Irish Democrat June 1989

Founded 1939 

Organ of the Connolly Association 

June 1989 

40p 

Treaty 

review 

delivers 

TWENTY years have gone since 

the British government sent 

regular army units back onto the 

streets of Belfast and . Derry. 

Twenty years of violence, terror 

and repression. Twenty years of 

religious discrimination and 

sectarian conflict. Twenty years of 

military, judicial and political 

powers which amount to a virtual 

state of emergency across the 

water. " : 

We cannot allow another 

twenty years like these. It's time to 

break the silence and broaden the 

debate about the Irish crisis. 

After all, the feeling is there for 

a change of government policy. 

That much is clear from the 

opinion polls that have registered 

majorities for withdrawal over the 

last ten years, at least. 

But the British government has 

no right to pull out unconditionally 

and unilaterally. 

Withdrawals like that leave 

behind them the kinds of conflicts 

that today, AO years after Britain 

left Palatine, still wrack the 

M k M l f " ^ ' ' " ' 

This goes for all unilateral 

scenarios, whether of the 

immediate variety or within the 

lifetime of one parliament. Disengagement 

will only be won by a 

joint campaign with an all-Ireland 

democratic movement. 

The Irish people have a 

democratic right to a constructive, 

not a destructive, British 

disengagement. That means a 

British government first declaring 

its intention to withdraw and then 

setting about negotiating a just 

settlement with the parties 

involved. 

And that means the transfer of 

sovereignty of the Six Counties 

from the Westminster Parliament 

to an Irish government. 

Given the declared strategic 

importance of the whole of 

Ireland to the generals of NATO, 

it is clear that no Cold War 

government could be part of a 

democratic solution to the crisis. 

This is where the labour 

movement comes in. 

For the labour movement can 

and must, prepare for the return of 

a majority Labour government, 

part of whose platform must be 

British disengagement. 

But is must also begin to 

develop its internationalism and 

take up the democratic struggle on 

its own doorstep before a change 

of government. 

Careful campaigning work has 

managed to make some advances 

inside the trade union movement. 

The obstacles have been great, not 

least the attempts by some to 

enshrine British labour's right to 

remain silent on the cause of 

Ireland in the trade union 

movement's unwritten constitution. 

This year's twentieth 

anniversary has given an added 

boost to the campaign in some 

areas. 

Local government union 

NALGO is supportive — but that 

is a development of their recent 

work. The backing from the 

bakers' union is unexpected, and a 

sign of what can be done. 

But many more unions will 

have to take up the banner of a 

united and independent Ireland 

before the battle is won. 

< Because what is needed, 

whatever the colour of the 

government of the day, is a 

massive, British-based political 

movement for change. The time 

for that movement to begin to 

come together is how. The banner 

should be Time To Go. 

Time To Go this month 

tiosts a weekend event of what it 

calls political brainstorming oh 

University. 

Over a thousand people are 

expected to attend, many of whom 

have never before been to an event 

of this kind about the Irish crisis. 

The range of speakers is 

impressive, and they aim to cover 

everything from Irish culture to 

how to go. 

Time To Go itself has the 

makings of such a broad-based 

campaign. Its potential appeal is 

enormous. .The -sentiment for 

withdrawal is there. It's time to 

weld if into a political force for 

C i g - 

r ...... • 

change. 

THE British government's Northern 

Ireland Office has been making some 

pretty big claims for the strategy of the 

Anglo-Irish Agreement in the wake of 

the completion of the review of the 

workings of the Inter-Governmental 

Conference and the local election 

results in the Six Counties last month. 

They are saying that support for 

ultra-right Unionists on the one hand 

and Sinn Fein on the other is dwindling. 

The "extremes" are being "squeezed", 

says Tom King, dreaming^ of a new 

Stormont to ease the international 

pressure on London for a solution to the 

crisis. 

Support in the local elections for 

Paisley's DUP certainly slumped — 

down from 24 per cent in 1985 to 17 pe r 

cent this year, representing to a great 

degree a loss of patience with the 

"Ulster Says No" campaign. 

But while Sinn Fein lost 16 of the 

seats they won in 198S, with their rural 

vote in some decline, their support in 

Belfast rose to over 18 per cent, leaving 

their overall percentage of the vote 

virtually unchanged. 

