Friday, September 28, 2007

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

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

HELD WITHOUT CHARGE OR TRIAL :

William Robinson , Mountjoy , Dungannon , County Tyrone .
Pat Devlin , 6 Arlit , Clonhybracken , Dungannon .
Paddy McGorry , Mountjoy , Dungannon .
John McAliskey , Derryloughan , Coalisland , Tyrone .
Patrick Quinn , Aidain , Coagh , Cookstown , Tyrone .
T. J. Quinn , Mooretown , Cookstown , Tyrone .
Gerry O' Neill , Ardboe , Dungannon .
Patrick Corey , Coalisland , Tyrone .
Brendan Foley , 8 Charlemont Street , Dungannon .
Eamonn Devlin , 22 Charlemont Street , Dungannon .
Patrick Devlin , 22 Charlemont Street , Dungannon .
Barney Young , Ballinderry Bridge , Cookstown .
Charles McGlinchy , Strabane , County Tyrone .
John Duffy , 54 O' Neill Avenue , Newry , County Down .
Vincent McCormack , Newry .
Joseph Campbell , 31 Castle Street , Newry
(interned after a five year sentence) .
(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.

The native Irish capitalist , and indeed the foreign capitalist that is based in Ireland - a 'landed man of substance' , who could have been expected to cause the industrial revolution to occur throughout Ireland , was by no means missing from the scene : even before the removal of the Penal Laws due to O' Connell's 'Catholic Emancipation Bill' in 1829, Irish Catholic merchants were prospering in supplying Irish agricultural produce to English cities which were growing as they industrialised , and also taking advantage of the need for that produce due to the French wars .

Much of the economic barriers to Catholic prosperity had already been breached by necessity , for the simple reason that the very small minority of wealthy English Proteatant landowners wanted to deal in land and other commodities with those Irish Catholic tenants who had prospered relatively and possessed wealth .

The propulsion behind Catholic Emancipation was not therefore so much economic as social and political ; rather than become industrialists , the native wealthy Irish were singularly obsessed with the status of obtaining access to education , the professions and politics , which were all opened to them by the ending of the Penal Laws . This social phenomenon was itself of course a result of the English ascendancy's social system in Ireland , yet it was so powerful as to divert the economic logic of the growth in native wealth.......
(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 British Army observation post on top of Divis Tower , which has a commanding view of the flats complex and of the Falls Road as far as the Royal Victoria Hospital (where there is another British Army observation post) is an obscenity that emphasises the reality of Divis as , in effect , an open prison , with the 'inhabitants' under continual surveillance .

Surveys have shown that about half of the flats have serious dampness , especially in the bedrooms , and that in sixty per cent of those damp flats personal belongings such as clothing , bedding , carpets and furniture have been damaged by mould and blackening , and fifty-seven per cent of affected households felt that some of the family had health problems such as bronchitis and asthma , as a result of sleeping in damp conditions over a long period .

The health profile of the area generally is no better than that of the Moyard area , another flats complex in nationalist West Belfast , where there have been recent cases of polio . Divis Flats , for its part , has a number of families affected by tuberculosis , dysentery and other contagious diseases . The rats in and around the complex are bigger than the cats and the dogs are afraid to go near them . There are only three passenger lifts to service the 12 blocks of flats and they are constantly breaking down.......
(MORE LATER).