I write regarding the inquest of 11th December 2017 regarding the death of Seamus Bradley on 31st July 1972.

I wish to refer your attention to the attached document, in particular Article J. This states that, "the Army should not be inhibited in its campaign by the threat of Court Proceedings and should therefore be suitably indemnified."  

The above quoted Article J (from the Conclusions of a Secret Morning Meeting at Stormont Castle on 10th July 1972) clearly provides a legal basis to protect both those soldiers present on the day of the death of Seamus Bradley, as well as the British Army in Operating within Northern Ireland without concern for legal repercussion. 

Missing evidence in the investigation concerning the death of Seamus Bradley on 31st July 1972, I believe, was a direct result of the application of Article J and that consequently the original Inquest into the death of Seamus Bradley on 16th October 1973 was fundamentally flawed. I list below examples of how this original Inquest was flawed: 

‣ Only two black and white photographs were produced in the original Inquest on 16th October 1973, and colour photographs were not shown to the jury. 

‣ The PSNI stated on the 21st January of 2002 that there were only nine black and white photographs of the remains of Seamus Bradley. This remained the case until the summer of 2015, when Investigators from the Coroner's Office approached Sergeant Penney, a retired RUC Sergeant, to confirm that there was a roll of coloured negatives in Police files. My Solicitors Office was informed of this development and were given another eight coloured photographs.

‣ Both the provided colour photographs of Seamus Bradley after his death and the black and white photographs are completely different. It is highly likely that they have been taken from different film rolls - yet the PSNI have stated that only ten negatives exist. I believe the remaining photographs (and negatives) from each reel have been held back previously as a result of the application of Article J.
‣ Photographs of Seamus' neck have at no time been provided, nor has their existence been denied; it is highly unlikely a Coroner would have failed to photograph this.

‣ No evidence of the existence of Ciphers has to date been provided. I believe that the Cipher for those Soldiers who subsequently gave written statements concerning the death of Seamus Bradley holds different identities to those actually present on the day. 

‣ Seamus Bradley's clothes have never been located. An official statement relates that they were not returned as they had too much blood on them - photographs show otherwise. ·

‣ There are only two bullet wounds shown on Seamus' body from the photographs provided, there would have been five shown if all photographs had been provided. ·

‣ The ballistics report from 10th September 2016 states that Seamus was stripped naked. The original ballistics report by the Courts on 15th October 2015 is only five pages long (with no reference to Seamus Bradley being stripped naked), whilst the ballistics report produced by Geoffrey Arnold on 10th September 2016 amounts to many more pages than this.


In light of the above, and what I feel to be clear evidence of the application of Article J in preventing a full and impartial Inquest into the death of Seamus Bradley, I therefore write to you to seek your assurances that Article J is not now active in preventing me from gathering further evidence, and in having a truly fair, impartial and just Inquest into the death of Seamus Bradley on 11th December 2017.

I have pursued the truth concerning the events of 31st of July 1972 and worked tirelessly and without rest for justice for my brother. After forty five years, and an Inquest on 16th of October 1972 which it is manifestly obvious to all was flawed and indeed corrupted - I am resolved to seek your assurances that no impediment to truth and justice is in place concerning the Inquest into the Death of Seamus Bradley on 11th of December 2017.

I appeal to your own sense of humanity and justice in assisting me to gain your assurances that Article J is no longer active in preventing me from uncovering the truth about the death of my brother. Northern Ireland is now described as a 'post conflict' society, yet the death of my brother is a painful reminder that many have yet to achieve justice and the dignity of resting in peace. I seek your assurances that Northern Ireland truly has moved beyond this, and that there is no impediment (in the form of Article J) in uncovering and laying to rest the difficult events of our history. 


We the Bradley family deserve the Truth.

