Gerry Adams's Blog, page 85
May 3, 2011
Every Vote Matters
A cartoon by the late Brian 'Cormac' Moore urging people to Vote for Bobby Sands
The weather has been tremendous. Bright, warm sunshine. Blue skies. The countryside a riot of vivid colours. Good weather makes all the difference when you are on the campaign trail. It puts everyone in great form. Canvassers and canvassed alike.
Thursday, May 5th, is Bobby Sands 30th anniversary and polling day. The co-incidence of the Assembly poll, the local government election, the AV referendum, and Bobby's anniversary is not lost on republican activists.
The Fermanagh South Tyrone by-election in April 1981, when Bobby famously won that seat, has been acknowledged as one of those pivotal moments in recent Irish history.
In the last few days this blog has been in north Antrim, and north and West Belfast campaigning with local candidates. And on Monday I was in Belcoo, and Derrylin, and other parts of Fermanagh South Tyrone. As we drove through the towns and villages of that famous constituency I was constantly reminded of the election campaign of 81.
Apart from filling election envelopes as a teenager in 1964, the Bobby Sands election was my first real election campaign. And like many others I was learning as I went along. But we were all buoyed up by the spirit of defiance and the heroism of the hunger strikers.
That was a remarkable time. And it set the scene for much that was to follow. 30 years later the legacy of the hunger strike and the sacrifice of the hunger strikers, and of three decades of successful political activism and growth, is evident in the political strength of Sinn Féin.
Today, tomorrow and on Thursday, and after months of hard work on the campaign trail, republicans across the north's constituencies will be putting in one final hard push to ensure that we consolidate our vote and build for the future.
There will be some who will argue that voting is a waste of time or who will just not bother to vote. They are wrong.
Voting is your opportunity to make a difference – to be part of bringing in real and better change.
Vote Bobby Sands
Elites have always sought to deny citizens the right to determine their own destiny. There was a time when most people didn't have the vote. When monarchies and aristocracies decided how people lived and died. Sometimes the excuse was that someone was too poor; or too uneducated; or a woman; or of a different colour. But the goal was always the same. Restrict access to political power and influence so that a minority can benefit.
The leaders of 1916 understood the importance of promoting and defending the rights of citizens. The Proclamation addresses itself to Irish men and Irish women and promotes universal suffrage at a time women didn't have the vote.
The Unionist regime following partition understood this. For that reason property qualifications were part of local electoral law and tens of thousands of citizens, mainly Catholic, were denied the right to a vote. Along with the gerrymandering of electoral boundaries this ensured unionist majorities on Councils in towns where nationalists were in the majority. That's why the demand for one person one vote was so threatening to unionism and why it was violently opposed by the state and its paramilitary forces.
Denying the vote was part of the strategy of those, particularly in the deep south of the USA, who wanted to hold on to power and who rejected the civil rights demands of the 1960s. It was also central to the apartheid regime in South Africa. And in Arab states today citizens are dying in pursuit of the right to vote and to democratic structures of government.
Voting is a human right it is also a responsibility.
In recent years Sinn Féin has succeeded in bringing about fundamental change in the north. In local government and in the Assembly, in the Executive and through our MPs and MEP Sinn Féin has succeeded in delivering real improvements in peoples' daily lives through the policies our activists implement and the decisions they take. Elections and electoral success have made a difference.
In the recent Dáil and Seanad elections also Sinn Féin made important gains.
But there is much more to be done. Not least in terms of achieving a United Ireland. And to do this and to continue to deliver for citizens Sinn Féin needs more votes to build even greater political strength.
95 years ago today the executions of the 1916 leaders commenced. The first to die were Padraig Pearse, Tom Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh.
Their goal, like ours today was and is to build a new Ireland; a shared Ireland; an Ireland in which the rights of citizens are paramount.
The 1916 Proclamation, they wrote and died for, is a powerful expression of the shape of that new Ireland.
"The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally".
This Thursday every citizen with a vote can contribute to bringing that day a significant step closer by voting for Sinn Féin candidates for local Councils and for the Assembly.
April 29, 2011
The Flame of Freedom
Last Sunday this blog spoke at two Easter commemorations in Louth and East Meath. They were the first in that constituency since I became its Teachta Dála.
It was a beautiful spring day. A nice day to remember our patriot dead.
All across this island, and beyond, there are monuments and plaques, on roadsides, in cemeteries and in town centres, in rural lanes and housing estates, in memory of those who over many centuries have lost their lives in pursuit of Irish freedom and independence.
Many thousands of people contribute to their upkeep and to organising events like Easter so that the sacrifice of this and previous generations is properly honoured .
So, I want to commend all of those who organise events and who contribute to the upkeep of these graves and monuments. It is right and proper that we remember and celebrate the lives of our patriot dead.
This year Irish republicans mark 95 years since the Easter Rising. It is also the 30th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike.
Each event was a seminal moment in the struggle for Irish freedom, and each changed the course of Irish history for the better.
Easter 1916 witnessed an alliance of Irish republican organisations and others, including the diaspora in the USA, come together to declare a Republic.
Much of this occurred in Dublin but republicans also took up arms elsewhere in the country, including Louth.
After the Rising sixteen leaders were executed. The British hoped that the executions would extinguish the flame of freedom. They were wrong. At his court martial Pádraig Mac Piarais got it exactly right:
'Believe that we, too, love freedom and desire it. To us it is more desirable than anything in the world. If you strike us down now, we shall rise again to renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom.'
The vast majority of Irish people understand this. So too do many in the diaspora. It is a part of who we are.
Regrettably, it is equally true that the republic which was proclaimed in 1916 has been set aside by those in the political establishment, and the limited freedom won after the rising has been squandered.
Imagine what the leaders of 1916 would think of the state of the health service, and especially of our elderly patients who are stuck on hospital trolleys for days or of the half a million people unemployed across this island?
What would they say about the way working people are being treated, while big bankers are paid millions?
We can imagine their response to the sell-off of our natural resources. Or to the EU/IMF bailout!
We can say with certainty that the men and women of 1916 would not be part of the golden circle of greedy financiers and developers and corrupt politicians who have practically bankrupted the southern state.
In the north, Sinn Fein is fighting hard to secure fiscal powers from London, while in the south the government and its predecessor have given away our economic sovereignty.
In their time the leaders of the Rising warned against partition and its divisive and debilitating potential. Connolly predicted it would cause a carnival of reaction. He was right.
Partition is uneconomic. It holds back Ireland's potential for economic growth. People in County Louth and in other border counties know this.
This blog believes that the commemoration of the Rising and the run into the centenary anniversary needs to become a rallying point for Irish citizens to stand up for our rights. For that reason I have already raised this issue in the Dáil with the Taoiseach.
Irish unity makes political and economic sense. And the template for the new Ireland we seek is powerfully expressed in the Proclamation.
"The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and pros perity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally".
It is about Irish self-determination and democracy.
There is a logic to greater and closer co-operation between north and south.
So, in the time ahead there is an onus on Irish republicans to use our collective imagination and our political strength to eraze the border. To make it irrelevant. And let us not leave it to the next generation to achieve this – let us do it in our time.
Next Thursday, May 5th, is the anniversary of Bobby Sands death. It is also the day the people of the north will go to the polls in the Assembly and local government elections. Sinn Féin's aim is to consolidate our support in that part of our country and to continue to build across the island.
The story of 1916, like the story of the hunger strike of 1981 is the story of courage and heroism and an example of the heights to which the human spirit can rise in pursuit of freedom.
It was a beautiful spring day. A nice day to remember our patriot dead.
All across this island, and beyond, there are monuments and plaques, on roadsides, in cemeteries and in town centres, in rural lanes and housing estates, in memory of those who over many centuries have lost their lives in pursuit of Irish freedom and independence.
Many thousands of people contribute to their upkeep and to organising events like Easter so that the sacrifice of this and previous generations is properly honoured .
So, I want to commend all of those who organise events and who contribute to the upkeep of these graves and monuments. It is right and proper that we remember and celebrate the lives of our patriot dead.
This year Irish republicans mark 95 years since the Easter Rising. It is also the 30th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike.
Each event was a seminal moment in the struggle for Irish freedom, and each changed the course of Irish history for the better.
Easter 1916 witnessed an alliance of Irish republican organisations and others, including the diaspora in the USA, come together to declare a Republic.
Much of this occurred in Dublin but republicans also took up arms elsewhere in the country, including Louth.
After the Rising sixteen leaders were executed. The British hoped that the executions would extinguish the flame of freedom. They were wrong. At his court martial Pádraig Mac Piarais got it exactly right:
'Believe that we, too, love freedom and desire it. To us it is more desirable than anything in the world. If you strike us down now, we shall rise again to renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom.'
The vast majority of Irish people understand this. So too do many in the diaspora. It is a part of who we are.
Regrettably, it is equally true that the republic which was proclaimed in 1916 has been set aside by those in the political establishment, and the limited freedom won after the rising has been squandered.
Imagine what the leaders of 1916 would think of the state of the health service, and especially of our elderly patients who are stuck on hospital trolleys for days or of the half a million people unemployed across this island?
What would they say about the way working people are being treated, while big bankers are paid millions?
