Saturday, December 06, 2003

1971 PRISON BREAK ; ' KANGAROO'S ' in the Six Counties ....... !


.......the five internees made it to the top of the prison wall , but were spotted by members of a British Army patrol , who were in that same area because of a nail-bomb explosion on the Antrim Road . The five men climbed back down into the prison yard and mingled with the other prisoners . The idea itself was sound , and the then I R A set about repeating the exercise , this time with rope-ladders .......


It was agreed that the escape attempt would take place on 16th November 1971 , and that nine prisoners would locate themselves at a certain section of the prison wall , on that date , at a specific time . The nine men -- Seamus Storey , Thomas Maguire , Thomas Fox , Peter Hennessy , Bernard Ellison , Thomas Kane , Terence Clarke , Chris Keenan and David Mullan -- were all anxious to escape .

The barbed-wire fence on the outside of the prison wall would be cut to allow the men a quick exit , and cars would be waiting for them ....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE START.......


" .......the Boer War set an example to men like my uncle - he cursed when he heard the politicians speak about " Home Rule " or " Westminster " -- " stinking politicians " , he shouted ....... "



" Too young to have been a Fenian , my uncle's brother , Mike , spent eleven months in Limerick Jail for 'illegal' drilling , in an effort to carry on the Fenian organisation . ( My uncle Dan , Dan Harrington , and the " Farmer " are one and the same person throughout this story ).

Around the fire we learned the history of our own and other countries . That was before the kitchens of Ireland became afflicted with the television and the radio . Then would we hear an honest man's opinion or his hearty laugh , or listen to the stories handed down to him from his forefathers , and told in the same way around the unquenchable fire . The stories around the fire were not always told in prose .

Any influx of the neighbours brought some one or more able to sing . Thus did we hear every national song or ballad worth singing . At that time people of each small district met often and worked and played together . On a Sunday there was the Patron in the summer , or a bowling match or football game . During the long nights , the scoruiacht where all the neighbours met at one house until about ten o'clock . " (MORE LATER).



WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.......

[from ' The Evening Press ' , 6th January , 1987 -- a Tuesday , if memory serves -- page 4]


During 'World War Two' , British scientists devised a bomb to disperse deadly anthrax spores in Germany , and the United States built a secret plant to make the weapons , claimed a Professor Barton J. Bernstein , in the current edition of the 'Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist' .

Lord Cherwell , Britains Chief Scientific Adviser , was said to have informed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , in February 1944 , that - " Any animal breathing in minute quantities of these spores is extremely likely to die suddenly but peacefully within the week ."

Cherwell estimated that about six Lancaster bombers could carry enough bombs to destroy life in a mile-square area . Five-thousand of the bombs were delivered to Britain by May 1944 , from the American plant . They were never used , said Professor Bernstein , because - " Hitler had barred the development of it " by the German scientists .


The Brits probably dumped them in the Irish Sea , along with all the other radioactive trash which they dispose of in the border of water between our countries .

Friday, December 05, 2003

1971 PRISON BREAK ; ' KANGAROO'S ' in the Six Counties ....... !


....... September , 1971 - a football match between the internees was underway in Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast . Five of the men decided to put themselves 'off-side' and had a rope ( knotted bed-sheets) and , tied to the top of the 'rope' , a 'hook' ( table-end) to grip the top of the wall .......


As the five men climbed up the 'rope' as best they could , a nail-bomb exploded on the Antrim Road , which was the far-side of the wall ; the men continued their climb and , on reaching the top of the prison wall , they were startled to find themselves looking down on armed British soldiers --- the Brits were probably just as surprised to be looking up at them !

The nail-bomb explosion had drawn a British Army patrol to that same spot - the men on top of the wall went into reverse , climbed back down the way they had come up and mingled with their fellow-prisoners , watching the match . That was September 1971 ; the failed escape bid at least indicated that the idea was sound . It was decided to continue with the football matches , but not to attempt an escape during same -- for now.

Over the following few weeks , arrangements were made with the then I R A on the outside for another escape attempt , using an improved version of the September idea ; rope ladders ....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE START.......


".......as young children , we would question our parents when they discussed the issues of the day -- the Boer War and its leaders were talked about in our house ....... "


" Then did we really enjoy the story of the successful fight of the weak against the strong . The stories about the Boer War never grew old in my youth . Any dog worthy of the name was called Kruger , pronounced ' Kroojer ' . Jerry Kelleher , Ballyvoig , was the only exception . In order to be contrary , he had a dog named Balfour .