Yours Faithfully,

May McDaid (nee Bradley),Eta Darcy (nee Bradley) Daniel Bradley

Turkey Will Exclude Evolution Theory from High School

The threat to children's education posed by religious sentiment in Turkey is discussed by Lena M writing @ Atheist Republic.Photo Credits: FuturismThe level of support for evolution among scientists, the public and other groups is a topic that frequently arises in the creation-evolution controversy and touches on educational, religious, philosophical, scientific and political issues. The only country from which evolutionary theory was excluded in school education was Saudi Arabia and now it will happen with Turkey too.
The most recent draft of Turkey’s new national curriculum had been presented to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has approved it. Alpaslan Durmuş, head of the Education Ministry’s curriculum board, said:

We have excluded controversial subjects for students at an age unable yet to understand the issues’ scientific background. As the students at ninth grade are not endowed with antecedents to discuss the ‘Origin of Life and Evolution’ section in biology classes, this section will be delayed until undergraduate study.

Durmuş added:

We have undertaken a simplification in the curriculum. It is one of our targets to realize complete learning. In educational programs we are trying to convey basic values, information, skills, capability, sufficiency, attitude, and good behavior to our children. We have tried to add our local and national values to the curriculum.

Academics from top universities in Turkey previously criticized the prospective move: The academics stated:

The subjects of Science and Technology classes in elementary schools should be presented with a perspective that allows students to connect it to subjects they will encounter in future years. It should provide them with an evolutionary point of view.

... adding that "evolutionary biology information should be included in the curriculum starting from fifth grade."


Durmuş also addressed other issues during an Ankara seminar on June 20, noting that obligatory “Religion and Morality” classes would not be included within the curriculum of first, fifth, and ninth graders, but students would be able to choose religion classes as an optional course if they wish. If students from the ninth grade aren’t able to understand the evolutionary point of view, they are also incapable to accept the religious one.

If students learn about evolutionary biology from the fifth grade they would be prepared to have that subject in high school because children should get out of school smarter and more educated and not without any knowledge about evolution. This concept of learning and education will keep Turkish students even more in the dark about science than they already are.

DUP Ultra-Right Wing Take On Everything

The Transcripts  puts on record John McDonagh and Martin Galvin speaking to author, political analyst and former PRO during the 1981 hunger strike, Richard O’Rawe, via telephone from Belfast, who provides his analysis on the results of the general election in the United Kingdom. @ RFÉ 17 June 2017.

Radio Free Éireann
WBAI 99.5FM Pacifica Radio
New York City
listen on the internet: wbai.org Saturdays Noon ESTAudio Player
(begins time stamp ~35:49)

Martin: And on the line we have the author and a great political analyst, also – it’s one of the people that I turned to just for ideas or analysis – that’s Richard O’Rawe. He is the author of Afterlives, which was about the secret offer made during the hunger strike. He’s the author of Blanketmen, about what it was like in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. And also he is the author of a book that will be published soon, hopefully in September, In the Name of the Son, it’s about Gerry Conlon – somebody who was up in these studios. And I believe it also includes a lot about Sandy Boyer, former co-host of Radio Free Éireann, and John McDonagh and some of Gerry Conlon’s work with Sandy and with Radio Free Éireann on behalf of other political prisoners and on behalf of other causes. Welcome back, Richard.

Richard: Thank you so much, Martin.