None of this leaves King any nearer 

persuading the Unionists that their 

future lies in sharing office in a local 

parliament with nationalist 

representatives. And the Unionists can 

point to the combined size of their vote 

to back up their argument: it remains at 

around 69 per cent as against the 

nationalist 30 per cent, a pattern the 

British government established at the 

foundation of the statelet. 

Nor has the completion of the review 

of the workings of the Anglo-Irish 

Intergovernmental Conference, 

established when the Hillsborough 

Agreement was signed in November 

1985, revealed any imminent end to the 

nationalist nightmare, let alone any 

British solution to the crisis. 

They have failed to get the Unionists 

even talking about talks. They have 

refused even the cosmetic changes to 

the judicial system proposed from 

Dublin — substitution of three judges in 

the one-jadge no-jury Diplock courts on 

the model of the Dublin Special 

Criminal Court. They have made no 

real progress towards eliminating the 

employment discrimination that leaves 

Catholics two-and-a-half times more 

likely to be without work than 

Protestants. 

The only idea they have is limited 

local government devolved from 

London. But that, they admit, depends 

on co-operation from the Unionists, 

which isn't very forthcoming, and now 

there are fov would-be Conservatives, 

opposed to the Agreement, elected on 

an intetratkxdst ticket in North Down 

to deal with, too. 

11K Aaglo-Iri* Agreement isn't the 

beetontoa of a solution: It'i another 

bulwark in the M^ff ftfa. Democrats 

..rill lin #A IaaIi AuAMiIum^ fftn J j , j „ ^ . 

will oavt to nm ckvcwdcic lorpi U^llH*

Page Two THE IRISH DEMOCRAT June 198$ 

The abolition of the domestic rating system is going to make life even more difficult for the Irish emigrants 

now arriving in Britain. DONAL MacCRAiTH explains. 

Poll Tax burden hits Irish community 

June 1989 

THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 

Page Three 

London Scene 

LONGFORD-born TGWU member 

and Labour Councillor Colum 

Moloney of Brent's Race Relations 

Sub-Committee has called on the 

Council to produce a detailed report 

on the implications of the Tory 

government's 'Community Charge' 

for the Irish community. 

The Poll Tax, the Tories' charge to 

replace rates, to be introduced in 

England and Wales next year, is 

expected to hit the Irish working-class 

community especially hard due to the 

high number of adult emigrants who 

have settled in major cities like 

London. 

Unlike domestic rates, which were 

based on property valuations, the 

community charge for a young Irish 

worker in a grotty bedsit will be the 

same as the wealthy owner of a huge 

mansion on a 1,00()-acre estate 

The controversial tax will 

particularly affect Irish families as 

many of them live in inner-city areas 

where the charge is likely to be high, 

many are of above average family size, 

and grown-up children tend to remain 

living in the family home. 

Opponents of the Poll Tax urge the 

Irish in Britain to ensure that they are 

registered to vote in British elections. 

In marginal constituencies Irish 

workers can use their voting power to 

express their opposition to this unjust 

tax burden. 

YOUTH TRAINING 

LOCAL Irish young people 

between the ages of 16 and 25 are 

being invited to apply for new places 

on training courses in new 

technology, office and business skills, 

care in the community, construction 

and tourism and leisure. 

The Migrant Training Scheme 

(MTS) was set up in partnership with 

ten local authorities, including Brent 

and Camden, and the European 

Social Fund in Brussels, to provide 

training and employment opportunities 

for migrant youth. 

The scheme is particularly 

concerned about meeting the needs of 

young Irish people but it has places 

for trainees from other migrant 

communities. The training 

programme will last six months with 

places for 2I0 trainees, including 40 in 

Brent 

The organisers of the scheme plan 

to widen the employment 

opportunities for young Irish 

immigrants through training in 

employment areas where there is a 

demand, including computer 

operating and programming and 

word processing. 

The successful applicants will be 

paid a living and travelling allowance 

and the scheme organisers are at 

present considering a scheme to help 

the trainees who have accommodation 

problems. 

Enquiries about the scheme may be 

made to MTS, Polytechnic of North 

London, Holloway Road, London N7 

(telephone 607 2789). Application 

forms are also available from local 

Irish advice centres, such as BIAS 

Information Centre, 296 Willesden 

Lane, Willesden Green NW2 (459 

6286). 

