Wednesday, March 21, 2007

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS.......

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the 'REAL LIVES' programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : " What about particular policies ? To make an inroad into Dublin you need policies to deal with the city's problems . "

GERRY ADAMS : " What happens nationally cannot be divorced from what happens in a city the size of Dublin . The reason why Dublin is so big is because of the breakdown in agriculture as an industry and the whole crumbling of the rural population , the dependence along the Eastern seaboard upon Britain .

This means that some people come to Dublin for work or to live or for some sort of opportunity . Then you have all the housing estates - I mean , the Ballymun mistake was repeated in Tallaght, except on a two-storey level . No facilities , no opportunities for young people , the lack of an attempt to create employment on the basis of building infrastructure , and the dependence on borrowing . What we have been saying is that the administration of local government should include more accountability to local people and a move towards labour-intensive industries . There are cuts in education which means that there are teachers on the dole . There is a need with a young population for more schools and hospitals , for roads - all of which can be used to provide jobs as well as a service .

I think that in many of the deprived areas people are quite justified in being cynical . Probably the most telling thing about Dublin was that only forty per cent of the population actually voted : the system of clientelism quite surprised me - I mean , I'm an MP in West Belfast and I deliberately don't send people letters saying ' Dear Mrs Smith , I enclose a letter from the city manager about your complaint about your gutters...' (See 'New Departures...' , here) I am surprised by the extent to which it goes on here . "
(MORE LATER).



THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .


People are informing against Raymond Gilmour and Michael Quigley now . Word went out that defence solicitors needed to know everything there was to know about the two men in order to mount a cross questioning assault , along the lines of character assassination , and information came back in abundance . The kitchen sink was thrown at the informer Michael Quigley in court : things that would not have been said publicly against any Derryman or Derrywoman a decade ago , have been dredged up and 'touted' aloud .

Why did you not enquire too closely into who sent those Christmas presents to your children , the defence enquired of Quigley ? Was it because you knew one of the two children was not fathered by you ? Do the names of these three women mean something to you because you had affairs with them after you married ? ('The Irish News' newspaper, incredibly , printed the names of the women , one of whom is herself married) Did you , who claim a moral conversion against 'terrorism' , consider it immoral to beat your wife ? Weren't you in the remedial class at school ? And so it went .....

Michael Quigley's parents and brothers and sisters , still living in Derry , have to live with this expose of their son . The Gilmours are being prepared for similar , and 'worse' , revelations about Raymond : information is flowing in and spilling over - private reticence abouit other people's family life has been awesomely sundered . It is almost merciful that the Gilmours have been thrown out of court and will not be there to hear it . Except that they must try to get back in , and sit silently , as the shameful flood bursts over them , in the hope of reaching Raymond's heart and saving the father.......
(MORE LATER).



GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983.......
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From 'GRALTON' magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible 'footprint' .)

IRISH COMMUNIST MOVEMENT (MARXIST-LENINIST): Maoist organisation , formed in 1969 as a development of the Internationalists. This group sponsored the formation of the Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist) in 1972 .

IRISH COMMUNIST ORGANISATION: Formed in 1965 as a Stalinist breakaway from the Irish Communist Group. As a result of the developing situation in the North it formulated its 'two nations theory' and changed its name to the British and Irish Communist Organisation in 1971 .

IRISH DEMOCRATIC YOUTH MOVEMENT: Youth movement of Official Sinn Fein, later Sinn Fein The Workers Party.
(MORE LATER).