Martin: Okay. (station identification) Alright, Richard – last week we talked briefly about the results of the British general election and how Theresa May was short of a majority to go back as British Prime Minister – her party got three hundred and seventeen votes – and in order to put her over the top she needed the ten votes of the DUP, the Democratic Unionist Party, led by Arlene Foster, founded by Ian Paisley, formerly led by Peter Robinson, and that deal seems to be about to materialise behind what’s called ‘the Queen’s Speech‘. But I didn’t realise at the time – there were cartoons that we talked about last week in which Theresa May bends the knee to Arlene Foster and says ‘Your Majesty, can I form a new government’ and Arlene’s there with a crown – but I didn’t 
Add captionThe Daily Mirror, for example has a front page picture of Theresa May with the headline, ‘Coalition of Crackpots’ – and you see pictures of – I believe it’s Peter Robinson wearing a beret and other members of the DUP. There was a cartoon in the London Times – ‘A Victory Parade’ – and you see a number of Orangemen with bowler hats and they hoisted up Theresa May being hung on a banner pole. The Independent said these are – they have a profile – these are the terrifying views of the party now propping up Theresa May. There was a ‘Changes at Downing Street’ – it was put out by a DUP Councillor, where you have a UVF, an Ulster Volunteer Force, the Loyalist paramilitaries, in front of Downing Street and the kerbstones in front of Downing Street painted red, white and blue – not for the United States but for Britain. And finally there was another Twitter post that was put up: you see Theresa May out in front of Downing Street, behind her in view of the religious fundamentalism that many members of the DUP have – you have Moses with the Ten Commandments pointing at her and saying what to say.
Richard, how is the DUP really regarded? I didn’t realise – I know how Irish Nationalists and Republicans think of them – but I didn’t realise how the British public would think of them. In fact, there’s already been a petition with hundreds or thousands of signatures, there was a big demonstration, Theresa May actually went to the scene of a tragic fire that occurred in London and was told to go back to the DUP – how is the DUP regarded now in England by some of the people who are going to see her in co – well, if not in coalition in a side deal with Theresa May to prop up Theresa May as Prime Minister?

Richard: Well, the thing is – it’s very interesting, Martin, the revelations that have come out – and particularly what you were actually saying there, the fact that these guys, the DUP, are religious fundamentalists, right? Religious Christians. They believe in creationism, for example. They don’t believe in gay rights, right? They don’t believe in abortion. They have an ultra-right wing take on everything and the interesting thing that I have noticed is, just exactly what you said, all of a sudden simply because they’re talking to May about doing a deal to keep May’s government propped up they are an item of interest. And the item of interest that the British people are seeing they don’t like. And it begs the question: Did they never, ever, prior to this elevation of the DUP, did they never ever look into them properly and see the type of people they are…?

Martin: …and the type of people that the British government has always propped up and supported and used – just bowed to their influence where ever they could in terms of The North of Ireland.

Richard: Absolutely! But here’s the point, Martin: Supposing they do do a deal, the DUP and the Tories, and the idea behind this deal is that there’ll be a pot of gold for Northern Ireland – that there will be extra money coming from the British Exchequer to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Even if they do do that deal the fact of the matter is, without an Executive, the DUP will not be able to disburse that money. They will have no control over because it will be disbursed, if there is no Executive, by civil servants and a British Tory minister and that is the key element in all of this. There is no Executive and, therefore, whatever deal they get is totally at the discretion, in terms of its disbursement, of British ministers.

