Irish Republican Info Svc #211 8/26/97 id RAA13949; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 17:09:36 -0400 =========== 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. 211) 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 August 26, 1997 Republican Sinn Fein: http://iol.ie/~saoirse/rsf SAOIRSE Online: http://iol.ie/~saoirse Release Josephine Hayden: http://iol.ie/~saoirse/hayden 1798 Ireland: http://iol.ie/~fagann/1798/ In this issue: 1. Hong Kong solution, not a status quo solution 2. Provos' call for new police force 3. Raids and disruption North and South 4. Twelve-year-old charged by British colonial police 5. UVF poster at Harland and Wolff 6. Loyalist wants out of Stormont talks 7. Oral hearing for Provisionals Westminster bid 8. Further evidence helps Colin Duffy 9. IRSP,Provisionals reach agreement 10. British jail conditions reduced 11. Hoax letter bomb sent to DUP leader 12. Whitehall residents protest at Black parade 13. No Irish need apply at Queens 14. Tensions in UUP leadership as talks aproach 15. Thorp nuclear menace gets full go-ahead 1. HONG KONG SOLUTION, NOT A STATUS QUO SOLUTION IN HIS address to the Glencree Summer School in County Wicklow on Sunday, August 24, 1997 Ruairi Og O Bradaigh, Publicity Officer, Republican Sinn Fein, said: "British interference in Ireland remains the root cause of conflict in this country. Republican Sinn Fein's political objective is to secure a public signal from the British Government that they are leaving their first colony just as they left Hong Kong two months ago: in a planned and orderly manner. Only then can a real process of negotiations and reconciliation on this island commence. As the 1916 leader James Connolly said: "Before you bind the wound you must first withdraw the foreign body". "Republican Sinn Fein is committed to acceptance of the democratic will of the Irish people, acting as a unit, when the British government finally leaves our country. We do not seek an extension of Dublin rule over the Six Counties in a unitary 32-County State. In our EIRE NUA policy we promote a completely New Ireland, a four-province federation with maximum devolution of power to the base which would safeguard minorities and majorities alike. No section of the Irish people could dominate any other section in a situation of maximum local power. "The present South African Government Minister and friend of Ireland, Kadar Asmal, has said ('Irish Times', December 9, 1994) that a settlement could not have been achieved in South Africa without the incorporation in the constitution of limits to majority rule. The same applies to an Ireland free of British rule and such limits are incorporated in our devolution proposals in a new constitution for a federation of a nine-county Ulster with the other historic provinces of Connacht, Munster and Leinster. "Republican Sinn Fein's opposition to the current process stems from its failure to address the root cause of conflict in Ireland, ie continuing British interference in our country. Instead the current process has as its basis the artificial and undemocratic Unionist veto which means that 18% of the people of Ireland can determine the future for the other 82%. "This means that only a status quo solution can emerge from the current talks, most likely along the lines of a new Stormont and a renamed Six-County police force with nationalist involvement (see 'Provos call for new police force' below) In the 'triple lock' outlined by John Major any agreement emerging from the talks which are scheduled to begin on September 15 next must be approved by (1) 75% of those involved in the talks; (2) a majority of the people of the Six Counties; and (3) a majority in the British parliament at Westminster. British control remains, therefore, regardless of what the people of Ireland want. "The Provisionals have turned off their active struggle for a conference table which only permits an internal settlement in the Six Counties. By agreeing beforehand to accept the outcome of these triple-locked talks they have therefore accepted the Unionist veto, joining the other constitutional nationalist parties, north and south, in doing so. In this context nationally-minded people should watch what talks participants do, rather than what they say, over the coming weeks and months." 2. PROVOS' CALL FOR NEW POLICE FORCE AT A press conference on Thursday, August 21, Dodie McGuinness outlined the Provisionals' demand for the disbandment of the RUC. The Provisionals have been calling for the RUC's disbandment for some time now. What is to replace this colonial police force? Nature abhors a vacuum. The very erudite Belfast conference provided the answer: A new colonial police force with nationalist members. "Any new police service should reflect in numbers per 1,000 population the same ratio as that in other, normal-policed societies. It should also have to be reflective of the religious and political make-up of the community which it will serve," McGuinness said. Dodie also went on to say present RUC members should not be prevented from joining any new force. And you were wondering what the Provisionals were going to do with their military organisation, now that they have embarked upon a "permanent unequivocal ceasefire"? Why, bring them into the new reformed police service of course! In the 'Sunday Tribune' of April 30, 1995, Gerry Adams is quoted as saying: "I could see