IRISH WORKERS 

IRISH trade unionists in Brent 

have set up an Irish workers' group to 

represent Irish people in the local 

authority's workforce and to ensure 

that the council recognises and takes 

account of Irish people in its 

employment policies and 

delivery. 

Membership of the group includes 

Irish people working for Brent council 

and for groups funded by the council 

and it will demand action by Brent 

Council to redress the underrepresentation 

of Irish workers, 

particularly at senior levels. It will 

also seek positive action to provide 

more training opportunities for Irish 

workers. 

IDENTITY CRISES 

YOUNG Irish jobskeekers coming 

to London experience great difficulty 

in providing their identity to the 

Department of Social Security (DSS) 

and suffer hardship due to delays in 

processing their claims, according to a 

Camden-based group. 

The Action Group for Irish Youth 

claims that the payment of Income 

Support in arrears and the lack of 

emergency provision to cover 

accommodation costs has led to an 

increasing rate of homelessness 

among Irish youth in London. 

A survey carried out by the AGIY 

showed that the greatest problems 

experienced by young Irish migrants 

were attempting to prove their 

identity to the Department of Social 

Security and trying to obtain 

emergency payments. 

• LILLY HILL (front row, centre), mother of Guildford Four frame-up 

victim Paul Hill, was present at the Wolfe Tone Society's annual James 

Connolly/Bobby Sands Commemoration in London's Conway Hall last 

month. Over 500 attended, hearing speeches from, among others, 

Bernadette McAllskey and Niall Farreil. Pic: Mike Cohen. 

More than a third of the sample 

surveyed said that they experienced 

great difficulty in proving their 

identity tp the DSS; a further 37 per 

cent saidi thty had to produce their 

passport; and 90 per cent of crisis loan 

applications were refused. 

The survey was carried out with the 

assistance of Brent Housing Aid 

Cenlref Brent Irish Advisory Service, 

Camden Irish Centre, Conway House 

Hostel (Kilburn), Kilburn Citizens' 

Advice Bureau and five other advice 

agencies in London. 

Now the AGIY has taunched a new 

information leaflet on changes in the 

Social Security benefits system and 

their impact on young Irish people. 

The leaflet also calls on the DSS to 

withdraw its current guidance on 

identification. 

MSF trade union member Dave 

Murphy of AGIY explains: "The 

leaflet offers practical advice to young 

Irish claimants and advises on the 

main features of the social security 

changes, problems around identification, 

and information for 16-17 year 

olds about t,.e Youth Training 

Scheme." 

DION 

THE Irish government is this year 

providing half a million punts for 

grams which can be made available to 

voluntary organisations for welfare 

projects on the recommendation of 

DION, its advisory committee Oil 

emigrant welfare services. 

The committee, which is chaired by 

Dubliner Paul Cullen, Labour 

Attache at the Irish Embassy in 

London, includes Dublin-based trade 

union official Sean Redmond, a 

former national organiser Of the 

Connolly Association. 

The committee's priorities art 

front-line advice services; outreadt 

services for unemployed youths, 

travellers, women and children iH 

temporary accommodation; day-care 

centres for elderly emigrants; anil 

special projects for unemployed 

people. 

The DION committee intends to 

focus in 1989 on project proposals 

which address these priorities, 

particularly through the development 

of information and training support 

services for community groups. 

DION will also be looking at how 

these organisations can improve their 

capacity to raise additional funds 

from a variety of other sources, 

including the statutory authorities, 

for their local work. 

Among the Irish Welfare agencies in 

London currently funded by DION 

are Action Group for Irish Yofith in 

Camden; Brent IrishAdvisorySerWfce 

in • Willesden; and Irish 

Community Services in Cam&& 

Town. 

INNISFREE 

THE Willesden-based Innisfree 

Housing Association, which has 

started an ambitious housing 

programme to provide more 

accommodation for Irish sitl^jfe 

people in London, has launched an 

appeal for funds to purchase a 

minibus. 

The Edward Harvist Charity which 

is administered by Brent Council has 

boosted the appeal funds with a grant 

of £3,000. Innisfree will be holding 

benefit dances and asking for 

donations to the appeal. 