We can imagine their response to the sell-off of our natural resources. Or to the EU/IMF bailout!
We can say with certainty that the men and women of 1916 would not be part of the golden circle of greedy financiers and developers and corrupt politicians who have practically bankrupted the southern state.
In the north, Sinn Fein is fighting hard to secure fiscal powers from London, while in the south the government and its predecessor have given away our economic sovereignty.
In their time the leaders of the Rising warned against partition and its divisive and debilitating potential. Connolly predicted it would cause a carnival of reaction. He was right.
Partition is uneconomic. It holds back Ireland's potential for economic growth. People in County Louth and in other border counties know this.
This blog believes that the commemoration of the Rising and the run into the centenary anniversary needs to become a rallying point for Irish citizens to stand up for our rights. For that reason I have already raised this issue in the Dáil with the Taoiseach.
Irish unity makes political and economic sense. And the template for the new Ireland we seek is powerfully expressed in the Proclamation.
"The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and pros perity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally".
It is about Irish self-determination and democracy.
There is a logic to greater and closer co-operation between north and south.
So, in the time ahead there is an onus on Irish republicans to use our collective imagination and our political strength to eraze the border. To make it irrelevant. And let us not leave it to the next generation to achieve this – let us do it in our time.
Next Thursday, May 5th, is the anniversary of Bobby Sands death. It is also the day the people of the north will go to the polls in the Assembly and local government elections. Sinn Féin's aim is to consolidate our support in that part of our country and to continue to build across the island.
The story of 1916, like the story of the hunger strike of 1981 is the story of courage and heroism and an example of the heights to which the human spirit can rise in pursuit of freedom.
April 23, 2011
A Health Scandal - Symphysiotomy
There are a series of scandals involving the health service which have a particular resonance in County Louth.
The allegations of sexual abuse surrounding Consultant Surgeon Michael Shine in Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is one which the previous Ministers of Health have failed to deal with properly or humanely.
They have failed to provide the victims with the information and closure they deserve. This blog is hopeful that the new Minister James Reilly will see his way to holding an inquiry into the Shine allegations. It is also a matter of extreme urgency that he restores full funding to the Dignity for Patients Group which campaigns on behalf of victims.
However, another scandal deserving redress is that of women scarred by the medical practice of symphysiotomy.
Symphysiotomy is an 18th century operation performed on women in labour that unhinges the pelvis, splitting the pubic joint and its ligaments with a scalpel knife. Another version of this operation, called pubiotomy, severs the bone rather than the joint. This results in a compound fracture of the pelvis.
At least 1500 Symphysiotomies were carried out on women in the southern state between 1944 and 1984. This was at a time when the rest of the medical profession elsewhere was using caesarean sections.
Patients were rarely asked for their consent and most were never told of the nature of the surgery or its risks, or offered the safer alternative of a caesarean section.
The consequence for the victim of this procedure was often chronic pain, incontinence and a lifetime of medical intervention. One child in ten died.
Increasing age has meant that many of the women who were subjected to this barbarous practice have difficulty walking.
Survivors of Symphysiotomy is a group that has brought together almost 200 women, now mainly in their 60s and older, who have been the victims of this brutal surgery.
This blog has met with them and their accounts of how they were treated in hospital and what was done to them is horrific.
These women want truth. They have looked to a succession of Health Ministers to provide it through the establishment of a full public inquiry.
A promised review of the practice by the Fianna Fáil Health Minister Micheál Máirtín in 2003 was never established.
Health Minister Mary Harney refused to establish an inquiry. She did ask the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to prepare a report concerning the practice of Symphysiotomy in hospitals in the state.
However, this report was not progressed. And in a written reply to my colleague Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin last month the Minister Reilly avoided answering the question about establishing a public inquiry.
The Minister said that he understood that efforts are progressing to put in place alternative arrangements with the assistance of a University of Public Health.
But the Minister hasn't specified what 'alternative arrangements' means? And this is causing concern, especially to the victims.
The hundreds of women grievously hurt physically and emotionally by this practice have not received the help and support they have a right to expect.
In his capacity as opposition Health spokesperson Minister Reilly gave his full support to the victim's demand for a public inquiry at the Oireachtas Committee Hearing in 2009.
As the Minister of Health he now as the opportunity to accomplish what Micheál Máirtín failed to do and what he asked Minister Harney to do.
I understand that the Survivors of Symphysiotomy group has asked to meet with the Minister and have offered their full co-operation, in an open and dignified manner, for what would be a hugely difficult and emotional experience of telling their stories in public.
In an adjournment debate in the Dáil on Wednesday evening I asked the Minister to meet with the group as quickly as possible and to tell them that he will establish a full Public Inquiry into the practice of Symphysiotomies in Irish hospitals under the care of the state.
The allegations of sexual abuse surrounding Consultant Surgeon Michael Shine in Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is one which the previous Ministers of Health have failed to deal with properly or humanely.
They have failed to provide the victims with the information and closure they deserve. This blog is hopeful that the new Minister James Reilly will see his way to holding an inquiry into the Shine allegations. It is also a matter of extreme urgency that he restores full funding to the Dignity for Patients Group which campaigns on behalf of victims.
However, another scandal deserving redress is that of women scarred by the medical practice of symphysiotomy.
Symphysiotomy is an 18th century operation performed on women in labour that unhinges the pelvis, splitting the pubic joint and its ligaments with a scalpel knife. Another version of this operation, called pubiotomy, severs the bone rather than the joint. This results in a compound fracture of the pelvis.
At least 1500 Symphysiotomies were carried out on women in the southern state between 1944 and 1984. This was at a time when the rest of the medical profession elsewhere was using caesarean sections.
Patients were rarely asked for their consent and most were never told of the nature of the surgery or its risks, or offered the safer alternative of a caesarean section.
The consequence for the victim of this procedure was often chronic pain, incontinence and a lifetime of medical intervention. One child in ten died.
Increasing age has meant that many of the women who were subjected to this barbarous practice have difficulty walking.
Survivors of Symphysiotomy is a group that has brought together almost 200 women, now mainly in their 60s and older, who have been the victims of this brutal surgery.
This blog has met with them and their accounts of how they were treated in hospital and what was done to them is horrific.
These women want truth. They have looked to a succession of Health Ministers to provide it through the establishment of a full public inquiry.
A promised review of the practice by the Fianna Fáil Health Minister Micheál Máirtín in 2003 was never established.
Health Minister Mary Harney refused to establish an inquiry. She did ask the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to prepare a report concerning the practice of Symphysiotomy in hospitals in the state.
However, this report was not progressed. And in a written reply to my colleague Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin last month the Minister Reilly avoided answering the question about establishing a public inquiry.
The Minister said that he understood that efforts are progressing to put in place alternative arrangements with the assistance of a University of Public Health.
But the Minister hasn't specified what 'alternative arrangements' means? And this is causing concern, especially to the victims.
The hundreds of women grievously hurt physically and emotionally by this practice have not received the help and support they have a right to expect.
In his capacity as opposition Health spokesperson Minister Reilly gave his full support to the victim's demand for a public inquiry at the Oireachtas Committee Hearing in 2009.
As the Minister of Health he now as the opportunity to accomplish what Micheál Máirtín failed to do and what he asked Minister Harney to do.
I understand that the Survivors of Symphysiotomy group has asked to meet with the Minister and have offered their full co-operation, in an open and dignified manner, for what would be a hugely difficult and emotional experience of telling their stories in public.
In an adjournment debate in the Dáil on Wednesday evening I asked the Minister to meet with the group as quickly as possible and to tell them that he will establish a full Public Inquiry into the practice of Symphysiotomies in Irish hospitals under the care of the state.
April 20, 2011
The Dublin Monaghan Bombs and the British
Yesterday this blog questioned the Taoiseach about his meeting on Monday with the British Prime Minister and asked him whether he had raised the Dublin Monaghan Bombings in which 34 Irish citizens were killed and hundreds more injured?
Specifically I asked the Taoiseach if he had raised directly with the British Prime Minister the Dáil request from July 2008 for the British government to hand over all files and other information in relation to the bomb attacks on May 17th 1974 and other atrocities inquired into by Justice Barron and for these files to be opened to independent, international scrutiny.
The Taoiseach was evasive in his response. But the only conclusion to be drawn from what he said is that he didn't.
This failure to act in Irish national interests or in the interests of Irish citizens is characteristic of the submissive attitude of Irish governments to British governments over the years.
The colonization and occupation of Ireland over many centuries by Britain has left a bitter legacy. Part of this is an inability on the part of Irish governments to stand up for Irish interests when dealing with British governments.
The Taoiseach described the relationship between the two states as one based on mutual respect and trust.
How much respect has a British government for an Irish government and for Ireland when it hides the truth of its involvement in collusion and murder, and refuses to hand over vital information on this issue?
How much self-respect does an Irish government have if it refuses to challenge that British government?
The citizens who died in the Dublin Monaghan bombings were not the first to die as a result of collusion, nor the last.
Five years ago an Independent International Panel on Collusion into Sectarian Killings produced a detailed 109-page report. It followed a careful examination of 25 cases of unionist paramilitary violence between 1972 and 1977 in which 76 people were killed. The Panel found that in 24 cases involving 74 killings there was evidence of RUC and UDR collusion.
