Wednesday, September 26, 2007

THEY ARE HELD IN BELFAST JAIL .......

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

HELD WITHOUT CHARGE OR TRIAL :

James O' Connor , Cullion , Desertmartin , Derry .
Bernard Cassidy , Slaughtneil , Maghera , Derry .
J.J. Cassidy , Halfgain , Maghera , Derry .
D. Cassidy , Halfgain , Maghera , Derry .
Charles Young , Ballinderry , Cookstown , County Tyrone .
P. McLean , B. A. , Altamuskin , Omagh , Tyrone .
Gerald O' Docherty , Ballycolman Avenue , Strabane , Tyrone .
Brendan McNamee , Sixmilecross , Tyrone .
Frank McLoughlin , Ballyfatton , Sion Mills , Tyrone .
Seán Loughran , 21 Drumglass , Dungannon , Tyrone .
Joe McCallion , 8 Melmount Villas , Strabane .
Mick O' Kane , Bridge Street , Strabane .
Thomas O' Connor , Tullydonnell , Dungannon .
Brendan Mallon , Coagh , Cookstown , Tyrone .
Mick Kelly , Coagh , Cookstown .
Liam Lavery , Coagh , Cookstown .
J.F. Carr , Ballygittle , Stewartstown , Tyrone .

(MORE LATER).



ECONOMY IN CRISIS - An Historical Perspective.......

By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.

From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

An industrial revolution in Ireland confined itself therefore largely to the north-east , where the necessity of maintaining political control by sectarianism strangled the ideological revolution which was experienced elsewhere in Europe by reason of that economic development .

Conversely , the southern unindustrialised part of the country was very receptive to these new ideological concepts of freedom - there were of course some industries established down the east coast , mainly in Dublin and Cork , but in the main the rest of Ireland lay non-industrialised and economically under-developed , dependent on its agricultural economy other than perhaps for its main exceptions of brewing and distilling . Politically , Britain obviously had much responsibility for this failure to industrialise in Ireland .

Certainly the Act Of Union, at the beginning of the key period of the nineteenth century , left Ireland an open economy , linked closely to Britain and drastically subservient to her economically . But the fact remains that those industries already mentioned - linen , ship-building , brewing and distilling - did prosper and no satisfactory reasons why others could not , would seem to be apparent.......
(MORE LATER).



DIVIS FLATS : Building Towards A Demolition Campaign .......
Divis Flats , at the bottom of the Falls Road in West Belfast , have acquired a reputation for 'trouble' - of all kinds - and social deprivation ever since they were built in the 1960's . They have also endured some of the severest British repression meted out during the past 14 years , and replied with some of the fiercest resistance . Local resident and community activist Jim Faulkner examines the new resurgence of morale in the flats complex and the prospects it faces in its biggest battle yet - for total demolition .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 .

The inevitable consequence for those on supplementary benefits is high debt , with the NIHE and the NIES routinely using the Payment For Debt Act to deduct arrears at source from unemployment benefits . In some of these cases , a family with , say , three children is left after deductions with less than £30 a week to feed and cloth themselves .

Both Sinn Fein and the locally-backed 'Welfare Rights' project have been trying over the last year to tackle these problems by providing support and getting people to understand how the system works and how to take on the bureaucratic agencies that run those schemes and , to this end , a 'Benefit Take-Up Campaign' was launched in Divis Flats recently , on similar lines to a recent campaign in the Ballymurphy area which netted over £100,000 for people in that area .

Financially the Divis Flats campaign has already been a success , but additionally it has helped people to fight for what is theirs of right and not to regard it as a sort of 'charity' . However , the biggest problem in Divis is the flats themselves - they simply aren't fit to live in . In surveys carried out in the area since 1981 by a local study group , an overwhelming 96 per cent of householders stated that they didn't wish to continue living in Divis . 2,000 people live on top of each other in 12 blocks totalling 700 flats and a further 100 flats in the tower block . Then there's the British Army observation post on top of that tower block.......
(MORE LATER).