When the crows at his heels , while Jerry scattered grain in the tillage , got too numerous and clamorous , Jerry would say to the dog - " Disperse those meetings , Mr. Balfour . " Balfour always obliged . The stories of , and the discussions on , the Boer War never ended without a reference to Ireland . Small wonder . The handful of farmers who stood up against an empire and humiliated it set an example for the oppressed and down-trodden of the world .

The example was not lost on the militant-minded in our own country . My uncle was one of these and it was from him I first heard of the only sure way to shake off the foreign oppressor . For years before I heard of Sinn Fein I heard its gospel from him , but above all I learned that the only way to freedom was the direct way . When Home Rule or Westminster or Irish Party or a " great speech " was mentioned , he sat up and shouted - " Hah ! Stinking politicians . " (MORE LATER).



A MOTHER'S LOVE .......

[from ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , 16th July -- a Monday , I'm sure -- 1984 ]


Mrs. Doreen McAleese , mother to a British soldier , Neil , went to the British Army Barracks at Hohne , near Hanover, looking for the inmates therein to assist her in clearing her son's name -- naughty Neil (20) was in jail in Germany waiting to be court-martialled for offences relating to drug use .

Mrs. McAleese took statements from fifty soldiers , and apparently entered same as evidence in her son's case hoping , no doubt , to prove that her Neil was of good character (or at least of the same character as that of his colleagues) ---

--- 17 of the 50 , including Officers , confirmed to the woman that they used drugs " regularly " ;

of the remaining 33 Brit soldiers , those belonging to the Parachute Regiment (number not given) actually boasted to Mrs. McAleese that they " took heroin almost daily " ;

and the remainder , considered by fellow-Brits to be 'Malvinas / Falkland War Hero's' , were themselves awaiting court-martial for ....... drug offences !

After reading the above information into the court records , Mrs. McAleese told a (stunned ?) court -- " There is pressure on young soldiers to try drugs to show they are men . " (Mental Picture - " I say , Smithers , what's that in your arm ? " That's a syringe , SIR ! . " " Jolly good , Private - carry on . ")


Don't know how young Neil got on , but I'm sure his mother is still in hiding ; just hope its not in the Six Counties -- the Brit soldiers there are mad !

Thursday, December 04, 2003

1971 PRISON BREAK ; ' KANGAROO'S ' in the Six Counties ....... !



....... 9th August , 1971 - the Brits 'round-up' one-thousand-five-hundred Irishmen and intern them in three different prisons -- Long Kesh (300) , 'The Maidstone' (150) and Crumlin Road Jail.......


An estimated one-thousand internee's ( and remand prisoners) were held in Crumlin Road Jail , in Belfast , resulting in serious over-crowding ; so the 'prisoners' set-about giving themselves more space !

During a prison football match in September that year (1971) , five internees made their way to a section of the wall at the opposite end of where the match was being played -- they carried bed-sheets knotted together , with a wooden 'hook' (made from prison tables and/or chairs) tied to one end of the 'rope' .

With the football game in full swing , and the prison-screws relieved to have something to watch and help them pass a few hours , the five men succeeded in their efforts to have the 'hook' grip the top of the wall ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE START .


" I was born in 1902 , the year the Boer War ended . It was the first war I heard discussed when I began to understand things a little . Indeed , when I push my memory back as far as possible , I always reach the one definite point . I can see my uncle , Dan Harrington , in front of the fire , Tom Connor on his right , my father on his left .

My mother generally moving about , for ever busy , like all good mothers . At length the men would prevail on her to sit down -- " Yerra , Mini , sit down , the world will be after us , " Tom would say . Then would we all , my brothers and sisters , listen entranced to good stories . I heard for the first time the names of famous Boer leaders -- Kruger , Cronje , De Wett , De La Rey and others , and of Mauser , Maxim , Pom-Pom and Long Tom .

Persistent enquiries from the younger generation were made until we had a fair grasp of the meaning of all these people and things ......." (MORE LATER).




AND EVEN MORE REAGANISMS .......


When Ronnie was transformed into President Reagan , he was briefed by Bobby Inman , the then Deputy Director of the C I A .

On the topic of Soviet nuclear strength , Mr. President asked " was the SS-19 their biggest missile ? " Not so , replied Deputy Inman - " That would be the SS-18 ." " So , , said Ronnie , " they've even switched the numbers on their missiles to confuse us ! "

Inman explained that the numbers are assigned to the missiles by U S Intelligence , not by the Soviets .......