This included the Dublin Monaghan bombs and the bomb attack in December 1975 in which two Dundalk men Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters were killed.
The report revealed that the British Government knew of the collusion between the RUC, British army and unionist death squads as far back as the early 1970s.
Sometimes official state forces donned masks and carried out the killings themselves. At other times they simply passed the weaponry, know how and information onto surrogate unionist paramilitaries.
Launching the report in 2006 Douglas Cassel, a human rights professor from the American University of Notre Dame, said he had been shocked at the extent of state collusion in the killings the team had investigated.
The panel had found evidence of collusion with British state forces, primarily the RUC and UDR in 24 of the 25 cases they examined. In most cases the evidence was extremely strong. In some cases they concluded that there was "a prime facia case".
After the killings came the cover up. Cover up involved state forces covering up their own crimes and the crimes of others, hiding weaponry, failing to pursue investigations and refusing to prosecute despite overwhelming evidence.
In one case, Robin Jackson, a notorious unionist gunman, was identified by the widow of one of his victims but the charges against him were subsequently dropped by order of the DPP. Jackson was later exposed as a Special Branch agent.
The cases investigated included car bombings, grenade attacks and shootings including mass killings as in the Miami Showband attack.
In addition to the activities of the Glenanne Gang British agents, like Brian Nelson, helped procure weapons through Apartheid South African connections in 1988.
These weapons were secured for the use of three unionist paramilitary organisations the UDA, UVF and Ulster Resistance.
The first two have according to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning have got rid of their weapons. Ulster Resistance has not.
The importation of these weapons with the help of British intelligence led to a dramatic increase in murders by unionist death squads.
In the six years before the arrival of the South African weapons from January 1982 to December 1987 unionist murder gangs killed 71 people. In the six years after the arrival of the arms shipment that number had risen to 229.
The unionist death squads were assisted in all of this by RUC Special Branch and British agencies like FRU and British Military Intelligence and the British Security Services.
Among those murdered were human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. Special Branch and British intelligence agents were involved in every part of his murder, including providing the information, the weapons, carrying out the murder and giving the order.
Over the decades of conflict thousands of files and photos of nationalists and republicans were passed over to unionist death squads, commonly from within the UDR and frequently proper investigations of sectarian murders were not carried out by the RUC.
In 2001 a Commission of Inquiry under Mr. Justice Henry Barron was established by the Irish Government in 2001. Four reports were published and a Sub-Committee of the cross-party Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights conducted an extensive examination of the reports.
The Sub-Committee concluded "that given that we are dealing with acts of international terrorism that were colluded in by the British security forces, the British Government cannot legitimately refuse to co-operate with investigations and attempts to get to the truth."
Despite this hard hitting conclusion and the mountain of evidence available no Irish government has pursued this issue vigorously.
Enda Kenny promised a different kind of government from Fianna Fáil but if his meeting in Downing Street is an example of how he does business it would appear to be the same old story.
Specifically I asked the Taoiseach if he had raised directly with the British Prime Minister the Dáil request from July 2008 for the British government to hand over all files and other information in relation to the bomb attacks on May 17th 1974 and other atrocities inquired into by Justice Barron and for these files to be opened to independent, international scrutiny.
The Taoiseach was evasive in his response. But the only conclusion to be drawn from what he said is that he didn't.
This failure to act in Irish national interests or in the interests of Irish citizens is characteristic of the submissive attitude of Irish governments to British governments over the years.
The colonization and occupation of Ireland over many centuries by Britain has left a bitter legacy. Part of this is an inability on the part of Irish governments to stand up for Irish interests when dealing with British governments.
The Taoiseach described the relationship between the two states as one based on mutual respect and trust.
How much respect has a British government for an Irish government and for Ireland when it hides the truth of its involvement in collusion and murder, and refuses to hand over vital information on this issue?
How much self-respect does an Irish government have if it refuses to challenge that British government?
The citizens who died in the Dublin Monaghan bombings were not the first to die as a result of collusion, nor the last.
Five years ago an Independent International Panel on Collusion into Sectarian Killings produced a detailed 109-page report. It followed a careful examination of 25 cases of unionist paramilitary violence between 1972 and 1977 in which 76 people were killed. The Panel found that in 24 cases involving 74 killings there was evidence of RUC and UDR collusion.
This included the Dublin Monaghan bombs and the bomb attack in December 1975 in which two Dundalk men Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters were killed.
The report revealed that the British Government knew of the collusion between the RUC, British army and unionist death squads as far back as the early 1970s.
Sometimes official state forces donned masks and carried out the killings themselves. At other times they simply passed the weaponry, know how and information onto surrogate unionist paramilitaries.
Launching the report in 2006 Douglas Cassel, a human rights professor from the American University of Notre Dame, said he had been shocked at the extent of state collusion in the killings the team had investigated.
The panel had found evidence of collusion with British state forces, primarily the RUC and UDR in 24 of the 25 cases they examined. In most cases the evidence was extremely strong. In some cases they concluded that there was "a prime facia case".
After the killings came the cover up. Cover up involved state forces covering up their own crimes and the crimes of others, hiding weaponry, failing to pursue investigations and refusing to prosecute despite overwhelming evidence.
In one case, Robin Jackson, a notorious unionist gunman, was identified by the widow of one of his victims but the charges against him were subsequently dropped by order of the DPP. Jackson was later exposed as a Special Branch agent.
The cases investigated included car bombings, grenade attacks and shootings including mass killings as in the Miami Showband attack.
In addition to the activities of the Glenanne Gang British agents, like Brian Nelson, helped procure weapons through Apartheid South African connections in 1988.
These weapons were secured for the use of three unionist paramilitary organisations the UDA, UVF and Ulster Resistance.
The first two have according to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning have got rid of their weapons. Ulster Resistance has not.
The importation of these weapons with the help of British intelligence led to a dramatic increase in murders by unionist death squads.
In the six years before the arrival of the South African weapons from January 1982 to December 1987 unionist murder gangs killed 71 people. In the six years after the arrival of the arms shipment that number had risen to 229.
The unionist death squads were assisted in all of this by RUC Special Branch and British agencies like FRU and British Military Intelligence and the British Security Services.
Among those murdered were human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. Special Branch and British intelligence agents were involved in every part of his murder, including providing the information, the weapons, carrying out the murder and giving the order.
Over the decades of conflict thousands of files and photos of nationalists and republicans were passed over to unionist death squads, commonly from within the UDR and frequently proper investigations of sectarian murders were not carried out by the RUC.
In 2001 a Commission of Inquiry under Mr. Justice Henry Barron was established by the Irish Government in 2001. Four reports were published and a Sub-Committee of the cross-party Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights conducted an extensive examination of the reports.
The Sub-Committee concluded "that given that we are dealing with acts of international terrorism that were colluded in by the British security forces, the British Government cannot legitimately refuse to co-operate with investigations and attempts to get to the truth."
Despite this hard hitting conclusion and the mountain of evidence available no Irish government has pursued this issue vigorously.
Enda Kenny promised a different kind of government from Fianna Fáil but if his meeting in Downing Street is an example of how he does business it would appear to be the same old story.
April 16, 2011
The Spyring that wasn't!
On October 4th 2002 lines of armoured police vehicles came screaming up the drive to Parliament Buildings at Stormont. As the heavy doors clanged open scores of PSNI officers, some wearing riot gear, jumped out and rushed into the building. They were there to raid the Sinn Féin offices.
Because those in the Special Branch who were responsible for the operation had alerted the media the whole exercise was carried out in the full glare of publicity.
The spin to the press was that a republican spyring had been uncovered in Stormont! According to the PSNI itself the Stormont raid, with all of the attendant armoured vehicles and police officers, was to enable them to search "one desk and immediate surrounding area".
The room was the administrative office for the party and the desk belonged to Denis Donaldson, who was the administrative manager for the Sinn Féin team in Parliament Buildings. The PSNI took away documents and computer discs.
The television images and snapper's pics were flashed around the world. When the media disappeared the discs and documents were handed back.
There were also raids elsewhere, including on the Donaldson family home in west Belfast where the PSNI claimed it found sensitive documents.
The new English Chief Constable of the PSNI was not told of the raid before hand by the Special Branch who orchestrated it.
Within a short time the Special Branch and British intelligence had told sections of the media that: "The security operation which uncovered alleged republican intelligence gathering in government in Northern Ireland was triggered by a police source within the IRA".
Subsequently it was revealed that nothing of any incriminating or illegal nature was found in the Sinn Féin office. But then that wasn't the point. The Special Branch never expected to find anything there.
The raid at Stormont was to give the media and public the impressive visuals that were needed to enhance the claim of a spyring and to subvert the democratically elected power sharing government at that time.
It worked. David Trimble lost his nerve and pulled his Ministers out of the Executive. And within 10 days John Reid, the then British Secretary of State, suspended the political institutions.
On December 8th 2005, three years later, the case against Donaldson, who had been charged with possession of documents at his home, and several others collapsed. Two days later he was visited by the PSNI and warned that members of the media had information that he was an informer and that he should consider his life to be in danger.