The minibus will be used in the day 

to day work of the association, 

moving people and furniture betwvn 

the hostels and housing schemes run 

by the association. At other times' it 

will be available for use by pensioners 

and other groups. 

Galway-born TGWU member 

Padraic Kenna, Innisfree's secretary, 

said this week: "We are very grateful 

to Brent Council for assisting Our 

work for homeless people. This is the 

first local Irish community minibus 

and is sure to be in great demand." 

Struggle for the soul of the British labour movement 

BRITAIN'S Labour Party hasn't 

come up roses from its policy review. 

Its previous commitment to 

returning major industries to the 

democratic accountability of public 

ownership has significantly 

weakened, its past determination to 

rid Britain of nuclear weapons now 

looks less than single-minded, and 

Neil Kinnock no longer talks of 

Labour transforming society but 

merely running capitalism in a fairer 

manner than Mrs Thatcher. 

Whether the party will wear all this 

willemerge at this year's conference in 

Brighton. But there are already moves 

to reverse the worst of the review, and 

even movement around the party's 

policy of Irish reunification by 

"consent." 

During the national executive's 

policy review deliberations, advocates 

of British withdrawal who proposed 

amendments to Kevin McNamara's 

policy statement won support from 

only five of the NEC's 28 members. 

But Clare Short's attempt to 

remove a sentence making 

reunification conditional on the prior 

existence of consent in the Six 

Counties, leaving the party 

committed to aictiVely intervening to 

build such consent, won twide as 

many votes, perhaps opening a 

window of opportunity in the labour^ 

movement. 

Of course, the Labour Party won't 

be moved until the trade union 

movement makes Ireland indeed the 

cause of labour. 

But powered by the accelerating 

momentum of the Time To Go 

campaign, several unions have 

already this year attempted to debate 

the Irish crisis. Not all of them have 

been successful. 

Shopworkers union USDAW 

passed two resolutions by narrow 

majorities at their Blackpool 

conference last month on democratic 

rights but a resolution On Time To Go 

was heavily defeated. 

Resolutions were removed from the 

order paper at the conferences of the 

teachers' NUT and the trades 

councils, but a supportive motion was 

passed in the bakers' union. 

Later this month, industry and 

services union MSF have five 

resolutions on the order paper, one 

calling for peaceful British 

disengagement and urging 

support for Time To Go. The 

National Union of Railwaymen have 

three resolutions on their preliminary 

agenda, two of which support Time 

To Go, and 20 resolutions have been 

submitted to the Transport and 

General Workers' Union Brighton 

conference, although support for 

Time To Go seems certain to founder 

on the rock of region II. 

Most significant of all, the steady 

campaign within local government 

union NALGO, which was 

infamously rebuffed at this yeftr's 

Scottish TUC, is seeking to win the 

national union to taking its Irish 

policy to this year's TUC congress in. 

September , . 

If NALGO is successful, the sevenyear 

rflenct at the top of ~ 

w 

trade 

union movement 

broken. Hasten the day. 

BOBBIE HEATLEY reports on a new 

initiative by Labour TD Emmet Stagg. 

FVENTS which happen in Dublin 

have profound consequences for 

those who live in 'the North,' even 

though the Unionists might pretend 

that it is otherwise. All too often what 

might be called "negative vibes' seem 

to emanate from that quarter. It is 

goOd therefore to see what might turn 

out to be something of a long-awaited 

change. 

The gathering which took place in 

the AT& GWU rooms. Middle Abbey 

Street, on May 3rd, might just have 

initiated something of a 'new 

departure' for the Irish Labour Party 

and, therefore, for the whole of Irish 

(and, possibly, British) politics — and 

that despite a virtual press wall of 

silence. 

I refer to the meeting sponsored 

jointly by the Campaign for 

democracy and the Trade Unions for 

Irish; Unity and Independence 

(TUlUI). And the significance does 

not lie in the good attendance, but in 

the content. 

Speakers included Clare Short MP, 

leader of the Time to Go movement in 

Britain, who gave a resume of that 

movement's progress and how it interrelated 

with what might be potentially 

forthcoming in Ireland. Quite rightly 

she averred that it was up to the critics 

of Provisional-IRA violence to 

demonstrate that they were capable of 

achieving Irish unity, independence 

and democracy through non-violent 

anti-sectarian means. 