former IRA activists, RUC activists being involved and those who had no such background"" Now you know what "parity of esteem" is all about  equal status for all in the Six-County British colony even to the extent of policing that colony at the behest of their British masters. Republican Sinn Fein has frequently warned Irish people that the Provos' military organisation are mutating into an establishment police force  policing areas of the Six Counties under their control. Somebody has got to patrol and guard the "Peace Process". The Provisionals have been active in preventing nationalist youths from attacking Crown Forces and Orange bigots who enter their neighbourhoods as they have abducted and interrogated true Republicans who refuse to fall into line with their treachery. The message is renegotiate the Union with Britain, parity of esteem and stability within the British colony. "We who come from this community know it is a peaceful community, a law-abiding community," said the Provisional leader ('Irish News, February 10, 1997). Do you need to ask, whose law? 3. RAIDS AND DISRUPTION NORTH AND SOUTH BRITISH government forces and those of the 26-County State are acting to harass and disrupt Republican Sinn Fein especially in Fermanagh and in the Dublin area. Last week two Co Fermanagh members were arrested in early morning raids, taken to Gough Barracks, Armagh, interrogated and released without charge 36 hours later. Another two Fermanagh Republicans who were arrested at their homes by the British Crown Forces early on August 20 were released after 36 hours from Gough Interrogation Barracks in Armagh city the following evening. The two Republicans were abducted by armed RUC members who forced entry to their homes. Both houses were ransacked by the raiders who seized nothing. A spokesperson for Fermanagh Comhairle Ceantair, Republican Sinn Fein, said on August 22 that the latest harassment followed the exact same pattern as the detention and release without charge of two Fermanagh Republican Sinn Fein members the previous week. "It is clearly part of a two-pronged strategy by the British Crown Forces; firstly, this is an intelligence-gathering exercise to try to gauge Republican Sinn Fein strength in the county. Secondly, it was an attempt to intimidate Republican Sinn Fein and its supporters because our organisation does not support the current limited process for a temporary peace in our country. "We will continue to campaign politically for a public British government declaration of its intent to leave Ireland," the spokesperson said. The same pattern of early morning raids, minute searches of homes for over two hours in each case obtained in Dublin. General Secretary Cathleen Knowles had two family members who were the only other occupants of the house forced from their beds at 7.30am even though one had just been released from hospital following an extremely serious operation. In her case, documents relating to the Daithi O Conaill Memorial Fund and to the acquiring of our present Ard-Oifig were seized. In the case of Peig King (Acting General Secretary) all the account books of CABHAIR, the Prisoners' Dependants Fund, papers relating to the Josephine Hayden Release Campaign and several cheque books were taken. A diary was seized when the home of John O'Connor, National Treasurer was raided and in the case of Sean O Se, Ard-Chomhairle member, the script of an address he gave last Easter was taken. In the case of two Dublin members (names available) who were arrested, they were taken to Malahide police station and slapped around. They were not interrogated and were released without charge after being held overnight. The concerted drive against Republican Sinn Fein constitutes a physical punishment because the organisation does not support the current process. It is Republican Sinn Fein's view -- in keeping with the lessons of Irish history -- that a permanent peace will only come through a public British government declaration of its intent to leave Ireland. A new four-province federation with maximum devolution of power to the base will safeguard minorities and majorities alike. 4. TWELVE-YEAR-OLD CHARGED BY BRITISH COLONIAL POLICE A 12-YEAR-OLD boy was among five people remanded in custody at a special sitting of Derry magistrate's court on August 12 charged with riotous assembly in the city on July 13. The 12-year-old appeared along with three 16-year-olds and a fifth, Damian McGuinness (30). The five were remanded in custody until September 5. The decision to bring a charge of riotous assembly against a 12-year-old, rather than a less serious charge of riotous behaviour which wouldn't have necessitated the boy being held on remand, was criticised by the Pat Finucane Centre. A spokesperson for the centre said that, despite evidence that British police (RUC) action on Garvaghy Road on July 6 should be investigated, no police officer had been brought before the courts. "The police [RUC] response to calls for their actions to be investigated is to charge a 12-year-old with riotous assembly," the spokesperson said. 5. UVF POSTER AT HARLAND AND WOLFF A UVF poster had been on display near a works canteen in Harland and Wolff for more than a month, it emerged on August 19. A Catholic employee at the Belfast shipyard told the 'Irish News' that the poster read "UVF for God and Ulster" and showed a masked firing squad shooting over a dead comrade, with the words "Here lies a soldier". The poster was hung above an entrance to the canteen on the East Yard. Around 200 people would regularly use the canteen. The employee said the poster had been on display since July. "Hundreds of workers pass under this poster every week and so everyone sees it. Surely this is against all employment rules." A spokesperson for the shipyard said the poster was removed on August 18. 