The only source for such a story could have been Special Branch.
This warning was disputed by some, including sections of the media. However, the Donaldson family have since released an internal PM1 document which had been created on Saturday, 10 December 2005, by the Regional Assessment Unit (Castlereagh) of PSNI Special Branch.
The document confirms that the PSNI told Donaldson that 'members of the media believe that Denis Donaldson is an informer.'
The warning clearly unnerved Donaldson and led to him admitting to Sinn Féin officials that he was a British agent. He was suspended and then expelled from the party.
On the Thursday December 16th he received a telephone call from his former handler, 'Lenny', and following that he left Belfast. At a press conference in Dublin the next day Donaldson confirmed that:
• He had worked for British intelligence and the RUC/PSNI Special Branch since the 1980s, and that he was paid money.
• That his last two contacts with the Special Branch were two days before his arrest in October 02 and the previous evening.
• That he had not been involved in any republican spy ring at Stormont
• That this spy ring was a fiction created by the Special Branch.
Four months later on April 4th 2006 he was shot dead in Donegal in an attack subsequently claimed three years later, in April 2009 by the anti-peace faction describing itself the Real IRA.
Since then the Donaldson family has been involved in a legal battle to ensure that an inquest is held and that it is compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It has been a frustrating process which has taken a lot of determination on their part. Thus far, the southern state has refused them any support to have legal representation to make their case to the Coroner, in contrast to representation for Gardai.
The Inquest in Donegal has been adjourned 5 times at the request of the Gardai. Each time, the prospect of bringing criminal proceedings in the case has been held out by Gardai as a reason to prevent the start of the inquest. On May 5th , the inquest will be reconvened for the sixth time.
However, the arrests last week of two men in Donegal could mean that once again the Gardai may seek an adjournment.
The Donaldson family have also raised concerns about the role of British intelligence agencies and what information the PSNI Special Branch have in respect of the killing of their own agent. The family also have concerns around the Gardai investigation, and the failure to hold an inquest.
Sinn Féin shares the family's concerns.
This blog raised these matters on a number of occasions with the last Minister for Justice in Dublin without resolution.
For the Donaldson family this is about truth but they are also very conscious that this case raises broader concerns over accountability and cross-jurisdictional issues to do with policing and justice on the island of Ireland.
Last Thursday they issued a lengthy statement pointing to "serious discrepancies and anomalies in accounts relating to the circumstances leading up to Denis' murder".
And the family say that in order to be effective "thorough, independent and compliant with our family's rights under Article 2 of the ECHR, any investigation of Denis' murder must examine the identities, motivations, activities, links, communications and movements of 'Lenny' and their Special Branch associates. 'Lenny' is intimately informed about the events surrounding Denis' murder. 'Lenny' holds the answers to many questions."
Notwithstanding the five year delay in the holding of the inquest it is possible to draw some conclusions from this affair.
The decision by the Special Branch to arrest and implicate their own agent in 2002 in a nonexistent spyring was about collapsing the power sharing government to which senior members of the old RUC Special Branch were implacably opposed.
The decision to expose Donaldson as an agent in December 2005 was intended to have a destabilising impact also and his murder in April 06 was for the same purpose.
Because those in the Special Branch who were responsible for the operation had alerted the media the whole exercise was carried out in the full glare of publicity.
The spin to the press was that a republican spyring had been uncovered in Stormont! According to the PSNI itself the Stormont raid, with all of the attendant armoured vehicles and police officers, was to enable them to search "one desk and immediate surrounding area".
The room was the administrative office for the party and the desk belonged to Denis Donaldson, who was the administrative manager for the Sinn Féin team in Parliament Buildings. The PSNI took away documents and computer discs.
The television images and snapper's pics were flashed around the world. When the media disappeared the discs and documents were handed back.
There were also raids elsewhere, including on the Donaldson family home in west Belfast where the PSNI claimed it found sensitive documents.
The new English Chief Constable of the PSNI was not told of the raid before hand by the Special Branch who orchestrated it.
Within a short time the Special Branch and British intelligence had told sections of the media that: "The security operation which uncovered alleged republican intelligence gathering in government in Northern Ireland was triggered by a police source within the IRA".
Subsequently it was revealed that nothing of any incriminating or illegal nature was found in the Sinn Féin office. But then that wasn't the point. The Special Branch never expected to find anything there.
The raid at Stormont was to give the media and public the impressive visuals that were needed to enhance the claim of a spyring and to subvert the democratically elected power sharing government at that time.
It worked. David Trimble lost his nerve and pulled his Ministers out of the Executive. And within 10 days John Reid, the then British Secretary of State, suspended the political institutions.
On December 8th 2005, three years later, the case against Donaldson, who had been charged with possession of documents at his home, and several others collapsed. Two days later he was visited by the PSNI and warned that members of the media had information that he was an informer and that he should consider his life to be in danger.
The only source for such a story could have been Special Branch.
This warning was disputed by some, including sections of the media. However, the Donaldson family have since released an internal PM1 document which had been created on Saturday, 10 December 2005, by the Regional Assessment Unit (Castlereagh) of PSNI Special Branch.
The document confirms that the PSNI told Donaldson that 'members of the media believe that Denis Donaldson is an informer.'
The warning clearly unnerved Donaldson and led to him admitting to Sinn Féin officials that he was a British agent. He was suspended and then expelled from the party.
On the Thursday December 16th he received a telephone call from his former handler, 'Lenny', and following that he left Belfast. At a press conference in Dublin the next day Donaldson confirmed that:
• He had worked for British intelligence and the RUC/PSNI Special Branch since the 1980s, and that he was paid money.
• That his last two contacts with the Special Branch were two days before his arrest in October 02 and the previous evening.
• That he had not been involved in any republican spy ring at Stormont
• That this spy ring was a fiction created by the Special Branch.
Four months later on April 4th 2006 he was shot dead in Donegal in an attack subsequently claimed three years later, in April 2009 by the anti-peace faction describing itself the Real IRA.
Since then the Donaldson family has been involved in a legal battle to ensure that an inquest is held and that it is compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It has been a frustrating process which has taken a lot of determination on their part. Thus far, the southern state has refused them any support to have legal representation to make their case to the Coroner, in contrast to representation for Gardai.
The Inquest in Donegal has been adjourned 5 times at the request of the Gardai. Each time, the prospect of bringing criminal proceedings in the case has been held out by Gardai as a reason to prevent the start of the inquest. On May 5th , the inquest will be reconvened for the sixth time.
However, the arrests last week of two men in Donegal could mean that once again the Gardai may seek an adjournment.
The Donaldson family have also raised concerns about the role of British intelligence agencies and what information the PSNI Special Branch have in respect of the killing of their own agent. The family also have concerns around the Gardai investigation, and the failure to hold an inquest.
Sinn Féin shares the family's concerns.
This blog raised these matters on a number of occasions with the last Minister for Justice in Dublin without resolution.
For the Donaldson family this is about truth but they are also very conscious that this case raises broader concerns over accountability and cross-jurisdictional issues to do with policing and justice on the island of Ireland.
Last Thursday they issued a lengthy statement pointing to "serious discrepancies and anomalies in accounts relating to the circumstances leading up to Denis' murder".
And the family say that in order to be effective "thorough, independent and compliant with our family's rights under Article 2 of the ECHR, any investigation of Denis' murder must examine the identities, motivations, activities, links, communications and movements of 'Lenny' and their Special Branch associates. 'Lenny' is intimately informed about the events surrounding Denis' murder. 'Lenny' holds the answers to many questions."
Notwithstanding the five year delay in the holding of the inquest it is possible to draw some conclusions from this affair.
The decision by the Special Branch to arrest and implicate their own agent in 2002 in a nonexistent spyring was about collapsing the power sharing government to which senior members of the old RUC Special Branch were implacably opposed.
The decision to expose Donaldson as an agent in December 2005 was intended to have a destabilising impact also and his murder in April 06 was for the same purpose.
April 12, 2011
Dáil Diary: Commemorating 1916
As party leader one of my tasks on a daily basis in the Dáil is to question the Taoiseach. There are two opportunities for this. Taoiseach's Questions is an opportunity to ask Enda Kenny about issues for which he has specific responsibility and Leader's Questions are on the important matters of the day.
Thus far I have used the opportunity afforded by Taoiseach's Questions to quiz him on the withdrawal of the 50:50 recruitment policy to the PSNI by the British secretary of State; the European Council meeting; about meeting with the Ballymurphy Massacre Committee (which he agreed to do); north-south co-operation and much more.
This week I asked him about his plans to re-establish the all-party committee in the Dáil to plan for the 1916 celebrations which he agreed to do by Easter.
I reminded him that the decade before us is one which 100 years ago was filled with momentous and tragic events which dramatically shaped the subsequent history of this island.
They included the formation of the UVF and Irish Volunteers in 1912 and 13; the signing of the Ulster Covenant; the 1913 Lockout; the formation of the Irish Citizen Army; the Easter Rising of 1916, the General election of 1918 and much more.
In particular, in 5 years Irish people at home and across the globe will be remembering those brave Irish men and women who rose in rebellion at Easter 1916.