She looked forward to the day when 

such a movement could be developed 

DEVELOPING a national democracy 

and defending the modern nation state 

were the twin themes of the third Jim 

Gralton commemorative weekend 

school on the influence of the French 

Revolution on Ireland held in Gralton's 

native Lei trim last month. 

Socialists and republicans from 

north and south of the border, of all 

parties and of none, joined the local 

Gralton Labour History Committee in 

a fitting tribute to the work of the lifelong 

radical, deported from Ireland for 

his political beliefs by Devalera in 

1934 

Democracy, Tony Coughlan told the 

school, was not simply majority rule: a 

democracy is a community, usually a 

natipnal community, in which 

minorities freely agree to be bound by 

the majority. 

fashionable theories of 

of the nation state, be said 

in Ireland, north and south, since 

many sections of the British people 

were using the violence as an excuse 

for 'turning off whenever Ireland was 

mentioned. This made it harder to 

engage the British labour movement 

and to progress the activities of such 

as Time to Go. She was looking for a 

movement with which she could work 

in tandem. 

But the bomb-shell of the meeting 

had been delivered by Emmet Stagg, 

the prominent Irish Labour Party TD, 

who haij^ntimatcd that, at long last, 

the prospects for such an all-Ireland 

movement might be beginning to 

appear. Announcing that he was 

speaktng with the approval of party 

loader, Dick Spring, and the party in 

the Dfcil, M r Staggdeclared that it was 

°f Irish Labour-to 

request fiom*Britain a... declaration 

ol interest in withdrawing from 

Ireland. 

I quote now from his own press 

hand-out, ... 'it would mean 

campaigning in both Britain and 

Ireland for a declaration of British 

interest in Irish unity. Such a 

declaration would signal to everyone 

that union between Britain and 

northern Ireland is neither desirable 

nor inevitable. 

'The British Labour Party's policy 

on Irish unity by consent is very close 

to this declaration. The popular 

appeal of the 'Time to Go' initiative 

shows growing support for British 

interest in Irish unity.' 

Thi$ was now the policy of the Irish 

Labour Party. 

While not doubting for one 

that in Europe, the Italian state was 

barely a century old, and Germany was 

unified in 1870 and redivlded after the 

second world war. Throughout the 

world, there were now 160 member 

states at the United Nations, almost 

three times the number there was in 

1945. 

It was big capital for whom the 

nation state was outmoded, he said, but 

the transfer of sovereign powers from 

elected national bodies to non-elected 

supra-national collectivities would 

make the national question central to 

West European politics in the coming 

decades, he predicted, and urged an 

international campaign in defence of 

national democracy. 

Dublin economist Ant6in 

O' Muirchea rtaigh said that 

withdrawal form the EC was not on the 

immediate afttfa, hat 

resistance needed to be stepped up by 

moment the bona fides of fijlr Stagg, 

TD, politically interested people are 

waiting to see to what exteQfthe Irish 

Labour Party can be got to actively 

campaign for the implementation of 

such a progressive policy. Depending 

upon the outcome (will the policy 

amount to more thajrt mere 

tokenism?), the political implications 

could be very far-reaching: I 

• Is the Irish working-class,(through 

its major party and trade unions 

about to take up, at longest, the 

leadership of the national struggle? 

• Will an alternative nfode of 

struggle, to that of the paramilitary 

Republicans, nou&be provided? 

•]'] ~ 

• Will the right-wing consensus, 

now hogging the political groundspace, 

at long last be threatened by 

a discernably radical new left 

4 

alternative? ^ :: '< 

• In particular, will the shaq^Re- 

; «publicinism of fianna £ailift last 

be exposed and will it ^"pressurised 

into becoming something 

more authentic? 

• And last, but not least, what will 

be the impact of Labour's new 

policy in the North? How will the 

SDLP, its leaders and its members, 

respond to this new development? 

Will the aspirations of Gerry 

Adams for a political struggle, 

broadly based, be made more 

credible to presently dis-believing 

Republicans within his own ranks? 

The establishments throughout Ireland, 

north and south, are — like 

Britain — devoid of any solutions. 

Therefore they are forever falling 

back on empty, piously nauseating, 

'denunciations' of violence (usually 

IRA violence) through the medium of 

their tame — and now.it would appear 

the democratic subversion of the 

Community. 

