Web layout by SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom
April 4, 1998
Send links, events notifications, articles, comments etc, to the editor at: saoirse@iol.ie marked "attention web-editor".
Early on March 14, Martin McAuley and his wife Christin spotted a device on the doorstep of their home as they returned home from a function. The couple’s children Róisín (11), Orla (10) and six-year-old Peadar and a baby-sitter were inside asleep at the time.
Martin McAuley claims that the British Colonial police (RUC) told him the bomb was powerful enough “to have taken the house out” and said the bombers intended to “kill anyone that they could”. Neighbours of the McAuleys in the nationalist Taghnevan estate in Lurgan, Co. Armagh had to be evacuated as British army bomb experts dealt with the device.
According to Martin McAuley, a member of the British army’s RIR issued a death threat to him through a friend later the same day. The friend was told by an RIR patrol that McAuley would not be as lucky the next time.
The father-of-three said his eldest daughter is now too afraid to stay home at night. He described the bomb as “packed with screws and bolts, so anyone in the room at the time would have been cut to shreds. They wanted to kill anyone that they could, children and all, not just me or my wife”.
Christin McAuley slated the RUC for taking over half an hour to get to the house. “Their whole attitude was disgusting, they didn’t seem to care that three children and a young baby sitter could have been killed”, she said.
“The RUC left a large quantity of forensic evidence sitting in the front garden of the house. Is that supposed to be a full forensic examination of the scene,” she asked.
Martin McAuley was the only survivor of eight people shot during the shoot-to-kill period in the 1980s. In November 1982, McAuley was badly wounded and a friend, Michael Tighe (17) was killed when an RUC unit opened fire on a hayshed in Lurgan. A subsequent inquiry headed by John Stalker into the incident was blocked by MI5 activity which included the disappearance of an MI5 bugging device which had been placed in the heyshed.
The family lawyer, Rosemary Nelson said she would be asking for a full inquiry into the death-threat. “This is just one of a very long line of such incidents in this area, there seems to be very little control or accountability for RIR actions,” she said.
On the evening of March 14 a County Antrim couple had a narrow escape when a device exploded at their front door in Carrickfergus. They had just recently moved into their house in the predominately loyalist town. As Orange expansionists continue their attempt at ethnic cleansing with the connivance of MI5 across in south Belfast the RUC recovered two machine guns, ammunition and magazines in Annadale flats during a search on March 13.
In Banbridge on March 13 the RUC carried out two controlled explosions on a suspect vehicle in the centre of the town. It is understood a telephone warning was given at around 7.30pm but no codeword was used. It is still unclear who was responsible for the Banbridge alert.
In recent weeks both the main loyalist death squads are believed to have been behind bomb attacks on innocent nationalists. The UVF were thought to be behind the beerkeg bomb left in a car in the nationalist village of Carnlough, Co. Antrim on February 27. The UVF was the only pro-British death squad known to have commercial detonators prior to the 1994 loyalist ceasefire.
Two ‘video’ parcel bombs which arrived at the homes of nationalists in Ardoyne, north Belfast and Toomebridge, Co. Antrim on February 19 were most likely the works of the UDA/UFF death squad. The Ardoyne parcel bomb exploded when a suspicious recipient threw it into the back garden.
Despite this, the British supremo Mo Mowlam blithely stated on March 9 that she had “no evidence” to confirm that the UDA/UFF or UVF were involved in recent attacks.
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The trust’s director, Dr Ian O’Donnell, in a letter to the Irish Times on March 26 said that the conditions in Limerick prison were “atrocious”. “It is difficult to see how prisoners can be properly prepared for release in conditions of such decrepitude,” he said.
Following his visit Dr O’Donnell said that the conditions in the Women’s ‘C’ Wing in Limerick were the worst he had seen in any jail in the 26 Counties. He said it was “an affront to a civilised society that individuals, many of whom are already damaged should be so poorly served while in the custody of the State”.
The Irish Penal Reform Trust was set up more than five years ago as a non-denominational, independent, non-governmental organisation and is reliant on voluntary support. Its stated objective is to provide an “independent, reflective, constructive and critical voice” in regard to the penal system in the 26 Counties.
It is hoped that other independent bodies concerned with human rights and women’s rights both in Ireland and abroad will now address the issue of conditions in Limerick prison’s ‘C’ wing and also the treatment of the only political prisoner there, Josephine Hayden, whose heart condition has prompted a campaign for release on humanitarian grounds.