But the issue of commemorating the events of 100 years ago also raises the important issue of how we preserve those iconic sites linked to them.
In particular I asked the Taoiseach to ensure that every effort is made to restore and preserve Numbers 14 to 17 Moore St where the leaders last met before the surrender on April 29th 1916. And I urged him to look positively at the creation of a Revolutionary Quarter covering that part of Dublin City. He said he would.
In recent years I have travelled to many parts of the world. Some of these places won their freedom through hard fought struggle and revolution. Whether in Paris, or Philadelphia, in Washington or South Africa or Cuba, buildings and sites designated as 'national' and linked to their freedom struggles are preserved, restored and have pride of place as part of the history and culture of those nations.
And so it is in many other places. Not so in Dublin.
Last September a group of us, including Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and myself, visited the National Monument at 14-17 Moore St in Dublin.
If truth be told though 14-17 Moore Street looks unlike any National Monument I have ever seen. It is a short terrace of red brick buildings that have lain derelict for many years.
For me and others in the Sinn Fein group it was a political pilgrimage to the spot where the leaders of the 1916 Rising held their last meeting before the surrender to the British.
It was a beautiful autumn day. We were met by some members of the families of the leaders who were subsequently executed. They have been campaigning for many years for the Moore Street site to be preserved, protected and developed as a proper national monument.
They brought us around the streets adjacent to the GPO, recounting as we walked, the story of those seven days in April 1916 which shocked the British Empire and shook it to its foundations.
Moore Street itself is the site of a famous fresh vegetable, fish, and flower market with stall holders many of whom have been there for generations.
And while this historic site has been designated a National Monument, a developer plans to level most of it apart from some outer walls of the four buildings.
I believe that 14-17 Moore Street should be protected and incorporated into a wider revolutionary quarter that would link together all of those iconic sites we visited that day in and around the GPO. The story of 1916 is there for future generations in that quite small space. It is a story of courage and heroism and an example of the heights to which the human spirit can rise in pursuit of freedom.
1916 was the first body blow to the 'Empire on which the Sun never sets' and it began a process of rebellion and revolution which led within 50 years to the dismantling of that Empire.
The families told us how on the Friday evening of Easter week the leaders were forced from the GPO which, like most of O Connell Street was in flames and in ruin. Their objective was to make their way to the Four Courts' Garrison.
They left by a side entrance in Henry Street and under fire, and carrying their wounded, including James Connolly, they slowly made their way along Moore Lane to Moore Street.
There they tunneled from one house to the next. On Saturday morning they eventually reached number 16 Moore Street which was then a poultry shop.
It was here that Pádraig Pearse, Tom Clarke, Joseph Plunkett and Sean Mac Diramada along with James Connolly, discussed their next steps. One plan was to rush the barricade the British had on Parnell Street but Tom Clarke who went to see if this was practical returned to say it was impossible.
There was then a fierce discussion about a surrender. It was decided that this was the only course of action open to them and Elizabeth O'Farrell was charged with the dangerous task of going to the British.
She was taken from the barricade to Tom Clarke's shop in Parnell Street. The British demanded unconditional surrender.
As O'Farrell was returning to 16 Moore Street and as she passed Sackville Lane, "the first turn on the left in Moore Street going down from Parnell Street, I looked up and saw the dead body of The O'Rahilly lying about four yards up the lane - his feet against the steps of the first door on the right and his head on the curbstone."
The O Rahilly had sought to prevent the Rising. He had returned to Dublin after travelling to Kerry where he had instructed the Irish Volunteers there not to join the Rising. But when he discovered that the Rising was going ahead the O Rahilly stepped forward and famously said: "Because I helped to wind the clock I come to hear it strike."
At 2.30 pm Pearse left Moore Street and with Elizabeth O'Farrell beside him he met General Lowe. Pearse handed over his pistol and sword and ammunition. And on an old wooden bench he signed the surrender document. Elizabeth O'Farrell was then asked to take the document to the various outposts held by the republicans.
The Volunteers formed up in ranks in Moore Street and marched defiantly to the Parnell Street barricade. They were held in the grounds of the Rotunda Hospital where Tom Clarke and some others were stripped by British soldiers.
The Court Martials began on May 2nd with Padraig Pearse, Tom Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh executed the following day. The last to die in Ireland were Sean MacDiarmada and James Connolly on May 12th . Roger Casement was hanged in August.
In his poem Easter 1916 W B Yeats concluded:
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead.
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse --
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
Thus far I have used the opportunity afforded by Taoiseach's Questions to quiz him on the withdrawal of the 50:50 recruitment policy to the PSNI by the British secretary of State; the European Council meeting; about meeting with the Ballymurphy Massacre Committee (which he agreed to do); north-south co-operation and much more.
This week I asked him about his plans to re-establish the all-party committee in the Dáil to plan for the 1916 celebrations which he agreed to do by Easter.
I reminded him that the decade before us is one which 100 years ago was filled with momentous and tragic events which dramatically shaped the subsequent history of this island.
They included the formation of the UVF and Irish Volunteers in 1912 and 13; the signing of the Ulster Covenant; the 1913 Lockout; the formation of the Irish Citizen Army; the Easter Rising of 1916, the General election of 1918 and much more.
In particular, in 5 years Irish people at home and across the globe will be remembering those brave Irish men and women who rose in rebellion at Easter 1916.
But the issue of commemorating the events of 100 years ago also raises the important issue of how we preserve those iconic sites linked to them.
In particular I asked the Taoiseach to ensure that every effort is made to restore and preserve Numbers 14 to 17 Moore St where the leaders last met before the surrender on April 29th 1916. And I urged him to look positively at the creation of a Revolutionary Quarter covering that part of Dublin City. He said he would.
In recent years I have travelled to many parts of the world. Some of these places won their freedom through hard fought struggle and revolution. Whether in Paris, or Philadelphia, in Washington or South Africa or Cuba, buildings and sites designated as 'national' and linked to their freedom struggles are preserved, restored and have pride of place as part of the history and culture of those nations.
And so it is in many other places. Not so in Dublin.
Last September a group of us, including Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and myself, visited the National Monument at 14-17 Moore St in Dublin.
If truth be told though 14-17 Moore Street looks unlike any National Monument I have ever seen. It is a short terrace of red brick buildings that have lain derelict for many years.
For me and others in the Sinn Fein group it was a political pilgrimage to the spot where the leaders of the 1916 Rising held their last meeting before the surrender to the British.
It was a beautiful autumn day. We were met by some members of the families of the leaders who were subsequently executed. They have been campaigning for many years for the Moore Street site to be preserved, protected and developed as a proper national monument.
They brought us around the streets adjacent to the GPO, recounting as we walked, the story of those seven days in April 1916 which shocked the British Empire and shook it to its foundations.
Moore Street itself is the site of a famous fresh vegetable, fish, and flower market with stall holders many of whom have been there for generations.
And while this historic site has been designated a National Monument, a developer plans to level most of it apart from some outer walls of the four buildings.
I believe that 14-17 Moore Street should be protected and incorporated into a wider revolutionary quarter that would link together all of those iconic sites we visited that day in and around the GPO. The story of 1916 is there for future generations in that quite small space. It is a story of courage and heroism and an example of the heights to which the human spirit can rise in pursuit of freedom.
1916 was the first body blow to the 'Empire on which the Sun never sets' and it began a process of rebellion and revolution which led within 50 years to the dismantling of that Empire.
The families told us how on the Friday evening of Easter week the leaders were forced from the GPO which, like most of O Connell Street was in flames and in ruin. Their objective was to make their way to the Four Courts' Garrison.
They left by a side entrance in Henry Street and under fire, and carrying their wounded, including James Connolly, they slowly made their way along Moore Lane to Moore Street.
There they tunneled from one house to the next. On Saturday morning they eventually reached number 16 Moore Street which was then a poultry shop.
It was here that Pádraig Pearse, Tom Clarke, Joseph Plunkett and Sean Mac Diramada along with James Connolly, discussed their next steps. One plan was to rush the barricade the British had on Parnell Street but Tom Clarke who went to see if this was practical returned to say it was impossible.
There was then a fierce discussion about a surrender. It was decided that this was the only course of action open to them and Elizabeth O'Farrell was charged with the dangerous task of going to the British.
She was taken from the barricade to Tom Clarke's shop in Parnell Street. The British demanded unconditional surrender.
As O'Farrell was returning to 16 Moore Street and as she passed Sackville Lane, "the first turn on the left in Moore Street going down from Parnell Street, I looked up and saw the dead body of The O'Rahilly lying about four yards up the lane - his feet against the steps of the first door on the right and his head on the curbstone."
The O Rahilly had sought to prevent the Rising. He had returned to Dublin after travelling to Kerry where he had instructed the Irish Volunteers there not to join the Rising. But when he discovered that the Rising was going ahead the O Rahilly stepped forward and famously said: "Because I helped to wind the clock I come to hear it strike."
At 2.30 pm Pearse left Moore Street and with Elizabeth O'Farrell beside him he met General Lowe. Pearse handed over his pistol and sword and ammunition. And on an old wooden bench he signed the surrender document. Elizabeth O'Farrell was then asked to take the document to the various outposts held by the republicans.