Ihe Common Market was rife with 

contradictions, he said, foremost 

among them the struggle between 

sovereign states and EC institutions, 

but also including the tension between 

the peripheral regions and the core, the 

pressures for re-armament and 

disarmament, and the relations 

between the imperial centre and the 

developing countries of the Ihird 

World. 

Pursuing the themes of his 

contribution at the joint Campaign for 

Deniocracy-TUI UI Dublin meeting 

reported above by Bobbie Heatiey, 

Labour TD Emmet Stagg outlined his 

vision for a renewal of Irish Labour 

through the reclamation of nationalism 

from FUwa Fall. 

soci*H»U . tin'. ' serious about 

putting forward a politics of Irish unity 

I 

their nervous, if not frightened — 

newspapers. Do they sense that 

something may have happened at 

Middle Abbey Street on May 3rd to 

form a projectile that will pierce their 

Achilles heel? 

One would have thought that the 

political ramifications of such a 

meeting, as heretofore described 

would have been such as to be 

regarded as . . . 'news-worthy'. Other 

speakers at it were trade-union leader 

Sean Redmond, representing TU1UI, 

and Kevin McCorry of the Campaign 

for Democracy. The chairman was the 

well-known and well-respected retired 

area secretary of the AT&GWU, 

Mattie Merrigan. 

Curiously it took the Irish Times, 

which had a reporter at the event, five 

days in which to present its coverage 

of the meeting. When its report did 

appear, the IT appeared not to have 

noticed the presence on the platform 

of a member of the British Labour 

Party's national executive. 

When Campaign for Democracy 

members of the audience returned to 

Belfast their press officer drew up a 

statement and submitted it to: 

• The Thompson-owned, rabidly 

Unionist, 'Belfast Telegraph'. 

Characteristically and therefore 

not surprisingly the Telegraph 

printed not one word. When 

does print anything from radical 

anti-Unionists it is never more 

than a few uninformative sentences. 

• The Henderson family-owned 

'Newsletter'. This is also rabidly 

Loyalist, but it has — on recent 

occasions — given space to the 

activities and the opinions of such 

as the Campaign for Democracy. 

• The 'Irish News', traditionally the 

standard-bearer of nationalism. 

The Provisionals regard this to be 

the house-magazine of the SDLP. 

However, the IN is usually very 

good in reporting developments 

that affect the interests of the 

community. But, on this occasion, 

surprise ... surprise ... not a word 

appeared. What could the reason 

here have been? 

Glasnost, it would appear, is meant 

lor others when Labour enters politics 

in the manner that it should..In that 

event, Glasnost is for the Russians ... 

and the Poles. One needs a strong 

stomach to digest the hypocrisy. And 

this is a very rare example of Dublin 

real M'Coy progressiveness 

had an impact on Belfast. 

having 

as the basis of an alternative national 

politics, then Irish unity must be an 

active process, an invitation _ to 

participate in a new shared community 

of destiny, a building of a new Irish 

nation," he said. 

The school closed with a parade from 

Mohill to Gralton's home at Eflemagb, 

where Niall Farrefl made a powerful 

oratiffl, and independent socialist 

Aldetôn Declan Bree, whose 

brainchild tbc schools have been, 

marked the passing since last year's 

commemorative weekend of two 

staunch supporters of the project, C. 

Desmond Greaves and Donall 

MacAmlaigh. 

Five members of the.CA, Including 

Leitrtm-born Doris Daly who had been 

specially invited to the school, Joined 

many old friends, including Joe and 

Dorothy Deigkan, Packy Early, Bobbie 

Heatiey, Kevin McCorry, John 

McLeUaad and Mvter&dleir. 

Apartheid 

links with 

Loyalists 

exposed 

WHEN the Nicaraguan army 

captured US airman Eugene 

Hasenfus two years ago, no-one could 

have suspected a byzantine story of 

the US trading weapons for hostages 

and arming the anti-Nicaraguan 

contras on the proceeds was about to 

unravel. 

Even in Britain the story was big 

news, as the trail was traced back to 

Colonel Oliver North, the shadowy 

National Security Council and the 

current US president George Bush 

himself. 

In the US, the almost daily twists in 

the Iran-Contra affair, and an everexpanding 

dramatis personae, 

virtually transformed 'Irangate' into 

the news equivalent of a soap opera. 