In running for Office in 1980 , Ronald Reagan announced that his team had identified " forty-one specific items costing eleven billion dollars " which he would cut . The media contacted his Office , looking for details on the " forty-one items " -- no-one knew anything about it ; it later transpired that there was no such list of items .......


The bould Ronnie claimed that it cost the health bureaucracy " three dollars to deliver one dollar of health service . " His Office later admitted that he was wrong - it only cost twelve cents to deliver said amount of health service !

.....not the full shilling ...

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

1971 PRISON BREAK ; ' KANGAROO'S ' in the Six Counties !



9th August , 1971 : the British introduce 'internment without trial' in the Six Counties . Within weeks , one-thousand-five-hundred ' suspected terrorists ' are put behind bars , not only in the new Long Kesh internment camp , but in other prisons throughout the Six County area .

The Long Kesh camp , which was built on an old R A F airfield near Lisburn , in County Antrim, was 'home' to about three-hundred of the internees , while another group , consisting of about one-hundred-and-fifty men , were interned on 'The Maidstone' , a prison ship moored at the coal wharf in Belfast Docks . (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


".......in 1879 , Michael Davitt founded the Land League - the Irish farmers got organised and fought back against the British 'landlords' . They won the 'right' to keep the little fields which they had fashioned from the sides of raw mountains ......."


" One would think that the never-ending struggle of the people against the forces of nature and the injustice of man would eventually bring them to look on life with a bitter eye . But such was not the case . They never lost their gaiety of manner . They examined defeat until finally they found some humour among its ruins , then they laughed mightily and set about building up again .

One would think that , having grown up among the rocky hills and tasted of their hardness , it would be too difficult for them to think kindly of them . But the reverse is the case . The rocky hills have , from time immemorial , proved a refuge from total extinction for the Irish race . Were it not for them and their strong sheltering arms always outstretched to help the weary forces of the Gael , the unequal struggle could not be maintained .

And having sheltered the weary , they again induce the spirit of freedom in them . For who , standing on their breezy summits , and gazing towards limitless horizons , can take the short , or small, or mean view of anything . One of the beauties of the world , is , according to Padraig Pearse : ---

--- " Some quiet hill where mountainy men have sown ,
And soon would reap ; near to the gate of Heaven . "


[END OF 'THE LITTLE FIELDS'].



LIBYA , IRAQ .......


....... On 15th April , 1986 -- a Tuesday , I believe -- the Reagan Administration in Washington bombed Libya , in 'retaliation' for a bomb-blast in a West Berlin nightclub on Saturday , 5th April , 1986 , which killed two people and injured two-hundred-and-four .

Ronald Reagan claimed that he had "proof" that Libya was responsible for the nightclub bombing . The validity of that "proof" should be judged by a statement issued in May 1985 by a Frank Snepp , a former senior agent of the C I A ---

--- " Every few weeks , the Reagan Administration doctors photographs to show war materials passing from Nicaragua to El Salvador . Recently , two C I A analysts found enough on their consciences to resign over the matter . "

If they did'nt resign , would they have been found dead in a wood ?



.......AND PROOF ---->


<---- ED ROLLINS , a one-time U S Republican Party 'Political Consultant' (ie 'Spin-Doctor') once said ---

--- " You can fool all the people all the time , if the advertising budget is big enough ! "


Reagan , Bush , Clinton etc - Rollins and his type know their job !

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

DONEGAL ,1861 ; EVICTIONS UNDER ' DEASY'S ACT '.......


.......the unscrupulous British 'landlord' , John George Adair now had political backing in his desire to evict the 'tenants' from 'his' land in Derryveagh , County Donegal -- ' Deasy's Act ' gave Adair , and others , the 'green light' to use force . In April , 1861 , Adair assembled a 'posse' of 'legal' bandits and put forty-seven families out of their shacks before burning same to the ground .......


Whole families lived in ditches ; no food , no income , no shelter , no hope . Adair left such destruction and destitution in his wake that foreign newspapers sent over reporters to follow him , and their words and sketches were sent out world-wide . Irish exiles were furious , and done what they could to help their fellow-countrymen and women back home .

In Australia , for instance , a ' Donegal Relief Committee ' was established , and paid for most of Adair's victims to re-settle in Australia . That same British mentality exists to this day ; this scribbler believes that no amount of 'Treaties' will solve the problem . British withdrawal will .


[END].



