Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Working within British 'law' with a vow NOT to use force against the British....... :

DANIEL O'CONNELL -1843 ;

THE PROVISIONALS -1994 TO DATE .


....... Daniel O'Connell and the 'Loyal National Repeal Association' were now victims of their own making - they had vowed to work within British 'law' only to achieve their objectives and now that same 'law' had been used to crack-down on them .......

One of the results of the decision by Daniel O'Connell to cancel the Clontarf 'Monster Meeting' was that the public lost faith in him and in the 'Loyal National Repeal Association' ; when he realised that he had lost that support , he expressed the view that "repeal of the Union" could not be won . The 'Young Irelanders' denounced him and began preparations for a military Rising - but the people were , for the most part , dispirited , and the 'Great Hunger' (so-called 'Famine') was taking its toll .

Hundreds of thousands of potential Irish Rebels died of hunger or related diseases between the years 1845 - 1849 . The then Catholic Archbishop of Dublin , Dr. Murray , prayed "that God in His mercy would vouchsafe to avert the calamity which seems impending over us ....."

Westminster stated that it could not give people food because , in doing so , it would undermine market prices ! The people , weak and dying from want of food , had nothing to lose - those that were strong enough to do so took matters into their own hands .......

(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.

SHOOTINGS.

" The British Auxiliaries , the Black and Tans , the RIC and other terrorists of our time were not so nice in their methods as Oliver Cromwell , but they did their best ! It was Oliver's invariable custom , before any fair-sized massacre , or mass murder , to intone a lengthy prayer , not for the souls about to depart , but for propaganda purposes . The 'project' over , this pious man started a second prayer , its length in proportion to the volume of blood which had been spilled ...

On one occasion , however, he was known to have departed from his usual edifying practice ; it was just after the Siege of Clonmel - two thousand of his 'psalm singers' lay dead inside the breach whilst he and the remainder were still outside the wall , and well back from it ! Hugh Dubh O'Neill had beaten him badly - " God damn Hugh Dubh O'Neill , " was Cromwell's prayer on that occasion ...

It was Sunday , 5th September 1920 : the people had come out from midday Mass at Ballyvourney and had scattered along the road westwards to the Mills and eastwards to the village . Two British military lorries , coming from the west , threaded their way between them ; the Brits were evidently returning to Macroom , having paid a visit to their barracks at Ballyvourney . The occupants of one lorry appeared to be in an unusually good humour and smiled and waved gaily to the people - the other lorry was covered-in , one of the usual type with light rain-proof canvas on the top and sides .

Having passed through the village of Ballymakeera , both lorries stopped at a point about four hundred yards beyond that village , at a spot on a height , on open ground which commanded a view in every direction - here they were out of sight for the time being . Then the children from the village discovered them , and approached ......."

(MORE LATER).


THE CIA : REAGAN'S SECRET ARMY .......

Since 1947 , the CIA has been a powerful force in covertly executing American internal and foreign policy . A major book detailing the workings , methods and sometimes incompetence of the secret service - 'The Agency ; The Rise and Decline of The CIA ' , by John Ranelagh , has recently been published .

Gene Kerrigan examines the books findings and assesses the importance of 'The Agency' and the role it has played over the last 39 years .


First published in 'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper , Dublin , 24th August 1986 , page 11.

Re-produced here in 21 parts .

(14 of 21).

The year before John F. Kennedy came to power the CIA had considered assassinating Colonel Abdul Kassem of Iraq , Trujillo of the Dominican Republic and Fidel Castro of Cuba ! There was also a plot to kill Patrice Lumumba in the Congo (Zaire) ...

...two professional killers were hired , but Lumumba was killed by his domestic enemies before the CIA could get to him ! Likewise , Kassem and Trujillo were killed by indigenous enemies , although the CIA managed to supply the gun that killed Trujillo .

A CIA hankerchief impregnated with toxic substances arrived for Colonel Kassem by mail after the Colonel had been shot dead ...

(MORE LATER).