PREPARING THE DEFENCE OF ULSTER LOYALISM .
Ten years ago this month the ' ULSTER WORKERS COUNCIL' strike brought down the power-sharing executive of BRIAN FAULKNER and GERRY FITT .
ANDY POLLAK talks to UDA leader ANDY TYRIE , one of the men behind the 1974 work stoppage , and GEORGE SEAWRIGHT , one of the new breed of hard-line Loyalist spokesmen , about the outlook for Northern Ireland's (sic) Protestants in the 1980's .
From ' FORTNIGHT ' magazine , May 1984 .
UDA Commander Andy Tyrie makes it clear that he does not want to sabre-rattle , that he wants to hope , often against hope , that a peaceful solution can be found to Northern Ireland's (sic) problems .
Ten years after the 'Ulster' Workers Council strike (UWC) he believes the Protestants are still not getting adequate leadership from their Unionist politicians , and that the British government now ignores the Loyalist community and is trying to move Northern Ireland (sic) slowly in the direction of a united Ireland without actually provoking an all-out crisis like that of May 1974 .
He says that "...though maybe it's mad , or wishful thinking , I'm still an optimist . The chances of peaceful accommodation through parliamentary politics are getting less , but I always hope that when you do arrive at a crisis situation people will say this has gone too far , it's going to cost an awful lot of lives , and maybe we should go up into the Assembly and try to work together .. "
But he is absolutely firm that the one thing the UDA will not countenance is interference by the Irish government (sic) in the North's affairs . Andy Tyrie claims that the UDA had nothing against the 1974 power-sharing executive - "...but we felt that the Council of Ireland was the thin edge of the wedge and that Ministers from Dublin would be coming up here and formimg a sort of joint government which would advance and advance until we were totally run by the Dublin government ....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE IRA HAS TO DO WHAT THE IRA HAS TO DO .
The Sinn Fein electoral wagon is slowing down . As a result , the IRA is likely to begin stepping up its war against the Northern State . GENE KERRIGAN reports from Belfast and also interviews Sinn Fein's DANNY MORRISON on the party's recent successes and failures .
From ' MAGILL ' magazine , September 1984.
The belief that Sinn Fein is approaching its ceilings of votes is likely , according to republican sources , to lead to a change in IRA military tactics . This may result in a return to a more intensive bombing of 'economic targets ' ; within the Sinn Fein leadership it is now believed that the party (sic) is unlikely to out-poll the SDLP in the short term and secure a position as the main representatives of the nationalist community in the North .
Sinn Fein will this month - after the new ward boundary arrangements are announced - work out its strategy for the 1985 local elections in the Six Counties . It may be hampered in its aim of maximising its vote by the rule changes brought in by Margaret Thatcher after the electoral victory of Bobby Sands in Fermanagh-South Tyrone in 1981 . To some extent the impression that Sinn Fein was breathing down the SDLP's electoral neck was deliberately fostered by the Sinn Fein leadership - against the advice of , for instance , Gerry Adams - in order to enthuse the Sinn Fein rank and file .
There has been a re-appraisal since the Euro elections in June 1984 , in which Sinn Fein - while retaining its percentage share of the nationalist vote - saw its overall voting figures fall from 102,000 to 91,000 . The 'armalite and ballot paper' strategy remains the same , with the involvement in electoral politics and community activities being seen as a way of involving wider circles of sympathisers but with the central belief retained that only a continuous and indefinitely prolonged military campaign will convince the British government that the State is ungovernable while the British remain ....... (' 1169 .... ' Comment - ....and now the Provos are part and parcel of that same State ; paid employees of Westminster who ask you to believe that they are following in the footsteps of Tone , Emmet and Pearse .... !)
(MORE LATER).
CHAOS IN THE GARDAI .......
The Evelyn Glenholmes affair not only involved unlawful activity by gardai , it stemmed from the chaotic condition of the force which has resulted from ignoring the warning signs of the past decade .
By Gene Kerrigan.
First published in ' MAGILL ' magazine , April 1986 .
As most of the allegations about garda 'short-cuts' involved members of republican groups there was a tendency to shrug them off as 'propaganda' ; or , if the gardai delivered the odd thump , so what ? Under cover of the suppposed need to protect the very existence of the State , the gardai were virtually given a free hand - the trend was as plain as daylight in the figures on the use of Section 30 , the extraordinary power of arrest , of virtual short-term internment , give to the gardai in the 'Offences Against The State Act' .
In the period 1972-1976 , the most violent period of the Northern conflict , 2,724 people were lifted by the gardai , under Section 30 : in the period 1980-1984 , with a relatively low level of violence , 11,035 people were arrested under Section 30 .
With the power of detention comes the power of interrogation . The crudities of the mid-1970's when suspects "...fell down the stairs .. " or "... walked into a door .. " with amazing regularity , eased off as the gardai became more sophisticated : interrogation techniques had by now become so refined that on one occasion there was a row between a local garda , who 'knew' a suspect was guilty , and the interrogators , who knew that the suspect was innocent even though he was ready to sign a confession after several hours of interrogation . There is something seriously wrong .
No one had planned for it to go wrong ; there was no 'grand design ' for the creation of a police State - just cops doing a job the best they knew how , and politicians ignoring the warning signs .......
(MORE LATER).
Over the last few days I have posted comments on the 'Indymedia' site in reply to a post on same regarding Provo Sinn Fein and the funds they receive from Westminster .
My comments added further information to the original piece , information which I backed-up with the source of where I obtained said information . Without any contact from 'Indymedia' , the posts I made were removed , while other posters ' coments were not touched .
I have had contact with 'Indymedia' over this issue - but all my posts concerning their censorship have now been removed as well . Political censorship on a public Forum (despite the fact that I did not contravene their 'Rules For Posting') : just thought you might be interested ...... Sharon . UPDATE - There have been developments in the early hours of this morning ; my 'banned' post has been re-published (and my posts complaining about same have been removed !) but , at the time of writing , I am non-the-wiser as to why my post was removed in the first place . I intend to pursue this matter further with 'Indymedia' . Sharon.