6. LOYALIST WANTS OUT OF STORMONT TALKS ACCORDING to a report in the British Establishment paper, 'The Sunday Times' on August 24 Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) believes his party should pull out of talks scheduled to begin at Stormont on September 15. He also said he believes the PUP should no longer advise the UVF British-backed death squad to maintain a ceasefire. He said he thought the UVF would "wipe out the LVF". He said he was basing his decision on the manner in which he felt UVF prisoners were being treated. Speaking to the 'Irish News' on August 25, David Ervine of the PUP said there had been no change in the party policy of advising the UVF to maintain a ceasefire. Meanwhile, tension between the UVF and the pro-British death squad led by Billy Wright, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), appeared to increase. The LVF issued a statement to the newsroom of Downtown Radio in Belfast on August 22, warning Portadown loyalist Barrie Bradbury to leave the mid-Ulster area within 48 hours or face "direct action". Bradbury's home has been attacked a number of times over the previous few weeks. In one incident a kitten, with its throat cut open, was wrapped in a plastic bag and left on the doorstep of his family's home. There was more loyalist feuding in Derry on August 22/3. Two petrol bombs were thrown at a house at Kinsale Park in the Waterside area of the city. Three people were in the house at the time and a teenager was taken to hospital suffering from burns to her face and hair. At the same time shots were also fired into a house at Sperrin Park. In another incident, shots were fired and petrol bombs thrown at a house in Lincoln Courts. There was also an arson attack in Portadown on August 22. Muriel Richardson was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation after petrol was poured through her living-room window and set alight. The recent spate of attacks began on August 20 when petrol bombs were thrown into a pub believed to be frequented by LVF supporters. Customers were watching a soccer match in the Golden Hind pub at around 8pm, when a gang of around 30 entered wielding sticks, cudgels and sledgehammers. One man was carrying a gun, according to an eyewitness. The gang smashed the downstairs part of the bar, breaking chairs and spirit measures. One man said he had a gun pointed to his head. His attacker tried to fire three times but each time the gun misfired. The gang told customers to leave and then set the bar alight. Before leaving the area the gang spray-painted the words "Tigers' Bay UVF" on a wall nearby. 7. ORAL HEARING FOR PROVISIONALS WESTMINSTER BID THE Provisionals proclivity towards copperfastening British rule in Ireland went a step further on August 20 with the announcement from Justice Kerr in Belfast high court that he proposed an oral hearing into a challenge by Martin McGuinness, "MP" for Mid-Ulster. McGuinness and his fellow honourable member, Gerry Adams, felt rather aggrieved at being denied the use of House of Commons facilities which are available to other MPs. They have been excluded because up to now they have not taken their seats. This would entail swearing an oath to the English Queen which both have refused to do. "It clearly discriminates against Irish nationalists and Republicans who dispute British jurisdiction over this part of Ireland," cried McGuinness when lodging his court papers the previous week. Now why the Provisionals should be interested in whether or not the British should have an oath of allegiance to their monarch is not explicit in this "British Constitutional" court challenge. What is implicit is that these former Republicans are hell-bent on taking their seats in the imperial parliament. The very logic of the Sinn Fein philosophy since the foundation of that organisation in 1905 has been that Irish elected representatives should abstain from taking seats in the British parliament. Adams, McGuinness and company merely introduce the dispute over the oath as a smokescreen to disguise their real intentions. Standing upright is too strenuous on the spine apparently -- far better to adopt a sedentary posture. These tired former revolutionaries are prepared to rest themselves on any plush leather seat, be it in Westminster, Stormont or Leinster House. It is high time for the Provisionals to relinquish the Sinn Fein epithet. By entering the partition parliament of Leinster House and accepting seats at the partition Stormont talks they have effectively accepted partition. By entering Westminster, they have recognised the authority of the British government in Ireland. Justice Kerr adjourned the case to September 3 when he said a date would be set for the hearing of the application for leave to apply for judicial review. 