Martin: Okay, John McDonagh wants to ask you the next question, Richard. John, are you with us?
John: Yeah, Richard – I wanted to tackle it now even from the Sinn Féin point of view – now they have Members of the British Parliament and you know representing you know slash Derry/Londonderry – and to let our audience know that with these MPs of the British Parliament – that Sinn Féin has offices in Westminster, they collect the Queen’s shilling. But I thought it was a joke during the week when I was looking on Facebook and there was a picture of the representative of Sinn Féin from Doire – when she put up a picture of the hotel room saying just to show you people in Doire – you know we’re not living high on the hog – look how small my hotel room is and that this is like – it’s a disgrace – at this stage.
Poor ElishaAnd Richard, I can tell you when people in the Republican Movement came to New York they were staying on couches up in The Bronx, out in Queens and where ever they were being sent around the country. You know, people were driving them – they weren’t certainly going first class and now the attitude of Sinn Féin members complaining that they have to fly first class to Australia because it’s a very long trip. And now they’re complaining about hotel rooms in London and maybe you could explain to us the room that was that was given to Her Majesty – gave to you – when you were in Long Kesh – but it beggars belief that this is the complaint that Sinn Féin now has – is the size of their hotel room!
Richard: Well, here’s the point, John -  at the end of the day that is very succinct – this whole business – Oh! Look at the size of my hotel room! And what she’s trying to do there is to say: Look, I’m still ‘of the people’. I’m still working class. But the fact of the matter is they’re now of the political class. The fact of the matter is that her life has changed irrevocably and the whole Sinn Féin thrust in all of this, as far as I can see, is to make money. I don’t really see any reason why, John, they’re not taking their seats in Westminster. I mean, they take their seats in Stormont. They take their seats in Leinster House – what is the big deal with not taking them over in Westminster? And you know, there’s a, there’s a like a charade going on here where these guys portray themselves as working class and they’re not. I mean, they’re all on good money. They’re all on extremely good money. And their friends is on good money; their acolytes is on good money. There are people – the working class, by and large, have been left behind by them – they have moved on in terms of their own monetary value while people in The North are still – have the yoke of austerity around their necks, you know?
And for Republicans, I mean for Republicans of any hue, Sinn Féin – a cornerstone of Sinn Féin’s whole ethos is that there are no principles and there are no principles that should stand in the way of progress – that was one of the things that came out of the 1986 Ard Fheis – Tom Hartley actually said it – and Martin McGuinness actually said at that time: ‘The war against the British must continue until freedom is achieved’, right? He said we have no intention of going into Westminster or Stormont. They’re in Westminster – sorry – they’re in Stormont. They’re in Leinster House. I don’t see no reason why they’re not in Westminster and whether they should or shouldn’t take their seats it’s a matter for them but I mean, I just don’t understand their position in all of this. And it’s not because it’s a ‘principled position’ because they really have no principles.

Martin: Alright. Richard, Gerry Adams, during the week said – he was talking about going back to Stormont – and he said we think, strategically, that is the way to a united Ireland. And he also said that Theresa May is playing fast and loose with the Good Friday Agreement and he was supposed to have stood up to her to say that. Is there anything that Sinn Féin can do in terms of whether Theresa May makes this deal, number one, and number two, Sinn Féin was in coalition with the DUP for a number of years – how has that moved ahead any step forward towards a united Ireland? How is there any strategic way, out of any of this political success that you’ve talked about, that seems to be heading us towards, or leading us towards, a united Ireland?

Richard: Well I don’t think there is to be quite frank with you. I mean what they have done is that they have replaced the SDLP (Social and Democratic Labour Party) as the dominant Nationalist party but other than that I don’t see much more that they have done in terms of a united Ireland. Gerry Adams said that Stormont is the way forward but he doesn’t explain how it’s the way forward. What is he talking about? Is he talking about Nationalists out-breeding Unionists and then coming to the position where they have more than fifty percent of the popular vote and then we’d have a border poll which’ll lead to a united Ireland? Or is he talking about trying to persuade Unionists not to be Unionists and to be Republicans? He doesn’t say.

And you know, I just keep coming back to the point that to me, there is a, there’s always a money aspect to this – I’m not saying that’s entirely the concept behind it all – but it is an element in this and there is, I mean there is no – Adams needs to explain to us, to the people who – to the Nationalist electorate – what he means by: ‘Stormont is the way forward towards a united Ireland’ because I don’t know how it is and I just don’t see – I just, I mean I can’t understand that statement at all.
Martin: Okay. Now, originally or first, I think people are going to be looking at how much money – and the British are going to be handicapped because if they give money to The North of Ireland well, they’re going to have to turn around to people who voted for them in Scotland, they’re going to have to turn around to people who voted for them in Wales – they’re going to have to do similar things under British formulas, economic formulas, now to give any kind of money. But beyond that, they have re-appointed James Brokenshire to be May’s Secretary for The North of Ireland. James Brokenshire, one of those people from England, he gets to ‘audition’ for a job he’d rather have that would be located in some place he’d rather be by administering, or running, The North of Ireland for the British. He’s somebody who’s already come out on the side of no prosecutions for British troops, about the imbalance. He’s somebody, certainly, the Ballymurphy Families are very concerned about as they finally get a date for an inquest – their families were murdered by the British – shot down over three days – and how they finally have a date for an inquest – they’re concerned about that.