But Britain's newspaper editors 

radically re-assessed their news values 

when this country's own 'Ulstergate' 

erupted at the end of April. 

Ever since French police arrested a 

South African diplomat while he was 

examining a few component parts for 

a Shorts-manufactured Blowpipe 

missile with the help of three ultraright 

Loyalists from the so-called 

'Ulster Resistance', the press have for 

the most part dutifully regurgitated 

official briefings and comprehensively 

buried the story. 

And no wonder. The British 

government gets embarrassed when a 

former UDR soldier — Noel Little — 

and a serving weapons instructor with 

the Territorial Army — Samuel 

Quinn — are caught red-handed with 

parts of a missile stolen only a 

fortnight previous from a County 

Down TA base. 

Establishment faces go redder still 

when the loyalist trio are keeping 

company with a representative of the 

apartheid regime on the lookout for 

the kind of military hardware denied 

the racists by the United Nations arms 

embargo, the lack of which they 

became keenly aware of when 

combined Cuban and Angolan 

airpower inflicted the defeats which 

eventually forced them to the 

Namibian negotiating table. 

And the trail stretches beyond 

Pretoria to Israel, whose government 

is in cahoots with the apartheid 

regime, and especially in military 

matters. It was there former UDA 

leader John McMichael, a close 

associate of Noel Little's, visited some 

years ago, and it was from Lebanon 

that some time later, in December 

1987, a massive weapons consignment 

was despatched bound for three 

Loyalist paramilitary groups. 

• The future of Shorts itself remains 

unclear, with the British government 

denying it has sold off the aircraft 

factory to French-canadian firm 

Bombardier. 

Keen to gain a foothold in the 

European market with the advent of 

1992and underpressure at home from 

the completion of the North 

American internal market, 

Bombardier last month emerged as 

favourites over British electronics 

firm GEC, who were bidding for the 

aircraft factory with Dutch company 

Potter. 

Trade unions at Shorts are braccd 

for redundancies . when the 

privatisation of the ailing firm is 

Anally completed.

Page Four THE IRISH DEMOCRAT June 1969 

National 

question to 

top West 

European 

agenda 

III! furopean C omir,unity is goinj. 

ip make the national quonon the ke> 

question in Wis! Lur; pean politics in 

the ne\t decade. ;iu >rdmg to Irish 

independent hum-election candidate 

R.nmond Crotty 

And the man win took the 

siiccesstiil Supreme Court actioi. 

ag.nnst the Single I tiropcan Act ii 

IW7 says 1992 challenges the trad: 

unions to appl> the lessons i 

< onnolK to the problems ol today 

"Hie I ( C challenges the labou. 

nimement to appl> at the end of til. 

2tMh century the lesson til James 

Connolly ," says Crotty. "that [..about 

should be loremost in the delence < 

democracy anil that an internationalist 

must stand lot the kell-determinat 

ion and sell-expression oi the various 

communities into which humanity is 

ili\ ided." 

Speaking last month at a 

candidates' lorum organised specially 

by Dublin Trades Council, Crottv 

agreed with the trades council that the 

1 t "s structural funds would do little 

lot unemployment 

"We should not delude ourselves 

into thinking that these structural 

funds are anything but sops to 

compensate us for handing over to 

Brussels the power to take real steps to 

develop the Irish economy in our own 

interests," he said 

"To think that 'socialism', for those 

like Labour and the Workers' Party 

who purport to want it, can come 

Iron) the LLC' is enough to make the 

cats laugh;" he said. 

Crotty, who is standing in the 

Dublin Area constituency in the 

elections to the Luropean Parliament 

on June I?, is campaigning in defence 

of jobs, neutrality, democracy and a 

clean environment. 

II elected, he is pledged to pay his 

1125,000 annual wages into a publicly 

accountable trust fund, which will be 

used to generate a critical attitude in 

Ireland towards greater dependence 

on the Luropean Community 

following the evample of the 

Danish People's Movement MEPs.he 

will receive from the fund a salary 

equal to the average Irish industrial 

wage and minimal expenses. 

Strong support for his campaign 

emerged last month from one of the 

world's foremost economic experts, 

I'rofessor Wynne Godley, Professor 

of Applied Economics at Cambridge 

University. 

