Friday, September 07, 2007

DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS........
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

Larry Grogan, the Sinn Fein candidate for Louth constituency in the election , who is at present interned in the Curragh Camp , was referred to by Alderman Peter Moore when he said that he was proud to say Drogheda had made its contribution to the Republican Movement and they now had this man in prison that - "...the latchet of whose shoe many of those who liked to talk of all they did for Irish Freedom are not worthy to loose."

Concluding the debate , the Mayor of Drogheda , Councillor Eugene Hughes , said - " As long as there is one British soldier on Irish soil , there will be young Irishmen willing to go out and sacrifice their lives for freedom."

[END of 'DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS']
(NEXT : 'Release Prisoners' - from the same source)


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.

Rita O'Hare stated : " Such reforms as have been achieved have often been hailed by middle-class women as progress , but in fact , as intended , have served so often to defuse rising feminist militancy , and to that end put back the struggle . Women's demands are revolutionary demands and can only be fully achieved in the aftermath of a revolutionary change in the system .

While many women in the North , open to all different types of oppression in addition to the over-riding burden of oppression as women , have seen this connection and reality , women in the South , perhaps beginning at the converse position - identifying their oppression as women first - have not always taken the logical and vital step of becoming involved in the mainstream struggle for Irish liberation .

Women in the Republican Movement have worked for , and welcomed , in recent years , the recognition by that Movement of the importance of building and developing a real policy on women's struggle and attempting to carry that out , just as it has realised the importance of developing the struggle in the labour movement , without which socialism cannot be built....... "

(MORE LATER).



THE LEFT BEHIND.......

Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.

A young man tackles Dick Spring about the lack of funding for the Coolmine Drug Treatment Centre and the politician assures him that he will not find his Party wanting in that area . Ruairi Quinn had by now arranged for everybody to go to Grafton Street for another walkabout . There are people walking and talking on Grafton Street , minding their own business , when along comes Dick and shakes their hand and introduces himself and asks for the vote . It is clear that people recognise him but they are far too polite this early in the day to be rude .

Ruairi and Dick go into a hairdressers : it's a great scam and will give rise to loads of photos . So Ruairi combs Dick's hair and Dick pats Ruairi on the head . Sometime a few years ago , Ruairi had his hair parted by Moses and it hasn't been the same since .

Phil Coulter is on the amp system singing 'The Town I Loved So Well' as the bus reaches Landsdowne Road ; there are thirty-five workers engaged in work close to the river Dodder , developing a park . Needless to say , this is another of Ruairi's ideas . Some of the lads ask Dick for tickets to see a rugby match , and Dick replies 'see your man over there' , pointing at Comrade Quinn . There's very little really that can't be 'fixed up' if there's a will , a way and an election . It's lunch time , so we all head for Kitty O' Shea's.......
(MORE LATER).