Quinn Brothers’ funeral 1998

People on the Garvaghy Road are worried about whether the British government, down the road – not up front, but might do something with the Parades Commission – allow Orange parades in areas such as the Garvaghy Road where they have been kept from for a number of years. What is it that, you know, you expect or what are some of the things we should be concerned about from this unholy alliance between the DUP and Theresa May as time goes by and Theresa May seems to, you know needs votes on certain issues, and needs to go back to the DUP for a supply of those votes?
Richard: You’ve just highlighted one of the most contentious issues. And one of the most contentious issues in terms of the resumption of the Stormont regime is legacy. And both Theresa May has come out, and even before the election, and offered her support for an amnesty for British soldiers who were involved in, as you say, in Ballymurphy, the Ballymurphy Massacre and Bloody Sunday attacks and the New Lodge Road Massacre, etc – all these things and she supported that and the DUP most definitely supports it so I’d be very surprised if, after this process, after these talks finish that – maybe not immediately but certainly not long after – that you will find that there’ll be some indication that British soldiers are going to get an amnesty for the atrocities that they carried out – you know, the killing of young children with plastic bullets, etc, the mass slaughter in Doire on Bloody Sunday – I think that they’re going to get that, in honesty, for that. I also think that that in itself is going to be – if that were to happen – I think that again would, absolutely – well it should – but it could absolutely scupper any chance of resumption of the Stormont Assembly.

Martin: Alright. Richard, after the last election it seemed that Nationalists were saying this shows there’s been a big surge forward, we’re a lot closer to a united Ireland – that was after the Assembly election. It seems as if Arlene Foster was on the way out in a very much weakened position. It seems now as if she has been in the strongest position of any DUP member for some time and it seems as if, now that the Unionist vote came out in response to those claims, that a united Ireland is as far away as it has been for many years. What’s your comment on that?

Richard: Oh, I think that the person responsible for this is Gerry Adams. I think Gerry could not resist blowing his own trumpet when the Sinn Féin vote was so high and he made a statement that we’re now within sight – I’m paraphrasing him here – we’re now within sight of a united Ireland. And what he did, what he did – and by the way when he was doing that he was looking over his shoulder at the Ruairí Ó Brádaighs and the Mickey McKevitts and all those guys who split from the Republican Movement and formed their own movements over the last twenty-thirty years – and he was still like: I’m right. My strategy is right. Look where I’ve brought Republicanism – we’re on the thrust of a united Ireland. And what he did he woke a sleeping giant and that sleeping giant exercised itself at the last Westminster elections and you saw that the combined Sinn Féin-SDLP vote was only forty-one percent. It’s was about four percent for independence and all the rest was Unionist…

Martin: …it seems like it…

Richard: …and that is why Foster is in such a strong position now – that is why she got such a powerful vote – Gerry Adams galvanised their vote.

Martin: Alright. John, I believe, has another question. John?

John: Well you know what it is – Richard, it would be hard to explain to people here in America about the marching season that’s coming up – maybe when it’s finally here. Bundoran in Co. Donegal, they always said, looks like the Falls Road on July Twelfth. But maybe quickly explain what’s going to happen there, which probably wouldn’t be tolerated anywhere else in the United Kingdom, but how Nationalists will now be fleeing in the next week or two to The South, and particularly over to Donegal. What’s it like to live there on July Twelfth?