8. FURTHER EVIDENCE HELPS COLIN DUFFY A VIDEO film will show that an alleged eyewitness in a double killing case was not where she claimed to be when the incident happened, it was claimed on August 19. Lurgan man Colin Duffy, speaking to a Belfast paper, also said that nine people had come forward to "verify beyond doubt" that he was at least half-a-mile away from the place where two British police (RUC) members were shot dead in Lurgan on June 16. In a letter to the 'Irish News', Colin Duffy said: "Even as I was being charged, three persons were present in Lurgan RUC station to provide alibi statements regarding my whereabouts at the time of the shooting. "Following this, a further nine witnesses have come forward and made statements to the RUC which verify beyond doubt that at the time of the shooting, I was at least half-a-mile away and engaged in every day business. These witnesses represent an entire cross-section of the Lurgan community including taxi drivers and their passengers." Duffy, who has twice been turned down for bail, said video film from a spy camera at Lurgan RUC station would confirm that an eyewitness crucial to the prosecution, was not where she claimed to be when the RUC members were shot. 9. IRSP, PROVISIONALS REACH AGREEMENT A MEETING between members of Provisional Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Socialist party (IRSP) in Belfast on August 19 was described by senior members of both parties as "positive" and "constructive". Mitchel McLaughlin said the two parties had agreed to meet again. Also on August 19 INLA sources told the 'Irish news' that it was to maintain its "defence and retaliation" policy, also called a "no first strike" policy. The 'Irish News' commented that the move left the Continuity IRA and the Loyalist Volunteer Force as the only armed groups not operating some kind of cessation. Apart from the British Crown Forces. 10. BRITISH JAIL CONDITIONS REDUCED BRITISH prison authorities announced on August 19 that 13 Irish political prisoners in Britain are to be moved out of the notorious Special Secure Units (SSUs), often described as "concrete coffins". The 13 men, whose security ratings have been downgraded from "exceptional risk Category A" to "high risk Category A" will be moved from the SSUs to "high security" wings, either at the jails where they are being held or at Frankland prison near Durham, Long Lartin in Worcestershire or Wakefield, west Yorkshire. The 13 prisoners will now have physical contact with their families during "open" visits as opposed to "closed" visits which took place behind ceiling to floor windows with conversations carried on by telephone. The prisoners will also have access to a wider range of activities. Some of the prisoners have been denied open visits for nearly three years. British prison authorities said the SSU at Full Sutton will be "mothballed" but will remain available for use at short notice. The decision was reported to have been made by the Prison Service's director of dispersals, Phil Wheatley, after consultation with British Home Secretary Jack Straw and Prisons Minister Joyce Quinn. 11. HOAX LETTER BOMB SENT TO DUP LEADER AN ELABORATELY-made letter bomb was sent to the home of DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson while he was holidaying in the US. The device was discovered by his son on Sunday, August 24. A British army bomb disposal squad was called to Robinson's east Belfast home, before declaring the bomb, an elaborate hoax. The package was said to be complex, containing a timer device. DUP 'justice' spokesperson, Ian Paisley junior, who finds it hard to tell the difference between real Republicans and the hoax variety, blamed the 'IRA'. "This was not something some school kids stuffed together. The police said it was so elaborate their men couldn't tell the difference," he said. 12. WHITEHALL RESIDENTS PROTEST AT BLACK PARADE RESIDENTS in north Belfast's Whitehall Road announced on August 24 that they would hold a protest if the Royal Black Preceptory fails to reroute its march on August 30. A spokesperson for the Whitehall and District Concerned Residents Group said: "Because of the trouble in the area throughout July, people have decided that they do not want the Black Preceptory coming down the Whitehall Road on August 30. "We issued letters to Brownlow House (headquarters of the Black Institute) and we also sent a letter to the local lodge, Greencastle, on August 7. "We got a response from Brownlow House but they just told us it was not a matter for them but for the local lodge who have not replied to us." A separate meeting, attended by councillors from Provisional Sinn Fein and the SDLP was held to "advise" young people in the area not to allow themselves to be "coerced" into rioting if the march goes ahead. Meanwhile, a Royal Black Preceptory march down the Ormeau Road in Belfast was re-routed away from the nationalist lower Ormeau area on August 24. Twenty-five marchers from the No.7 lodge handed in a letter of protest at a line of British police (RUC) Land Rovers blocking the Ormeau Bridge before boarding a bus which took them to the Donegall Pass area to join up with other lodges. 