Monday, August 27, 2007

A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES.......

This Manifesto was posted throughout Occupied Ireland during the week beginning December 6 , 1957 , and ending on December 12 .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

" Scores of our comrades are serving long terms of imprisonment . Many more are jailed without charge or trial . But their places in the Resistance have been filled ten-fold and now on the hills , in the glens , through the towns and villages of historic Ulster the young Volunteer freedom fighters are intensifying the struggle .

The Resistance is growing stronger . It will continue until Britain takes her forces of occupation out of our country . By force of arms our country is kept divided and unfree , by force of arms our people are robbed of their rights , by force of arms the usurper maintains his rule . Only by force of arms can Ireland be restored to her rightful owners - the Irish people .

We have no quarrel with any section of the Irish people or with any Irish man or woman . The puppet Assembly at Stormont - representing the vested interests of Tory-Unionism
('1169...' Comment - ....and nationalists/ex-republicans) who are tied to the British Empire by bonds of wealth , power and privilege - in appealing to sectarian passions have attempted to misrepresent us . Stormont has failed . ('1169...' Comment : Stormont was then , and is now , set-up by Westminster to manage the illegal and immoral occupation and to put a veneer of 'democracy' on same to the outside world , preferably , from Westminster's point of view that is , with the assistance of some local 'rebel pets') The Protestants of Occupied Ireland have not ALL been blinded by the propaganda of this Ascendancy class....... "
(MORE LATER).



A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

There was little attempt by the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group' to organise or recruit working-class women , who of course were suffering most from the Free State's repressive laws and attitudes . It is especially significant that no demands on child care were ever formulated by the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group , but , however , their activities did raise the public consciousness of women's rights in the South , and it was through their agitation that , for instance , deserted wives and unmarried mothers now have the right to social welfare allowances .

A breakaway group of socialist and radical feminist women , the 'Irish Women United' group, emerged in 1976 - but the same inability to get to grips with the situation in the North remained . To those who raised the question of the war in the North of Ireland the stock objection put forward was that it did not 'prioritise' women and as such was not an issue for feminists ! The fact remains that many of those objectors had perceived no difficulty in supporting women struggling in anti-imperialist wars in other countries . Mairin de Burca, for instance , one of the most vociferous women who spoke against any support for the republican women prisoners in Armagh Jail, had been arrested at a demonstration held outside the American Embassy in Dublin against the war in Vietnam and subsequently served a sentence in Mountjoy Jail where she demanded and got privileges as a political prisoner.......!
(MORE LATER).



REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS.......

Known members of the INLA were recruited to carry out a forced eviction of tenants in a Dublin house.
By Liz Walsh.
From 'MAGILL'magazine, June 1998 .

According to Thomas Gear , Bart O' Connor said 'they'll never bother you again' , and said there would be no cost involved but if he wanted to pay a nominal expense he could do so at a later stage . Thomas Gear denied being a member of the INLA . When Bart O' Connor was arrested he admitted contacting Gary Adams 'as a favour' to Gear - " I know he (Adams) is involved ," he told detectives , " I don't want to mention he is in the INLA , but you know yourself , it's no secret."

During questioning , Damien Bond said he had known Gary Adams for about 18 months . When asked how much he was getting for the job , he said - " I don't know . I was told it was a small job for drink money ." According to Thomas Murray's statements , the gang members were to get £100 for the job . He said he wouldn't have used the lump hammer found on him 'unless I had to.' Gary Adams refused to make a statement . The 36-year-old republican is a member of the executive of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), the alleged political wing of the INLA . According to 'security force' intelligence reports , Gary Adams is also the INLA's most senior member in the South of Ireland .

He was one of just 11 IRSP members to vote in favour of an INLA cease-fire at the IRSP Ard Fheis in Dublin last year (1997) . That vote was overwhelmingly defeated . Ironically , one of the issues he addressed at that Ard Fheis was forced evictions , caused by 'unionist-loyalist pogroms' . He condemned the evictions as 'cowardly attacks on defenceless men , women and children.......'
(MORE LATER).