Richard: Well it’s pretty, John – it’s pretty harrowing to say the least. Not in the least because the Orange Order has traditionally walked through Nationalist areas – and that would be akin to the Ku Klux Klan walking through Harlem or some coloured area in New York – it’s exactly the same synopsis. And these guys on The Twelfth they, I mean – it’s very intimidating. Belfast City Centre, for example, is not a place on the Twelfth of July were you’d find too many Catholics – I mean it just isn’t because there’s hundreds of thousands of Orangemen and Loyalists and Unionists, etc on the streets marching and everything else. Bonfire on the Shankill Road
And then there’s the bonfires and then some of these of these bonfire are very, very big and they’re very sectarian – they burn effigies of the Pope, they would burn effigies of Gerry Adams, Gerry Kelly, Bobby Sands – all of this. I mean it is a real – it is a real intimidating environment and it is usually a pain when Nationalists, and traditionally it’s still the same – Nationalists keep their heads down. And if you do have a house in Donegal, if you’re lucky enough to have the money to have a nice place in Donegal – well, it’s the place to go to get away from it.

Martin: Alright, Richard, we’re just about out of time – we could go on with this for a lot longer. I want to thank you for being with us.

Richard: You’re welcome.

Martin: We’re looking forward – you’re going to have that book,   In the Name of the Son, about Gerry Conlon.








I believe you make some references in it to Sandy Boyer, our former co-host, and to John and some of Gerry Conlon’s work – his appearances in this studio, Radio Free Éireann, how the work and the progress and the fight for Irish prisoners that he made in these studios – that that plays a part in the book – we’re looking very much forward to reading it and we very much appreciate your analysis today and the analysis you give me whenever I call for a question about what’s going on for events so I can present it to the audience and pretend it’s my own ideas. Alright.




Richard: You’re more than welcome, Martin. And it’s good to talk to you and John again.
(ends time stamp ~ 55:39)

Radio Free Eireann Broadcasting 1 July 2017

Martin Galvin with details of this weekend's broadcast from Radio Free Eireann.
Radio Free Eireann. will broadcast this Saturday July 1st on WBAI 99.5 FM radio or wbai.org at 12noon New York time or 5 pm-6pm Irish time or listen any time after the broadcast on wbai.org/archives.

Award winning Belfast based journalist Suzanne Breen will report on prospects for a DUP-Sinn Fein deal at Stormont before Monday's deadline, a claim by former DUP chief Peter Robinson that the British made false guarantees of an Irish Language Act to Sinn Fein, and the painting of loyalist markings outside Ardoyne's Holy Cross school.

We will have a special report about how an American in Donegal has blocked off one of Ireland's most beloved beauty spots, Fanad's Great Arch and the community's battle to reopen it.

Brooklyn historian John Ridge of the Irish History Roundtable will preview the unveiling of a memorial to Young Irelander and American Civil War hero Thomas Francis Meagher in Brooklyn tomorrow.

Go to Radio Free Eireann's web site rfe123.org for written transcripts of recent headline making interviews with Derry Councillor Gary Donnelly on the plight of Tony Taylor, internment-by-license- without charges or a trial, and with Liam Sutcliffe who blew up Nelson's Pillar, a huge symbol of British imperialism in the heart of Dublin 50 years ago.

John McDonagh and Martin Galvin co- host.

Radio Free Eireann is heard Saturdays at 12 Noon New York time on wbai 99.5 FM and wbai.org.

It can be heard at wbai.org in Ireland from 5pm to 6pm or anytime after the program concludes on wbai.org/archives.

Check our website rfe123.org.

Violence Begets Violence

Michael Lerner writing @ Tikkun slams the use of violence.

I am sickened by this despicable act. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society, and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. Real change can only be obtained through nonviolent action and anything else runs counter to our most deeply held American values.

We at Tikkun are fully aligned in our opposition to violence of any sort and condemn it in the strongest possible terms. We do so on spiritual, religious, and ethical grounds. Human life is sacred and should be protected and helped to flourish. This is a central teaching of the Bible and of Judaism through the ages. We also oppose it on strategic grounds. When anyone who could be seen as connected to liberal and progressive causes engages in violence, (against property even, but especially against human beings) he or she creates a new opportunity for the most reactionary forces in our country to pass new laws restricting free speech, to bring indictments against social change activists, to incite law enforcement to use excessive levels of violence, and to build popular support for new measures of repression.