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New York campaigners gathered at the Dublin Consulate General on Park Avenue in Manhattan at 3pm for a protest picket. The protesters, numbering more than 50 people carried placards calling for the Cumann na mBan member’s release.
A large photograph of Josephine was carried by members of the US Save Josephine Hayden Committee and details of her case were handed out by passers-by. The picket was very successful and proved to be highly embarrassing for the Dublin Administration. There was a good attendance from people who have been prominent in the campaign for Róisín Mc Aliskey.
Supporters throughout the United States telephoned and faxed the 26-County embassy in Washington DC and consulates in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago. Human rights groups were also contacted.
It is not too late for US readers of SAOIRSE to register their protest with the Leinster House consulates. They can be contacted as follows:
Embassy, Washington DC, Phone: (202) 462 3939; Fax: (202) 232 5993 Consulate, New York, Phone: (212) 319 2555; Fax: (212) 980 9475. Consulate, Boston, Phone: (617) 267 9330; Fax: (617) 267 6375. Consulate, San Francisco Phone: (415) 392 4214; Fax: (415) 392 4214. Consulate, Chicago Phone: (312) 337 1868 Fax: (312) 337 1954.
She was responding by letter to the Sunday Tribune newspaper in Dublin following an amazing letter from David Norris in the March 22 edition. In it he said he was “not aware” there was any political prisoners in the 26 Counties!
He went on to compare Josephine unfavourably to “those unfortunates pushed into a life of petty crime by poverty”! In her letter Josephine pointed to the outlandish inaccuracies in Norris’s letter and said it would be “more in his line” to visit Limerick jail and see the conditions that all the prisoners, and especially the women prisoners in ‘C’ Wing have to put up with.
Josephine informed supporters during March that the recent opening of ‘D’ Wing in Limerick jail has meant a further deterioration in conditions for the women prisoners.
No extra prison staff have been appointed despite the obvious need for such with an extra wing. The resultant staffing shortages have meant that visits have been delayed by more than an hour-and-a-half and post has been delivered to prisoners a day later, due to the lack of prison officers to censor the correspondence.
Senator Norris’s ignorance in regard to the existence of the political prisoners in the southern State from its foundation down to the present day is scarcely credible. Some 82 of these political prisoners were executed by firing squad while one was hanged by the British hangman. A further five died on hunger-strike over the same period.
If it was the case of political prisoners in East Timor, for instance, David Norris could be relied upon to be fully up-to-date and trenchant in his opinions.
But of course that is 5,000 miles away . . .
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The four men, all of whom are residents of the nationalist enclave of the Short Strand say they have been informed by an RUC man that their names, addresses and descriptions have been found on a loyalist death list
One of the men, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the RUC man claimed the list was discovered during a raid by Crown Forces in the Shankill area, but says the officer did not pin a date on the alleged raid or which pro-British death squad was involved in tracking him.
“Since then my nerves have been going mad. I don’t know what I am going to do. The police told me they (the death squad) have my name, address, even my height, build, and eye colour. I am not in anything and never have been— I don’t know why this is happening”.
The men, one of whom has since fled to Dublin, claim to have no political links with the exception of one of them who did election work for the Provisionals in the past. The death threats were issued towards the end of March.
With this ongoing loyalist Kristalnacht we wonder about the statement of the Provisionals Peadar Whelan in the March 19 issue of that grouping’s paper. “It is appropriate at this crucial stage in the struggle that we remember that were it not for those Republicans who down through the years remained committed to their ideals and fought against British rule in Ireland, we in the Six Counties would still be in the nightmare of Partition with little hope of equality or justice”.
The nationalist nightmare is continuing. It will unfortunately continue until Britain withdraws her colonial administration from Ireland and all-Ireland democracy is restored.
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The cumann was named the Connolly/O’Neill Cumann in honour of the champion of the working class and 1916 leader, James Connolly, and the veteran Republican from the Liberties, Tommy O’Neill, who died on February 12 last.
Cumann spokesperson, Seán McGoldrick, called on South Inner City Republicans to give their support to Republican Sinn Féin. “Republican Sinn Féin offers principled leadership for Republicans. We continue to stand by the three traditional demands of the Republican Movement.”
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The attack on the McCarry family home in Belair Park, Larne, resulted in 18-year-old Marie McCarry sustaining a burn to her right leg. A four-year-old girl who was also in the house is said to have escaped injury. The gang smashed through a living room window and poured in flammable liquids before igniting it.