13. NO IRISH NEED APPLY AT QUEENS IRISH language signs at Queen's University, Belfast were hurriedly dismantled on Monday night, August 18 following pressure from a British colonial agency, the Fair Employment Commission. A report commissioned by the agency recommended the removal of the signs be done out of term time to avoid confrontation. "It is vital the signs are taken down during the summer holidays of 1997 and replaced with English-only signs," the report advised. Defending this racist attitude, Fair Employment head, Bob Cooper said the bilingual signs were part of the "chill factor". Allegedly the bilingual policy of the Students Union was discriminatory against Protestants who did not speak Irish and saw it as a symbol of Irish nationalism and Republicanism. In 1994 the Students Union at Queens voted to support the unions language policy. One of the referendum motions stated that the union condemns "those who would seek to portray the Irish language as the intellectual property of one community and those who would seek to demean the Irish language and use it as a means of fostering divisions in the community". The anti-Irish decision was roundly condemned by Irish language activists throughout occupied Ireland. In a statement issued on August 19, the president of Conradh na Gaeilge, Gearoid O Caireallain said: "the controversy regarding bilingualism in Queens University, Belfast, highlighted the successful efforts of successive administrations in Northern Ireland to keep a large segment of the public in blissful ignorance of their Irish heritage since the foundation of the State". Saying that the Irish language belonged to all he found it ironic, he said, "that unionist politicians should spearhead a campaign against Irish where many of them and most loyalists live in places whose placenames derive directly from Irish". "It is time for all the people of Northern Ireland to display a welcoming attitude towards the language rather than a negative attitude based on unfounded fear reflecting State-based discrimination." It seems Britain and her colonial underlings, the Unionists, want to erase all traces of Irishness from the memory of Protestants and unionists in occupied Ireland, thus enabling them to integrate more fully in to the imperial milieu and continue to use them in Britain's ongoing divide and conquer strategy. The ancestors of present day unionists were the allies of Wolfe Tone in the United Irishmen and even when a later generation were conditioned into accepting loyalty to the English Crown they still considered themselves Irish unionists and not British. In 1849 when Victoria, the Famine Queen, visited Belfast she was greeted with banners proclaiming Cead Mile Failte which loyalists also shouted from street corners. And at the Ulster Unionism Convention of 1892, delegates were greeted with a depiction of the Irish harp with the legend Erin Go Bragh. This was long before Partition convinced Six County unionists that they were somehow a separate nation from people in the 26 Counties. A succession of Unionist mayors wore a chain of office bearing an Irish inscription as indeed many Orange lodges paraded through the streets of Ireland donning their proud regalia emblazoned with Irish language inscriptions. Ulster Unionist councillor, Chris McGimpsey is one who feels the pull of the Irish language. "I've never felt it was an alien language. With a name like McGimpsey, I obviously had Irish-speaking forefathers. I don't see why Irish culture and language should be at all alien to me." As Irish Republicans we do not see why it should be alien to Protestants or Unionists either. Unless of course it is to convince the disaffected section of the Irish people that they are not Irish after all. An Irish language ancestry is something both nationalists and unionists have in common. Tiocfaidh Ar La. 14. TENSIONS IN UUP LEADERSHIP AS TALKS APROACH A CORK-BASED paper said on August 25 that David Trimble may shortly face a challenge to his leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party. 'The Examiner' said Trimble had been warned by close friends that he would be committing political suicide if he sits down with the Provisionals at a talks table without the Provisional military organisation "decommissioning". The paper reported: "It is at grass roots level where suspicion is greatest. Some feel he has cut himself off from the party by surrounding himself with young unionists and those with a legal background. Others complain he has a communication problem and as a result does not enjoy the undivided loyalty of his parliamentary team at Westminster". Critics of Trimble also say he made a mistake by allowing Ken Maginnis, the party's "security" spokesman to appear in a television debate with the Provisionals' Martin McGuinness because it "legitimised" the Provisionals. The paper quoted one "senior unionist" as saying: "Many now believe that David will face a challenge for the leadership at the next AGM in March". "Some who believe we need total unionist unity with the DUP and UK Unionists are already talking in terms of a new leader." 15. THORP NUCLEAR MENACE GETS FULL GO-AHEAD THE British Nuclear Installation Inspectorate (NII) granted British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) "consent to operate the Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant on August 22. The legal representative of a group of County Louth residents said the decision would not deter them in their attempt to close the plant through an action in the Dublin courts. BNFL previously obtained permission to gradually increase reprocessing while the plant's operation was monitored by the NII. Thorp has an order book valued at #12 billion. -end- We welcome your comments. Send them to: saoirse@iol.ie ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-08.26.97-17:09:38-7712