While we agree with Sanders on most of what he said, we are also aware of statements made by others that have picked up  the notion that violence runs against American values or is in some way oppositional to what America stands for in the world. We will soon be celebrating Independence Day, July 4th, in which many Americans will celebrate the violent revolutionary uprising against the British and sing songs like the national anthem with its praise of “rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air” and set off firecrackers to relive that violence.

The sad fact is that the United States of America has consistently used violence to achieve its policy aims, invading other countries with troops (Korea, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and the list goes on), training South and Central American police and military at the “School of Americas” in Ft. Benning, Georgia, in the use of violence and torture to defeat populist movements challenging undemocratic governments, , the Obama and Trump administration’s’ bombing from drones or airplanes civilian populations (e.g. these past many months assaulting the people of Yemen as part of our growing alliance with the reactionary and repressive and human-rights-violating regime in Saudi Arabia), and the policy of the Obama presidency to select individuals to be assassinated by drones and without trial in countries around the world who are suspected of being or aiding terrorists (and in the process, murdering at least several thousand non-combatant civilians). It sickens us to listen to the hypocrisy of those in the media who talk about this latest (immoral) assault on government officials as if it is somehow outside the path of violence that has been part of American society and celebrated as such by many.

The current Congress is engaged in another kind of violence—what is reasonably called institutional violence—when they vote to destroy health care benefits to those who are sick but cannot afford to pay for care, when they vote to remove benefits that have helped provide food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless, when they remove environmental measures that have been put in place to slow down the violence future generations will face very soon from floods and rising water levels and from the weakening of global food production. These are violent consequences of acts this Congress and this President are taking, and they deserve to be punished along with other violent actors.

It is predictable that those who are destroying the planet, using violence worldwide to achieve their policy goals and to protect American corporate interests, will face more violence from random individuals incensed by the hypocrisy that they hear from elected officials and media personnel pretending that America is an exception to, rather than a perpetrator of, the violence that is poisoning our world.

So when correctly condemning any acts of violence by those who protest the overt and institutional violence of our political and economic system, we ought simultaneously renew our critique of violence in all its forms and our mourning for and protest against the daily violence that is a central element in the way the U.S. has built and  maintains its global and domestic power. And perhaps even have a moment of compassion for the deeply misguided among us who, in moral outrage at the violence of this system, resort to violence rather than to the kind of empathic organizing that the (interfaith and secular humanist welcoming) Network of Spiritual Progressives has been offering (more info: www.tikkun.org/training) as the most effective way to deal with the destructive and immoral policies of the Trump Administration and the daily suffering and deaths caused by the normal operations of our global system of selfishness, materialism and endless growth at the expense of Earth’s life support system. Yet this compassion must be tempered by our strong condemnation of all forms of violence, no matter how well intended.

Rabbi Michael Lerner is the editor of Tikkun Magazine, chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives www.spiritualprogressives.org, rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in Berkeley Ca. www.beyttikkun.org  and author of 11 books including The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right,  with Cornel West: Jews and Blacks—Let the Healing Begin,  Embracing Israel/Palestine, and Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation.

Back To Basics - UUP

In this second part of his series on the way forward for the main political parties in the North, Political Commentator Dr John Coulter examines the future for the Ulster Unionist Party with merger with the DUP top of the agenda.

Back to basics – that’s what the election-battered Ulster Unionist Party, which dominated Stormont for decades, must do survive if it is not to suffer the same fate as the old Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI) – confined to the dustbin of history.

While there has been much talk of Unionist unity, given the DUP’s current tally of elected representatives and holding the balance of power at Westminster, conversations about forming a single Unionist Party are all but meaningless as the UUP has virtually nothing to offer the DUP.

In June’s Westminster election, the UUP suffered the same fate as the moderate Pro-Assembly Unionists in the October 1974 General Election when the Unionist Coalition of parties wiped the floor with Brian Faulkner’s pro-Sunningdale candidates.