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


".......the 'tenants' were being abused by 'their' British 'landlord's' ; the British 'police'-force and military considered the Irish to be Rebels and treated them accordingly . The 'landlord' , a greedy beast at best , wanted more for himself ....... "


" The raising of the rent was but the prelude to the raising of troubles . Notices , refusals , seizures or attempted seizures of cattle , rescues , clashes with bailiffs and police , kept the times generally up to quite a high standard of excitement .

In 1879 , Michael Davitt founded the ' Land League ' to demand the return of the land to the people . The people en masse joined the League . Never before in Ireland had there been such complete unanimity of demand . Evictions , imprisonment and buckshot made not the slightest impression on the determination of the League .

At last , a series of Land Acts was wrenched from the British Parliament . The little fields came back to those who had made them . Michael Davitt had planned for this victory during long years of solitary confinement in Dartmoor Prison . The people had cause to be thankful to him .

I have heard him called " the Greatest of them all . " Only for the Land League victory , the success of later activities would not have been possible ........" (MORE LATER).



EVEN MORE REAGANISMS.......

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ,' 14th August , 1988]


" Now , if you took all the books of regulations and rules in the Tax Code and put them all on a shelf , the shelf would be fifty-seven feet long to hold all of them . "

--- Ronald Reagan . But the "tax code" , which includes the "rules and regulations" , is six inches thick ! Fifty-six-and-a-half feet to spare .......


" We have fewer warheads than we had in 1969 ." Ronnie in November , 1985 .

--- It was later pointed out to Mr. Reagan that , in 1969 , the United States had 4,000 warheads , as against 11,492 in 1985 . The man seems to just pluck figures out of the clear blue sky .......


At the height of the Apartheid era in South Africa , the bould Ronnie claimed that that country - " has eliminated the segregation that we once had in our own country , the type of thing where hotels and restaurants and places of entertainment and so forth were segregated - that has all been eliminated . "

--- ....I'm lost for words ......

Monday, December 01, 2003

DONEGAL ,1861 ; EVICTIONS UNDER ' DEASY'S ACT '.......


.......the new British 'law' , 'Deasy's Act' , was enacted in Ireland in 1860 ; the 'landlords' were quick to take advantage of the 'legal rights' it afforded them regarding the 'tenants' on 'their' estates .......


Within a few months of the ' 1860 Landlord/Tenant - Deasy's Act ' , evictions were taking place at a recorded level of twenty a week ; John George Adair , an infamous British 'Landlord' in Donegal , had already attempted to have the families on 'his' estate evicted for " stealing " his Scottish (black-faced) sheep - if the sheep , while wandering free , should end up near a persons cabin , that 'tenant' was accused of stealing the animal !

Adair changed the 'terms and conditions' of the manner in which he 'leased' the land to his existing 'tenants' and did not bother to notify them -- those families were served with eviction notices , and Adair then notified the 'police-force' and requested the British military to accompany the eviction party while it carried-out its 'mandate' .

In two days , in April 1861 , in Derryveagh , Donegal , John George Adair and his party of licenced bandits physically removed forty-seven families from their miserable dwellings , burnt the roofs of same and , before the fire was extinguished , levelled the walls ....... (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


"....... in the early 19th Century in Ireland , ' Courts of Poetry' were held in various locations ; a famous author of the day , Jeremiah Joseph Callanan , wrote a poem which is still a favourite to this day ......."


" ' GOUGANE BARRA ' is one of his best poems :


Least bard of the hills ! - were it mine to inherit
The fire of thy harp , and the wing of thy spirit ,
With the wrongs which like thee to our country have bound me ,
Did your mantle of song fling its radiance around me ,
Still , still in those wilds might young liberty rally ,
And send her strong shout over mountain and valley ,
The star of the west might yet rise in its glory ,
And the land that was darkest be brightest in story .


The Fenian Rising in 1867 was the last organised military effort on a national scale before our time . For some time before and for many years after '67 , the organisation was maintained in our area . It resulted in a long term in jail and finally exile for one of my uncles .

'Police' searches for suspects , raids for arms , arrests and trials had become of almost daily occurrence . The people got quite accustomed to them . There would never be peace in any case . In the event of a short period of inactivity , the 'landlord' came to the conclusion that he was losing money , that the 'tenants' were getting prosperous , that it was time to raise the rent ......." (MORE LATER).




MORE REAGANISMS.......

[These quotes from ' The Sunday Tribune ' newspaper , 14th August , 1988]


" In this week of tragedy , six policemen have been killed in the line of duty . "---

--- Ronald Reagan , 14th June , 1968 . It never happened (in reality , that is !) - two policemen were killed in Chicago that year ; one in May , one in June.