The Volunteers formed up in ranks in Moore Street and marched defiantly to the Parnell Street barricade. They were held in the grounds of the Rotunda Hospital where Tom Clarke and some others were stripped by British soldiers.
The Court Martials began on May 2nd with Padraig Pearse, Tom Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh executed the following day. The last to die in Ireland were Sean MacDiarmada and James Connolly on May 12th . Roger Casement was hanged in August.
In his poem Easter 1916 W B Yeats concluded:
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead.
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse --
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
April 10, 2011
One week later
Today thousands of people, from all walks of life came together in Omagh in an act of solidarity with the family of Ronan Kerr. They were also determined to demonstrate their opposition and defiance of those responsible for Ronan's murder last weekend and the placing of a bomb near Newry.
One week ago, last Sunday it was Mother's Day. For families in Omagh, and across Ireland and around the world it was a day when they spoiled and pampered their mothers.
But for the Kerr family Mother's Day was tragically different. Instead of celebrating together Nuala Kerr was in front of television cameras, standing with her children, Dairine, Cathair and Aaron, and speaking with love and affection about her son Ronan who had been murdered the previous day.
The shock and the tragedy and trauma were etched on their faces. Despite this Nuala Kerr spoke strongly and clearly.
Her message was simple and her assertion that we all need to stand up and be counted struck exactly the right note. It was a message of courage and of hope.
It was about people "striving for a neutral police force for the good of our country". Nuala Kerr asked "all Catholic members not to be deterred" and she said, "we all need to stand up and be counted and to strive for equality. We don't want to go back to the dark days again of fear and terror."
And she is right.
We all have to stand up and be counted for our families, four our community and for a better future.
We have to stand up for equality and a non partisan, civic policing service in the north.
And we have to confront and challenge those responsible for Ronan Kerr's murder.
On Wednesday last I travelled to Beragh to attend Ronan's funeral.
It was a terribly sad occasion but it was also very remarkable.
The imagery, even for this part of Ireland were there have been some noteworthy events, was significant. All of the leaders of the main political parties on this island – unionist and nationalist and republican – were present.
Also present where the church leaders and community leaders and ordinary citizens, many of them neighbours of the Kerr family.
But what made it stand out was the interweaving of community, of politicians, of GAA, of family, of school children, and of PSNI.
Ronan's remains were carried by his friends in Beragh's Craobh Rua GAA club; by his colleagues in the PSNI; by senior figures from the GAA, including Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and then by his family into St. Oliver Plunkett's Church.
By their presence and participation all sections of Irish society were giving expression to their abhorrence and outrage at the actions of a small number of anti-peace groups who remain trapped in the past and offer nothing for the future.
But if we are to end the pointless and futile violence of these groups we have to go beyond condemnation. Yesterday I spelt out my view of these small groups and asked the very few people who support or tolerate their actions to think again.
I am an optimist by nature. The logic of the arguments in support of the peace process and its ability to deliver an end to partition and Irish reunification are overwhelming.
Will they listen? I don't know. But we cannot acquiesce to the violence of the few. Nor can we allow a tiny minority to undermine the opportunity to advance our republican objectives.
So, Nuala Kerr is right. We all have to make a stand.
One week ago, last Sunday it was Mother's Day. For families in Omagh, and across Ireland and around the world it was a day when they spoiled and pampered their mothers.
But for the Kerr family Mother's Day was tragically different. Instead of celebrating together Nuala Kerr was in front of television cameras, standing with her children, Dairine, Cathair and Aaron, and speaking with love and affection about her son Ronan who had been murdered the previous day.
The shock and the tragedy and trauma were etched on their faces. Despite this Nuala Kerr spoke strongly and clearly.
Her message was simple and her assertion that we all need to stand up and be counted struck exactly the right note. It was a message of courage and of hope.
It was about people "striving for a neutral police force for the good of our country". Nuala Kerr asked "all Catholic members not to be deterred" and she said, "we all need to stand up and be counted and to strive for equality. We don't want to go back to the dark days again of fear and terror."
And she is right.
We all have to stand up and be counted for our families, four our community and for a better future.
We have to stand up for equality and a non partisan, civic policing service in the north.
And we have to confront and challenge those responsible for Ronan Kerr's murder.
On Wednesday last I travelled to Beragh to attend Ronan's funeral.
It was a terribly sad occasion but it was also very remarkable.
The imagery, even for this part of Ireland were there have been some noteworthy events, was significant. All of the leaders of the main political parties on this island – unionist and nationalist and republican – were present.
Also present where the church leaders and community leaders and ordinary citizens, many of them neighbours of the Kerr family.
But what made it stand out was the interweaving of community, of politicians, of GAA, of family, of school children, and of PSNI.
Ronan's remains were carried by his friends in Beragh's Craobh Rua GAA club; by his colleagues in the PSNI; by senior figures from the GAA, including Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and then by his family into St. Oliver Plunkett's Church.
By their presence and participation all sections of Irish society were giving expression to their abhorrence and outrage at the actions of a small number of anti-peace groups who remain trapped in the past and offer nothing for the future.
But if we are to end the pointless and futile violence of these groups we have to go beyond condemnation. Yesterday I spelt out my view of these small groups and asked the very few people who support or tolerate their actions to think again.
I am an optimist by nature. The logic of the arguments in support of the peace process and its ability to deliver an end to partition and Irish reunification are overwhelming.
Will they listen? I don't know. But we cannot acquiesce to the violence of the few. Nor can we allow a tiny minority to undermine the opportunity to advance our republican objectives.
So, Nuala Kerr is right. We all have to make a stand.
April 9, 2011
It's Time to Stop
Since the Omagh bomb attack on Saturday April 2nd which murdered Ronan Kerr I have met many people. Most have been former republican prisoners and their families and other activists of long standing.
These are the stalwarts who over decades of conflict lost loved ones to the British Army, RUC and collusion; were tortured, imprisoned and had their homes raided and often wrecked.
They were and are the people who have been the backbone of the republican struggle over many years. And they have suffered grievously for their stand against British injustice and partition.
And they are seething with anger at the violent actions of a small core of anti-peace groups who have killed citizens; forced the elderly from their homes; injured children; threatened community workers; orchestrated sectarian conflict at interfaces and some of whom are involved in extortion and drug related crime.
I want once more to address these groups directly. Sinn Féin has offered - through people like me and Martin McGuinness - to meet you and to outline our strategy for advancing republican and democratic objectives and our belief in the futility of armed actions.
So far you have refused to speak to us, dismissed us and placed a death threat on some of us. Despite this I make the same offer again.
I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with Sinn Féin. That is your right, but you have no right to attack anyone and there is no support for this. That is clear from the overwhelming public rejection of the attack which killed Ronan Kerr.
The people of this island demand that you stop.
I am prepared to meet you anywhere at any time to listen to what you have to say and to tell you that there is now a democratic peaceful way to unite our people and our country on the basis of equality.
Your achievement has been to unite us all in opposition to your actions. It is time to end these futile attacks on the peace process; they will not succeed.
I would also like to address the smal number of people who might have some tolerance for armed actions. To those who might shelter or provide resources and facilities to the perpetrators of these actions you need to ask yourselves what purpose is being served?
Don't be fooled into thinking that you are helping the IRA. The war is over. The IRA is gone. The IRA embraced, facilitated and supported the peace process. When a democratic and peaceful alternative to armed struggle was created the IRA left the stage.
Those who murdered Ronan Kerr are not the IRA. Those who murdered Ronan Kerr have no coherent strategy. Your actions do not advance republican objectives. In fact they advance no political agenda whatsoever.
Moreover as has happened in many other conflict resolution processes some of those who were formerly engaged in conflict turn their hand to criminality or those who are purely criminal exploit the situation for their own ends.
This is not a new phenomena nor is it uniquely Irish. However some of these people who are masquerading as activists and others who support violent anti-peace actions are heavily involved in extortion, robberies, and tiger kidnappings in republican heartlands.
Sinn Féin is totally committed to exposing this activity and to making a stand against them.
What is remarkable at this time is that no one is articulating any defence or explanation or rationale for these actions. Where are the political groups who criticise Sinn Féin and vent their anger at our strategy.
Some of these groups, or individuals associated with them - a small number - are standing in local government elections in the north. They should be challenged on these issues.
Irish republicanism was always about more than militarism.
You claim to be republican but your actions are anti-republican and against peace.
You are unrepresentative of the community and do not define republicanism.
You are not dissidents; dissent is a good and necessary part of any democratic or social movement.
Through a long and hard process of negotiation, effort and hard work, Sinn Féin developed a peace strategy and with others created a peace process that has brought about fundamental and positive change.
Significant progress has been made, although this is a continuing struggle. One example of this is the fact that in four weeks there will be an election to the power sharing Assembly and Executive at the end of a successful four year term.
Who could have imagined 20 years ago that Martin McGuinness would be in government with Ian Paisley or Peter Robinson, and that there would be a power sharing system involving Sinn Féin, the DUP and other parties?
Who could have imagined the all-Ireland institutions that are working and delivering for citizens and each day making the border more and more irrelevant?