The task of the UUP is two-fold focusing on policy and performance. Policy-wise, the UUP is paying the price for embarking on a five-year deadly flirtation with liberal secularism and abandoning its traditional voter bases of the Christian Churches, Loyal Orders, marching bands and Protestant working class.

The cancer of liberal secularism has left the UUP resembling the ecumenical Presbyterian wing of the centrist Alliance Party. Those UUP members and elected representatives who espouse the cause of same sex marriage, pro-abortion and champion the ideals of so-called ‘liberal unionism’ would be far better jumping ship from the UUP and joining their natural political home in Alliance.

In terms of realistic policies which could position the UUP for a closer accommodation with the DUP, the party must rebrand itself as a clear Centre Right movement more akin to the Ulster Unionism espoused by the late Jim Molyneaux in the days when the party was dominated by pressure groups, such as the Right-wing Ulster Monday Club.

The bitter medicine which the UUP must swallow is that the liberal secularist agenda has now damaged the party irreparably. It must end the stupidity of trying to compete with Alliance for some mythical centre ground utopia, and begin the process of preparing for an eventual merger with the DUP. The UUP must be purged of the cancer of anti-Christian secularism which has polluted the party’s political heart and soul over the past half-decade.

The clap-trap trendy atheism must be eradicated from party policy and, like the DUP, the UUP must provide clear Christian leadership to its traditional Church vote through a definite policy of social conservatism.

Alternatively, if the party hierarchy maintains that liberal secularism will be the policy of the UUP, then sadly anyone who calls themselves a Christian – especially a born again believer - will have no other alternative than to quit the UUP and formally seek political refuge in the DUP. Fundamentally, there is no room for yet another pro-Union party. Unionist unity is of the essence.

While a restoration of the Stormont institutions will be a political life-saver for the UUP with only 10 MLAs to bargain with, the last thing the party needs is another Assembly poll. If the May 2017 Westminster outcome was replicated in a Stormont poll, the UUP will be no better off than the TUV or People Before Profit Alliance.

With the DUP holding the high ground in terms of seats and influence, the UUP has only one bargaining chip – to lobby the DUP to get a return to the Good Friday Agreement deal of 1998 that the largest designation – unionist or nationalist – could lay claim to the First Minister’s post.

This vital negotiating position was given away by the DUP at the St Andrews Agreement in 2006 when the First Minister’s post went to the largest party. The March 2017 Stormont poll has left Sinn Fein breathing down the necks of the DUP.

If, as part of the new cosy Tory-DUP pact at Westminster, the DUP could persuade Prime Minister Theresa May to introduce legislation heralding a return of the largest designation status to the office and First and deputy First Minister, it would guarantee that the UUP would be part of a Unionist Coalition in any future Assembly poll.

Another vital card which the UUP can play is the sterling constituency work which its network of remaining UUP councillors have on the ground. Using the ethos of ‘Putting People First’, the party councillors can focus on bread and butter issues as they affect constituents in their daily lives. The UUP will be rebuilt in preparation and eventual merger with the DUP from the ground up, not the leadership down.

The dose of realism which the UUP must swallow is that it cannot afford to stand still and hope the tens of thousands of unionist voters it has lost to the DUP will magically return to the UUP fold.

The unionist electorate have used their votes to send a clear message that there can only be one pro-Union party of any significance in Northern Ireland, just as Irish nationalism has completed the mirror image in the Catholic community – there can only be one nationalist party, Sinn Fein.

Such is the depth of the political malaise which has currently gripped the UUP that the twin-track strategy of re-engaging with its traditional voter base and ‘upping’ its councillor constituency profile must be implemented as soon as possible.

Failure to do so will only see the UUP join the long list of pro-Union parties in that historical dustbin, such as the Vanguard Unionist Party, Ulster Popular Unionist Party, UK Unionist Party, UPNI, Northern Ireland Unionist Party, United Unionist Assembly Party to name but a few. Has the penny dropped yet?

Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter