Irish Republican Info Svc 227 12/20/97 =========== Posted to multiple newsgroups and lists =========== ===== Redistribute *only* with full header and signature! ===== Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 227) Teach Daithi O Conaill 223 Parnell Street Dublin 1, Ireland Phone: +353-1-872-9747; FAX: +353-1-872-9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie December 20, 1997 Republican Sinn Fiin homepage: http://indigo.ie/~saoirse SAOIRSE homepage: http://iol.ie/~saoirse Release Josephine Hayden: http://iol.ie/~saoirse/hayden 1798 Ireland: http://iol.ie/~fagann/1798/ Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE - Irish Freedom: http://iol.ie/~saoirse/rsflinks.htm In this issue: 1. British troops on streets of Derry faced angry nationalists 2. Minister refuses to inspect appalling conditions at prison 3. LVF linked to killing of Gerry Devlin 4. Assist H-Block escapee -- Republican Sinn Fein 5. Assault by RUC 'almost took my life' 6. Appeal fund for private prosecution of Hamill killers 7. Seagate: radical new departure needed 1. BRITISH TROOPS ON STREETS OF DERRY FACED ANGRY NATIONALISTS INTENSE rioting broke out in Derry city on Saturday, December 13 as angry nationalist youths protested at the British Crown Forces' "ring of steel" around the city centre to force through the loyalist Apprentice Boys parade. The attacks on the RUC were so severe over a 14-hour period that the British army had to be brought back on to the streets. Before the Apprentice Boys parade the British colonial police had batoned and set dogs on a crowd of nationalists who were trying to reach the city centre through the Richmond shopping centre. Over a dozen vehicles were hijacked in the conflict which began in the afternoon after the 3,000 Apprentice Boys had been shepherded by armoured RUC Land Rovers around the central Diamond. The youth of Derry launched an estimated 1,000 petrol bombs at the British Crown Forces, who themselves admitted firing 170 plastic bullets. Department stores were burned down during the rioting and an attempt was made to burn down two blocks. Five million pounds worth of damage was caused. The British Crown Forces blamed a "small, extreme group" for organising the attacks on them. Among the injured, some of whom were ferried across the Border into hospital in Donegal, was an 11-year-old boy who suffered serious head injuries. He was said to be in a "stable condition" in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Most of the rioters were young and they were obviously mindful of the previous Apprentice Boy marches in the city when members of the pro-British death squads openly paraded behind their banner without any interference by the British Crown Forces. Republican Sinn Fein in Derry issued a statement before the December 13 parade denying the "right" of the Apprentice Boys to tyrannise our citizenry, Protestant, Catholic or Dissenter." The local Sean Keenan/Tommy Toner Cumann of Republican Sinn Fein reminded people that even to cross the street during the Apprentice Boys parade resulted in assault "often by sword-wielding stewards while the equally sectarian RUC stood idly by." Chants of "U-U-UVF" were shouted by the Apprentice Boys marchers this year and scuffles broke out among those taking part as one band played music on the Diamond against the wishes of the organisers. The annual march commemorates 'Lundy Day' in which the effigy of Colonel Robert Lundy, who supported Catholic King James during the siege of Derry in 1688-1689 and was overthrown as commander of the British garrison, is burned in public. 'Lundy' is still used by loyalists to describe any Protestant who commits treachery to the loyalist cause. Business people with ties to the SDLP and the Provisional such as Garbhan O'Doherty, who owns many pubs and a hotel in Derry, condemned the rioting, stating that "nobody has the right to riot". The SDLP mayor, Martin Bradley, refused to blame the RUC for closing off the city centre and provoking the rioting while the Provisionals Gearoid O hEara said he "could not condone the destruction of property". The night before the Apprentice Boys parade in Derry, three men armed with clubs and an iron bar attacked a Catholic church outside the city. St Mary's Oratory in the predominantly loyalist village of Newbildings suffered damage to windows, statues and confessional boxes. The local priest, Fr Aidan Mullen, was preparing for 7.30pm Mass when the three men rushed in wearing ski masks. He told the 'Irish News' it was the latest in a series of attacks on the church. A month previously, windows weresmashed during Mass. 2. MINISTER REFUSES TO INSPECT APPALLING CONDITIONS AT PRISON THE Dublin minister for Justice has been criticised for refusing to visit the woman's section of Limerick prison when he was there to open a new #3 million wing on December 8. Joe Lynch, spokesman for Republican Sinn Fein in Limerick said that by declining to inspect the appalling conditions in which women are held the minister, John O'Donoghue, tried to ignore the problem. "It is fine for the minister to open a new wing but the reality of life in Limerick prison is that women are enduring some of the most disgraceful conditions in Europe," he said. "The minister has been asked to inspect the women's unit by the jail's only political prisoner, Josephine Hayden, of Cumann na mBan but he declined. Even prison officials now admit that the women's unit is totally inadequate but no remedial action has been taken. "Instead of engaging in public relations gestures, the minister would be better informed to see at first hand the appalling conditions in which women are being held in Limerick prison." 3. LVF LINKED TO KILLING OF GERRY DEVLIN THE Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) has been linked to the sectarian assassination of GAA club official and father-of-two Gerry Devlin outside Belfast on December 5. Forensic and ballistic tests showed that the gun used by Gerry Devlin's killer was previously used in attacks claimed by the LVF, it was reported on December 15. After the gunning down of the St Enda's GAA senior team manager at the club premises at Glengormley, north of Belfast, the DUP tried to blame the UDA/UFF and UVF death-squads in order to get their political representatives in the PUP and UDP expelled from the talks about a New Stormont. The LVF are now responsible for five murders of innocent nationalists since they first emerged in 1996, two of them teenagers, one an 18-year-old girl shot dead in bed. Michael McGoldrick was their first victim, a taxi-driver lured to his death during the Drumcree crisis in July 1996. In 1997 they abducted, tortured and shot dead Bellaghy, Co Derry GAA official Sean Brown in May. In July Bernadette Martin (18), was shot dead as she slept beside her Protestant boyfriend in the Co Antrimvillage of Aghalee. Later the same month 16-year-old James Morgan from Castlewellan, Co Down was abducted while hitch-hiking on July 27. It was reported by the 'Irish News' (December 16) that "he had been tortured and beaten to death and a loyalist slogan was reportedly carved into his body while he was still alive." His mutilated body was burned and later found dumped in a pit filled with the carcasses of dead farm animals. The LVF have never claimed responsibility for any of the killings. 4. ASSIST H-BLOCK ESCAPEE -- REPUBLICAN SINN FEIN REPUBLICAN Sinn Fein extended congratulations on December 12 to Liam Averill on his escape from the H-Blocks of Long Kesh prison two days earlier. "His action epitomises the resistance of the Irish people to British aggression down the years. The example he has given would appear to indicate the only way political prisoners will be released under the current process. We call on all Republicans to assist him at this time in every way possible," the statement ended. A native of South Derry, Liam Averell was serving two life sentences for the killing of two loyalists in Garvagh, Co Derry in April 1994. He is believed to have escaped after dressing up as a woman and leaving the H-Blocks after a Christmas party for the partners and children of Republican prisoners on December 10. The first successful escape from the notorious H-Blocks since the mass breakout of 1983 when 38 Republicans escaped (19 of whom were recaptured almost immediately), the embarrassment for the British has been enormous. There were reports also that the escape was not detected for several hours afterwards until the Provisional OC in the H-Block requested a head-count from the British prison warders. By that time he was supposed to be across the Border into the 26 Counties. The escaper's mother, Marie Averell, told the 'Irish News' (December 12) that contrary to media reports there was nothing incriminating in the car that her son was stopped in on the night of his arrest linking him to the 1994 killings of former British soldier Alan Smyth and John McCloy. The British claimed forensic evidence in another, partially burnt-out car, used in the killings incriminated Averell. "He has always maintained his innocence and his case was going to the European courts," Marie Averell said. She also said she was upset at the branding of her son as a "killer on the loose" and that under a normal legal system he would be a free man. "It makes me sick. I don't mind the truth being told, but I hate lies being told. And as for that photograph they are using of him, that was after he had been two or three days in Castlereagh. I feel like sending in one of him," she said. 5. ASSAULT BY RUC 'ALMOST TOOK MY LIFE' DAVID Adams from Belfast, who is a cousin of the Provisionals' political leader Gerry Adams, told a court on December 15 that a brutal attack by the British colonial police (RUC) in February 1994 "almost took his life". Adams told the high court in Belfast that he and two other men were arrested in Belfast. When he was arrested an RUC member "grabbed me by the head and pounded my face on the ground numerous times. I felt my teeth chipping and kept twisting my head at the last moment to save them from being smashed. "My nose was busted and there was blood coming through into my mouth. I raised my head to stop myself choking and an officer shouted to keep my head on the ground and punched me. . . An officer arrived and said: 'He's choking on his own blood, he's had enough' . . . The other police were shouting 'Fenian bastard' and 'the only good Fenian's a dead one." David Adams' injuries included a broken leg, two fractured ribs, a punctured lung and multiple cuts and bruises to his head, chest and other parts of his body. He is claiming exemplary damages for the injuries. 6. APPEAL FUND FOR PRIVATE PROSECUTION OF HAMILL KILLERS THE family of Robert Hamill, the nationalist who died after being beaten by loyalists in Portadown last April, launched an appeal for funds to finance a private prosecution of his killers and the British colonial police (RUC) on December 15. At a press conference in Belfast, Diane Hamill, Robert's sister, announced the family's intention of pursuing a private prosecution against members of the 30-dtrong gang of loyalists who beat Robert and the RUC members who stood by and watched as this happened. Diane Hamill said: "We have called on all influential groups and politicians to publicly support our requests which are, firstly, the immediate suspension of the RUC officers who could have intervened to save Robert and we want from the British government a judicially-led independent inquiry free from RUC interference into what happened on April 27 and their subsequent attempts at a botched investigation." The 'Robert Hamill Justice Fund' account is held at the Northern Bank of Portadown, account no, 7122 5634, Sort Code 0411. Also at the press conference, Craigavon councillor Breandan Mac Cionnaith revealed that another nationalist had been attacked in Portadown town centre and required nine stitches for a had wound. "Nothing has changed since Robert Hamill's death. This Catholic man was attacked just yards from the spot where Robert was beaten," Mac Cionnaith said. Campaign for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) spokesperson Paul Mageean asked: "Why did the police in this Land Rover allow a crowd of up to 30 people to gather at what was known to be a sectarian flashpoint? When the incident occurred, why did they not intervene to save Robert or save his companions?" Paul Mageean continued: "And perhaps most fundamentally, why did they issue six contradictory press releases, some of which seem to suggest that the police did intervene but were not able to save him while others did not mention whether they intervened or not. There definitely seemed to be some sort of suggestion of a sectarian fight -- then it emerged just before Robert's death that police were accepting he and three companions were attacked as they returned from a night out. 7. SEAGATE: RADICAL NEW DEPARTURE NEEDED IN A statement on December 16 Ruairm S Bradaigh, President, Republican Sinn Fiin, said that the loss of 1,400 jobs at SEAGATE in Clonmel shows yet again the folly of an industrial policy which relies so heavily on multinational companies. The jobs have now been exported just as have the profits over so many years. The additional loss, due to the spin-off effect on employment, will be many times greater than that at SEAGATE itself. This follows the 1991 DIGITAL closure in Clonmel with the loss of 350 jobs. He went on: "All down through the years Sinn Fiin has advocated an indigenous industrial base. The Telesis Report of more than a decade ago and, more recently, the Culliton Report warned of the danger of over-reliance on multinationals, yet nothing was done. "A radical new departure such as that advocated by Sinn Fiin Poblachtach in SAOL NUA: A New Way of Life, was never more necessary. The system of capitalist colonialism operated here even after 1921 is now demonstrably in ruins. "The aim must be to resist rampant consumerism, make every Province, Region and District as self-supporting as possible. Transnational capital is a denial of true democracy. The real and sane alternative lies in small enterprises, worker/producer owned co-operatives and regional development. "The series of meetings so successfully organised by the Bishops in the Developing the West Together initiative several years ago clearly identified much of what is necessary, including strong regional government. They were not listened to by the Dublin administration." -end- Please circulate the information in IRIS and credit us if reprinting. We welcome your comments and ideas. 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