" I would have voted against the 'Civil Rights Act' of 1964 . " -- Ronald Reagan , June , 1965 .


" I favour the 'Civil Rights Act' of 1964 and it must be enforced at the point of a bayonet if necessary . " -- Ronald Reagan , October , 1965 .



In 1982 , environmentalists gathered 1.1 million signatures calling for the resignation of the then U. S. Secretary of The Interior , James Watt . Reagan announced that " a petition of over seven million signatures was brought in wanting him retained . " It later transpired that no such "petition" was ever "brought in" because no such "petition" existed !


Criticised in 1982 for wanting to cut 'mother and child nutrition funding' in his upcoming budget , Reagan stated that the scheme would actually benefit from " much greater money than it has ever had before . " The man had previously just left a meeting in which he himself proposed a $200 million dollar cut to the same scheme ; his Office later stated that " The President possibly misspoke slightly on that one . " !

The man was ready-made for Leinster House .......

Sunday, November 30, 2003

DONEGAL ,1861 ; EVICTIONS UNDER ' DEASY'S ACT '.......



.......in 1860 , the British Attorney General in Ireland , Richard Deasy , had his 'Act' passed into 'law' in this country ; the hard-pressed Irish farmer was about to be victimised again by the British.......



'Deasy's Act', properly known as ' The Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment (Ireland) Act of 1860 ' , allowed the Brits to set , amend , introduce and/or change any terms which the 'tenant' had with the 'landlord' and defined the contract between both parties as " deemed to be founded on the express or implied contract of the parties and not upon tenure or service . "

'Landlords' were already aware that it was more profitable for them to have livestock on 'their' land rather than poor 'tenants' who leased the land -- 'Deasy's Act' encouraged them to shift the Irish off the land , 'legally' , and removed any 'rights' that the evicted family may have had prior to the enactment of the new 'law' .

The Derryveagh 'landlord' , John George Adair , and many others , lost no time in moving against the families living on 'their' estates........ (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


" .......the 'hedge-school' teachers operated in difficult circumstances ; smoke from the peat fire , exposed to the elements , no money or food . The children were feeling the strain , too - but they persevered ....... "


" Along with the Bardic schools of ancient Ireland went the courts of poetry , where the Bards met from time to time and conducted their proceedings entirely through the medium of classical Gaelic poetry . One of these still survives at Coolea, in the parish of Ballyvourney .

It holds annual session , on the sixth day of January . The poets of our area can hold their own against the best in Ireland , and are the true successors of the Bards . The rugged splendour of the rocks , the falling water , the encircling mountains , and the solitude , attracted Anglo-Irish poets as well as the Bards . The most notable was Jeremiah Joseph Callanan (1795-1829) .

A student of Maynooth and Trinity College , he spent some years among the people here , collecting a store of legendary lore , and became a rebel himself ......." (MORE LATER).




BRITISH.......

[from ' AP/RN ' , 6th June , 1991 , page 9]


....... Albert 'Ginger' Baker , an ex-British soldier , operated in Belfast in the early 1970's . His gang was responsible for the so-called ' Romper Room ' murders , where Nationalists were beaten and tortured , then mutilated , before being shot dead .

Baker was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1974 for a number of those killings , and also admitted his role as a British agent . Baker said that the killings " were designed to fit into a British intelligence plan to terrorise the Nationalist community and push off support for the IRA . "

'Divide and Conquer ' : terrorise the population and purchase their political representatives -- and it still works .......



.......TERRORISTS ---->

[from ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , 21st January -- a Saturday , if memory serves -- 1984]


<---- British soldier Don Langdon , whose platoon served four months in South Armagh , spoke about how the men in his platoon wanted to put their Sergeant up against a wall and shoot him !

Langdon claimed that the soldiers were being ill-treated by the man -- " We felt demoralised , so humiliated , that we just turned to drink . " He said that when they were out on patrol , the platoon would call into a pub for drinks -- " We'd pile all our weapons into a corner and play cards , and drink . I've been drunk on patrol twice , without even taking any ammunition (out of the rifle) . "

The Brit soldiers stated that their Sergeant always pocketed the unofficial 'fines' of £50 which he charged them , instead of placing the issue 'on the record' !


Heartbreaking , is'nt it ? The squaddies so far from home and being bullied by one of their own -- WELCOME TO IRELAND ,MEN ; may all your Sergeants be the same .......!