Who could have imagined that Irish republicanism would be in the vanguard of change. The largest party in the north, with Ministers in an Executive and 14 newly elected TDs in the Dáil?
Almost 400,000 citizens have voted for Sinn Féin in the last 12 months. More than vote for Fianna Fáil.
This is evidence of the growth and strength of real republican politics.
This is progress and it should be developed.
The Good Friday Agreement provides a peaceful and democratic means to achieve republican objectives for those who have such goals. In referenda and in every subsequent election the people of this island have voted for this and subsequent agreements.
There is a huge onus on mainstream political parties, civic, church, leaders to go beyond the politics of condemnation. The Irish government in particular, along with the Executive have a solemn responsibility to fully implement all aspects of the Good Friday and subsequent agreement.
The Irish government in particular has a responsibility as a co-equal partner with the British government, to ensure that London fulfils all of its responsibilities. This will require a step change in Dublin's approach to these matters.
It also of huge importance that the response to the actions of these anti-peace process groups is entirely within the law and human rights compliant.
There is no excuse, justification or explanation that can validate the murder of Ronan Kerr or any of the other actions of those involved in his killing.
Our goal in the time ahead must be to defend the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement.
In summary Sinn Féin believes that the conditions which in the past led to republican armed actions have fundamentally changed.
Political conditions have changed. New opportunities now exist to advance republican goals.
I am and others in the Sinn Féin leadership are willing to discuss all of this with any prepared to speak to us.
These are the stalwarts who over decades of conflict lost loved ones to the British Army, RUC and collusion; were tortured, imprisoned and had their homes raided and often wrecked.
They were and are the people who have been the backbone of the republican struggle over many years. And they have suffered grievously for their stand against British injustice and partition.
And they are seething with anger at the violent actions of a small core of anti-peace groups who have killed citizens; forced the elderly from their homes; injured children; threatened community workers; orchestrated sectarian conflict at interfaces and some of whom are involved in extortion and drug related crime.
I want once more to address these groups directly. Sinn Féin has offered - through people like me and Martin McGuinness - to meet you and to outline our strategy for advancing republican and democratic objectives and our belief in the futility of armed actions.
So far you have refused to speak to us, dismissed us and placed a death threat on some of us. Despite this I make the same offer again.
I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with Sinn Féin. That is your right, but you have no right to attack anyone and there is no support for this. That is clear from the overwhelming public rejection of the attack which killed Ronan Kerr.
The people of this island demand that you stop.
I am prepared to meet you anywhere at any time to listen to what you have to say and to tell you that there is now a democratic peaceful way to unite our people and our country on the basis of equality.
Your achievement has been to unite us all in opposition to your actions. It is time to end these futile attacks on the peace process; they will not succeed.
I would also like to address the smal number of people who might have some tolerance for armed actions. To those who might shelter or provide resources and facilities to the perpetrators of these actions you need to ask yourselves what purpose is being served?
Don't be fooled into thinking that you are helping the IRA. The war is over. The IRA is gone. The IRA embraced, facilitated and supported the peace process. When a democratic and peaceful alternative to armed struggle was created the IRA left the stage.
Those who murdered Ronan Kerr are not the IRA. Those who murdered Ronan Kerr have no coherent strategy. Your actions do not advance republican objectives. In fact they advance no political agenda whatsoever.
Moreover as has happened in many other conflict resolution processes some of those who were formerly engaged in conflict turn their hand to criminality or those who are purely criminal exploit the situation for their own ends.
This is not a new phenomena nor is it uniquely Irish. However some of these people who are masquerading as activists and others who support violent anti-peace actions are heavily involved in extortion, robberies, and tiger kidnappings in republican heartlands.
Sinn Féin is totally committed to exposing this activity and to making a stand against them.
What is remarkable at this time is that no one is articulating any defence or explanation or rationale for these actions. Where are the political groups who criticise Sinn Féin and vent their anger at our strategy.
Some of these groups, or individuals associated with them - a small number - are standing in local government elections in the north. They should be challenged on these issues.
Irish republicanism was always about more than militarism.
You claim to be republican but your actions are anti-republican and against peace.
You are unrepresentative of the community and do not define republicanism.
You are not dissidents; dissent is a good and necessary part of any democratic or social movement.
Through a long and hard process of negotiation, effort and hard work, Sinn Féin developed a peace strategy and with others created a peace process that has brought about fundamental and positive change.
Significant progress has been made, although this is a continuing struggle. One example of this is the fact that in four weeks there will be an election to the power sharing Assembly and Executive at the end of a successful four year term.
Who could have imagined 20 years ago that Martin McGuinness would be in government with Ian Paisley or Peter Robinson, and that there would be a power sharing system involving Sinn Féin, the DUP and other parties?
Who could have imagined the all-Ireland institutions that are working and delivering for citizens and each day making the border more and more irrelevant?
Who could have imagined that Irish republicanism would be in the vanguard of change. The largest party in the north, with Ministers in an Executive and 14 newly elected TDs in the Dáil?
Almost 400,000 citizens have voted for Sinn Féin in the last 12 months. More than vote for Fianna Fáil.
This is evidence of the growth and strength of real republican politics.
This is progress and it should be developed.
The Good Friday Agreement provides a peaceful and democratic means to achieve republican objectives for those who have such goals. In referenda and in every subsequent election the people of this island have voted for this and subsequent agreements.
There is a huge onus on mainstream political parties, civic, church, leaders to go beyond the politics of condemnation. The Irish government in particular, along with the Executive have a solemn responsibility to fully implement all aspects of the Good Friday and subsequent agreement.
The Irish government in particular has a responsibility as a co-equal partner with the British government, to ensure that London fulfils all of its responsibilities. This will require a step change in Dublin's approach to these matters.
It also of huge importance that the response to the actions of these anti-peace process groups is entirely within the law and human rights compliant.
There is no excuse, justification or explanation that can validate the murder of Ronan Kerr or any of the other actions of those involved in his killing.
Our goal in the time ahead must be to defend the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement.
In summary Sinn Féin believes that the conditions which in the past led to republican armed actions have fundamentally changed.
Political conditions have changed. New opportunities now exist to advance republican goals.
I am and others in the Sinn Féin leadership are willing to discuss all of this with any prepared to speak to us.
April 5, 2011
Leinster House Lock-in
Leinster House
My editor has determined that as I have now relocated – at least in terms of constituencies and Parliaments – that I should be charged with keeping Andytown News readers appraised of political and other developments in this part of our country.
So, let me begin at the beginning and introduce you to my new Parliamentary home – Leinster House.
As someone who has spent many years visiting various big houses during the negotiations around the peace process, it is obvious that the British aristocracy like their big houses. So too with some wannabe aristocrats from this island.
Of course, these big houses were not confined to Britain. Some were built in Ireland, usually by absentee landlords who liked to occasionally visit their holdings in England's first colony.
Leinster House, which is the home of the Houses of the Oireachtas, is an example of one of these.
I have been in Leinster House on many occasions over the years. Those visits were short affairs and usually for meetings with the Sinn Féin group. Occasionally we held publicity events, mainly connected to elections, outside the front gate.
They have a rule in this place that only TDs can meet the press on the plinth – the little raised area – at the front of the main entrance. Although I breached that protocol the odd time most media events involving me were relegated to outside the front gate or across the street in Buswell's Hotel. That is until I was elected as a TD for Louth and East Meath. Now I can cavort on the plinth to my heart's content. Which doesn't mean the media will pay us much heed. But that's another story.
There was also a time when Sinn Féin representatives were banned from here.
Councillors John Joe McGirl and Eddie Fullerton were among the most famous of these.
But that's another story also.
Eddie Fullerton and John Joe McGirl each outside Leinster House after they were refused entry despite being elected Councillors and being there on Council business.
Anyway like many a first time TD, I arrived in Leinster House in early March as 'Deputy Adams' – a title I am bemused by. I keep thinking of that cowboy suit I got for Christmas when I was wee and the sheriffs badge that accompanied it. Or I think of Martin McGuiness who persists on calling me his deputy. He is trying to get his own back on Ian Paisley.
Leinster House is a Georgian mansion – a 'ducal palace' whatever that is. It was built by James Fitzgerald, the Earl of Kildare, between 1745 and 1747. With great originality he named it after himself. Kildare House.
And when he became the Duke of Leinster in 1776 he imaginatively renamed it again - after himself. Leinster House.
It is claimed that the design of the building influenced James Hoban who designed the White House in Washington. And one famous, occasional resident, Lord Edward Fitzgerald was a leading figure in the United Ireland movement in the 1790's and was subsequently killed during the 1798 rebellion.
Today it is difficult to walk through the place without some portrait or sculpture or other piece of memorabilia reminding you of the colonial occupation of Ireland by Britain, and of Ireland's long struggle for freedom.
When you enter through the main door into the large lobby large portraits of Michael Collins and Austin Stack look down – some might say appropriately - from opposite sides of the room. Across the lobby is a framed copy of the 1916 Proclamation. And along a corridor toward the stairs leading to the Dáil chamber is a striking portrait of an earlier Sinn Fein TD Austin Stack.
Cathal Brugha
At the bottom of the same stairs is a framed photograph of the First Dáil which met in the Mansion House on January 21st 1919.