Also in Larne an unoccupied flat at Hillmount Gardens was set ablaze on the same date. The pro-British death-squad, the LVF have a strong presence in the Larne area where nationalists remain a minority.
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One man was viciously beaten by the rioters as he tried to protect his home. He was later treated in hospital. An unmarked car containing members of the British Colonial police (RUC) was surrounded by the mob, who tried to smash the windscreen with iron bars and bricks.
Reinforcements rescued the RUC men in what locals claim is increasing tension between the RUC and loyalists, who believe they are not being firm enough in their harassment of nationalists.
Meanwhile an elderly couple had a lucky escape as the rioters scored a direct hit setting the roof of their home ablaze in a petrol-bomb attack. Nationalist residents have described the attack as deliberately orchestrated, claiming the mob had over 40 bombs in their possession.
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No damage was caused to the RUC base by the mortars, which were fired from the car park of a nearby rugby club. Nobody was injured in the attack and no claim of responsibility has been made. Media reports said the attack represented a significant ‘stepping-up’ in attacks and quoted British Crown Forces who blamed the Continuity IRA for the attack.
The British sources alleged they had received help in equipment and expertise from ‘dissident’ members of the Provisionals’ military organisation. The mortars were similar to the “Mark 10-type” missiles which have a range of 400 metres and fire a warhead about the size of a paint tin and five inches in diameter.
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British army bomb experts were called in to carry out a controlled explosion on a device left outside St Comgall’s Hall at around 9.30pm.
A doorman who had been watching a video monitor spotted a person leaving the device in a blue plastic bag and immediately evacuated the St Patrick’s Day revellers to safety. The British colonial police (RUC) said it was an “improvised explosive device”.
The club is used by all sections of the community and an Irish dance troupe from a loyalist area was about to perform at the time.
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John Fogarty and HB O’Keady of the Irish-American Unity conference met with the US Consul General Stephens in Belfast on March 23 to highlight the cases of Terence Kirby, Kevin Barry Artt and Pól Brennan who took part in the spectacular escape of 38 Republican POWs from Long Kesh concentration camp in 1983 and are now in American custody awaiting extradition to occupied Ireland.
John Fogarty said “The US Consul-General listened to our concerns and said they would be passed on to Washington”. Speaking of his frustration at the stonewalling of the delegation by the US envoy, Fogarty said that Stephens had refused to take letters from the men’s families because she couldn’t ensure their delivery. Stephens then fobbed off the delegation with the suggestion that the matter be pursued through the court system. A system that is compromised with pro-British political judgements.
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The conference was addressed by Republican Sinn Féin President Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and 1798 Committee members Líta Ní Chathmhaoil, Seán Ó Brádaigh and Michael McManus.
Republican Sinn Féin launched its special 1798 commemorative folder at the conference, 20,000 of which have been published in full colour for distribution throughout the 32 Counties and abroad. A commemorative sticker was also launched featuring Wolfe Tone and his declaration ‘Break the Connection with England’.
A list of lectures, céilithe, ceremonies and other events throughout Ireland and abroad was announced (see event’s list), the highlight of which will be the Wolfe Tone Commemoration in Bodenstown, Co. Kildare on Sunday, June 14 next, to mark the bicentenary of the death of the founder of Irish Republicanism. In Sallins village there will be a display of Pikemen and a ceremony at a Liberty Tree before the parade moves off.
Later on March 26 in Dublin a 1798 national public lecture General Humbert and the Year of the French – what really happened in the west of Ireland was given to a packed hall by Seán Ó Brádaigh, chairperson of the 1798 Commemoration Committee. Based on new research in Ireland and France, the lecture was illustrated by over 100 slides.
Seán Ó Brádaigh launched the year’s events in New York on March 19 where his lecture was heard by a large attendance at the Manhattan Club on west 52nd Street.
Speaking at the Dublin press conference Seán Ó Brádaigh said than on March 21 a wreath-laying ceremony had been held at the grave of Matilda Tone, the wife of Theobald Wolfe Tone, in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. A floral wreath with ribbons in the colours of the Irish and French national flags was laid on the grave.
The 1798 bicentenary ceremonies this year would stress the fundamentals of Irish Republicanism and explain its roots, he said.
“A permanent peace in Ireland will be on the basis of the ideals of 1798: equality for all irrespective of religion, national independence and a new system of government for all the people on this island,” he added.
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Web layout by SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom April 4, 1998 Send links, events notifications, articles, comments etc, to the editor at: saoirse@iol.ie marked "attention web-editor". |