THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE ....... There is substantial evidence that a major crime was perpetrated within the Garda Siochana five years ago .
The evidence for this crime has certainly been available to senior Gardai ever since then , but no enquiry whatsoever has taken place , let alone any Garda being disciplined in connection with that crime .
By Vincent Browne and Derek Dunne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1983 .
It is important for us to state that we are not alleging that any one of these Gardai were in any sense guilty of any wrongdoing , but we are drawing attention to the fact that these promotions took place without any enquiry whatsoever taking place into the very serious and convincing case that some of those Gardai may have been guilty of having ill-treated people in custody and participated in a plot to subvert the course of justice by conspiring to commit perjury .
The fact that the Gardai may have beaten up some people in custody is not of enormous significance to the 'body politic' , nor is even the likelihood that an innocent person (ie Nicky Kelly) may be in jail as a result of irregular Garda procedures : nor is the significance of the case in that a significant number of Gardai engaged in a plot to subvert the course of justice by planning to commit perjury - the primary significance of this case is that brutality , perjury and conspiracy could occur without any investigation taking place whatsoever or without any political controls being place on the Gardai as a result !
The conclusion must be that the Gardai are effectively outside normal political controls , able to engage in illegalities , even criminalities , without investigation , without restriction , even without censure . It has all the makings of a police state , if only in embryonic stage .
[END OF 'THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE']
(Next - 'THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS' : from 1985)
A PEOPLE'S ARMY .......'IRIS' magazine talks to two active women Volunteers in the Irish Republican Army about their involvement , their political attitudes , and their observations on the role played by women in the liberation struggle. Both Volunteers are from the Free State , where they live , and are in their twenties . 'Mary' comes from a country area and has been in the IRA for six years ; 'Anne' comes from the city and joined the IRA about a year ago .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.
'IRIS' magazine : " Finally , what do you say to feminists who regard the national struggle as a diversion from their own struggle for women's rights ? "
MARY : " I suppose most of those who use that argument feel that the war in the North is not geared to getting the support and involvement of all women , they feel that we alienate a lot of women . To a small degree that's true , but I believe that the fight for women's rights cannot be separated , in Ireland , from the fight against imperialism , which has generated the oppression of Irish women . It's part of the system of social domination we've inherited from a foreign enemy ."
ANNE : " So women have a dual role to play in the Movement : to fight imperialism and to educate the men . We're gradually breaking down these attitudes but it's a slow process breaking down several hundred years of mental oppression . "
[END of 'A PEOPLE'S ARMY']
(Next - 'THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR' : from 1983)
NEW DEPARTURES FOR SINN FEIN....... ? Sinn Fein's recent election success in the North of Ireland have focussed attention on the Provisionals' new turn to political activity at local level . There have been parallel developments in the organisation in the 26 counties .
'GRALTON' magazine spoke to Paddy Bolger , Ard Comhairle member and National Organiser for Sinn Fein ,with special responsibility for Dublin , about the changed perspective .
From 'GRALTON' magazine , August/September 1983 .
'GRALTON' magazine : " How would you measure success for this strategy a year from now ? Given that it is long-term , what would be a reasonable aspiration in your view ? "
PADDY BOLGER : " The aspirations are internal as well as external . We would hope in Dublin to be well organised in every local government constituency and we are organising at the moment on that basis . We are already organised reasonably well at cumann level in about two thirds of Dublin city and county . A couple of corporation seats in Dublin and Cork we would see as a major step forward . We don't expect to make a great big splash because of the hegemony of the other parties . We see the Workers' Party as a problem but not a major blockage . Working class support for Fianna Fail on the national question and trade union acceptance still of Fianna Fail's project for the economy are our major problems ."
(MORE LATER).