The chamber has busts of the 1916 leaders and other national figures. Most of the ushers have Irish and they converse easily in the first language with the likes of me and other Gaels.
Padraig Pearse and James Connolly
The pond out the back of the building (or is it the front?) has a resident flock of wild ducks. Last week as I left here very late – about 10.30 – I spied a fox sauntering across the car park. Even though we are in the city centre with lots of traffic and people about the place he slipped through the railing and dandered across the main road into Merrion Park.
At least one fox from here who escaped the tribunals.
Incidentally on our first night here me and your man were almost locked in. Many new TDs have yet to get offices or Personal Assistants or Political Advisers. That's down to the huge turnover as the people had their say at the ballot box.
Anyway me and your man were working away in some one else's office and when we came out the place was in darkness. Lucky enough we caught the security guy just as he locked the last door.
But our car was locked in.
Ah well that's life. By the way they call this institution Dáil Éireann. Our Sinn Féin team are forever telling them that that's work in progress.
And good work it is too.
The 1916 Proclamation
April 2, 2011
LOOKING BACKWARDS
'My belly thinks my throat's cut,' your man gasped.
His face was red and he was breathing in short sharp gulps, sucking in the air like his life depended on it, which of course it did but usually without the dramatics of this particular moment. We were on the Mountain Loney, towards the top, at the very steep turn on the road. The two of us stopped to take in the view behind us and to catch our breath.
'Do you remember the wee tin church that used to be down there where the houses are now?'
'Indeed and I do' I said ' it was a wee Protestant church'.
'Same style as the old Saint Mathais' one' he continued ' they were flat pack churches. Made for the missions. They transported them off to Africa and put them together like an Ikea pack.'
St.Mathais Church on a winters days.
He was breathing more evenly now.
'I never tuk any breakfast' he mused. 'I'm famished now'.
'You shud always have breakfast' I chided him.
He ignored me and whistled to Snowie. Snowie ignored him. That gave me some satisfaction.
'Do you remember the flax ponds over there' he asked, pointing down to the back of New Barnsley where three ponies were grazing.
'There were two dams and an old mill' I said.
'Joe Magee slipped in one day and we rescued him' your man recalled.
'We were always rescuing Joe'.
'Let's go on' he suggested.
The black railings of the reservoir loomed beside us as we reached the top of the Loney.
'We can't get through here' your man observed. 'unless we cut into the field here'.
So we did.
'Do you remember there used to be a fresh mountain stream over there?' your man reflected.
'A mountain spring' I recollected ' we called it the waterfall'.
'Things always luk big when you're wee.' He said.
We struggled up from the field on to the mountain path and paused before setting off on the upper one.
'We used to call this the forest but sure it's only a wee small stand of trees'.
'And the cave? We cudn't fit into it now'.
Snowie darted ahead of us.
'Remember our Paddy fell here and got stung with the jaggy nettles?'
'Yeah he cried his eyes out that day. Your Paddy cried a lot in them days'.
'Not as much as Joe Magee' I reminded him.
'This path used to be wide enough for a horse and a cart' your man paused again.
We looked backwards over Belfast. The Lough stretched beyond the cityscape towards the distant but clearly visible hills of Scotland. To our right the waters of Strangford glistened and further to the south east the Mournes slipped down to the sea.
'There's our house' your man pointed down to the Murph.
'There's a hurling match on at Saint Galls' I said.
'I suppose you can see who is winning' he griped 'Let's stop at the Hatchet Field.
This is tougher than I thought. I don't know why I let you talk me into these things?'
He looked pained. I was perspiring freely but your man's face was beetroot red and he was breathing heavily again.
'When 's the last time you came up here?' he gasped.
'Last month during the snow' I replied. ' This is the hardest bit. From the Hatchet Field to the Gully is easy peasy.
'We shud have come the other way' he grumped. 'Across from the UTV aerial. I haven't been up this way since the sixties!'
'That's a long time' I agreed. 'Over half a century! Remember the time we nearly stepped on the big hare? Remember it leaped up out of the bracken from beneath our feet?'
'Aye' Your man exclaimed. 'I do remember that.'
We flopped down beneath the big sycamores on the edge of the Hatchet Field.
'The hare must have been sleeping and we came up wind of it. It tuk off like a lilty and us all charging after it guldering like eejits. That was just over there. Our Rory nivver came back for hours'.
Your man's face softened at the memory. The two of us were wee boys again.
'Rory was a great dog' he recalled.
'Yeah' I agreed ' I cried for a week when he disappeared on us a few years after he nearly caught that big hare.'
'He nivver nearly caught the hare' your man laughed ' you're such a spoof.'
He chuckled to himself.
'Somethings nivver change'.
I paid him no heed. We sat together in contemplative silence. Snowie stretched out beside me. I scratched him behind the ears. Your man didn't know what he was talking about. And that hare didn't know how lucky he was. If Joe Magee hadn't tripped over our Rory that wee dog would have caught the hare as easy as anything. There was no doubt about that. Though looking back I didn't want the hare to be caught. The chase was good enough.
'I'm glad the winters over' your man smiled. 'and I'm glad we came up here'.
'So am I' I smiled back at him. 'It's good for the soul.'
His face was red and he was breathing in short sharp gulps, sucking in the air like his life depended on it, which of course it did but usually without the dramatics of this particular moment. We were on the Mountain Loney, towards the top, at the very steep turn on the road. The two of us stopped to take in the view behind us and to catch our breath.
'Do you remember the wee tin church that used to be down there where the houses are now?'
'Indeed and I do' I said ' it was a wee Protestant church'.
'Same style as the old Saint Mathais' one' he continued ' they were flat pack churches. Made for the missions. They transported them off to Africa and put them together like an Ikea pack.'
St.Mathais Church on a winters days.
He was breathing more evenly now.
'I never tuk any breakfast' he mused. 'I'm famished now'.
'You shud always have breakfast' I chided him.
He ignored me and whistled to Snowie. Snowie ignored him. That gave me some satisfaction.
'Do you remember the flax ponds over there' he asked, pointing down to the back of New Barnsley where three ponies were grazing.
'There were two dams and an old mill' I said.
'Joe Magee slipped in one day and we rescued him' your man recalled.
'We were always rescuing Joe'.
'Let's go on' he suggested.
The black railings of the reservoir loomed beside us as we reached the top of the Loney.
'We can't get through here' your man observed. 'unless we cut into the field here'.
So we did.
'Do you remember there used to be a fresh mountain stream over there?' your man reflected.
'A mountain spring' I recollected ' we called it the waterfall'.
'Things always luk big when you're wee.' He said.
We struggled up from the field on to the mountain path and paused before setting off on the upper one.
'We used to call this the forest but sure it's only a wee small stand of trees'.
'And the cave? We cudn't fit into it now'.
Snowie darted ahead of us.
'Remember our Paddy fell here and got stung with the jaggy nettles?'
'Yeah he cried his eyes out that day. Your Paddy cried a lot in them days'.
'Not as much as Joe Magee' I reminded him.
'This path used to be wide enough for a horse and a cart' your man paused again.
We looked backwards over Belfast. The Lough stretched beyond the cityscape towards the distant but clearly visible hills of Scotland. To our right the waters of Strangford glistened and further to the south east the Mournes slipped down to the sea.
'There's our house' your man pointed down to the Murph.
'There's a hurling match on at Saint Galls' I said.
'I suppose you can see who is winning' he griped 'Let's stop at the Hatchet Field.
This is tougher than I thought. I don't know why I let you talk me into these things?'
He looked pained. I was perspiring freely but your man's face was beetroot red and he was breathing heavily again.
'When 's the last time you came up here?' he gasped.
'Last month during the snow' I replied. ' This is the hardest bit. From the Hatchet Field to the Gully is easy peasy.
'We shud have come the other way' he grumped. 'Across from the UTV aerial. I haven't been up this way since the sixties!'
'That's a long time' I agreed. 'Over half a century! Remember the time we nearly stepped on the big hare? Remember it leaped up out of the bracken from beneath our feet?'
'Aye' Your man exclaimed. 'I do remember that.'
We flopped down beneath the big sycamores on the edge of the Hatchet Field.
'The hare must have been sleeping and we came up wind of it. It tuk off like a lilty and us all charging after it guldering like eejits. That was just over there. Our Rory nivver came back for hours'.
Your man's face softened at the memory. The two of us were wee boys again.
'Rory was a great dog' he recalled.
'Yeah' I agreed ' I cried for a week when he disappeared on us a few years after he nearly caught that big hare.'
'He nivver nearly caught the hare' your man laughed ' you're such a spoof.'
He chuckled to himself.
'Somethings nivver change'.
I paid him no heed. We sat together in contemplative silence. Snowie stretched out beside me. I scratched him behind the ears. Your man didn't know what he was talking about. And that hare didn't know how lucky he was. If Joe Magee hadn't tripped over our Rory that wee dog would have caught the hare as easy as anything. There was no doubt about that. Though looking back I didn't want the hare to be caught. The chase was good enough.
'I'm glad the winters over' your man smiled. 'and I'm glad we came up here'.
'So am I' I smiled back at him. 'It's good for the soul.'
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