"Like the MLPs ol the Danish 

People's Movement. Crotty stands to 

gain nothing whatever for himself," i 

Professor Godley said "But Ireland 

has every thing to gain." 

• Bob Mulholland, the Scottish 

Sovereignty Campaign's prospective 

Luro-election candidate for the 

Highlands and Islands, last month 

withdrew from the contest, in protest 

at the £1,000 levy for standing in the 

elections. 

"It is ridiculous that a £1,000 

deposit is required lor a 'parliament' 

which isn't even a legislature and is 

located more than 500 miles from 

Scotland," he said. 

He said that the "most intelligent 

response" w ould be tor the public to 

boycott the elections on June 15 and 

demonstrate it was not tooled "by this 

I C caricature ol democracy." 

• INTO RECEIVERSHIP: Ballincollie-based firm Michael Byrne. 

Massive job losses and appalling poverty are now rife in Cork, while monopoly 

profits continue to rise, reports JIM SAVAGE. 

Cork ravaged by jobs crisis 

Cork Letter 

GRADUALLY the economic 

position in Cork is becoming worse 

from day to day as unemployment 

now stands at a massive 25,295. 

Beamish and Crawford, the Corkbased 

brewery which is a whollyowned 

subsidiary of the Australian 

group Elders IXL, is to shed 100jobs 

in what they call a "performance 

improvement plan" — whatever that 

is supposed to mean. 

Then we have the Ballincollie-based 

bacon company, Michael Byrne and 

Sons, gone into receivership with the 

loss of 170 jobs. It could not pay 

£100,000 owed to pig producers and 

80 jobs in the shop string are at risk. 

Then we have what is called 

Development Capital Corporation 

Ltd announcingthat, with the Bank of 

Ireland, it is engaged in a buyout of 

the frozen foods division of Musgrave 

Ltd, a major distributor of frozen and 

chilled foods in Ireland from bases in 

Cork and Dublin. Making the usual 

inquiries, nobody could tell me who 

Development Capital Corporation 

Ltd are or where their business is 

situated. 

DEPRESSED 

Cork County Council's road 

workforce has been cut in areas by 

40 per cent. While the amount of work 

needed to be done has risen, the 

number of roadworkers has dropped 

at Ballincollie from 36 to 21, and in 

Carrigaline from 43 to 24. 

A least 120 City Hall jobs will be 

axed. Rents of corporation houses are 

also due for a massive increase from 

£ 15 per house in the north side area of 

the city which is the most depressed 

area in Europe. 

There has been a huge rise in the 

number of Cork city people 

committing suicide and Lord Mayor 

Bernard Allen lays the blame squarely 

on the shoulders of the present 

economic situation. They are 

caused, he believes, by pressure on 

Tories 

fall out 

over 

1992 

families brought about by job losses 

and lack of opportunities. 

The bizarre situation, with 25,295 

unemployed, is not the fault of the 

workers, but of a crazy system which 

permits this sort of thing to happen. 

DISTURBING 

There has been an increase in the 

number of people begging over the 

past four or five years. 

The face of begging is not 

picturesque — it is a disturbing story 

of social deprivation. The problem in 

Cork is growing and the faces of the 

women and children at strategic street 

corners and outside churches, hotels 

and shops are becoming more 

familiar. 

They don't apparently make much 

money, contrary to popular opinion, 

as one woman who appeared in the 

District Court recently had collected 

just £1.48. 

The gardai are slow to take action 

as they know the court would quite 

reasonably be slow to impose 

sentence. The only option for the 

garda on the beat is to move the 

beggars on wherever possible. 

STARTLING 

The number of families depending 

on weekly aid from the Vincent de 

Paul Society in Cork has risen by a 

massive 80 per cent since last year. 

In 1983, St Vincent de Paul, which 

is one of the many charitable 

organisations in Cork, were making 

1,693 visits to families in serious 

difficulty. But now that figure has 

risen by a startling 80 per cent to 

3,159, the society revealed. 

Their expenditure was up 17 per 

cent on the £ 1.5 million they spent last 

year in providing no more than basic ' 

necessities such a food, fuel and 

clothing. This grim situation reflected 

in the fact that the society's churchdoor 

collections have just maintained 

their level of last year. People are not 

giving more simply because they have 

IT is not only the labour movement that 

is divided about which way to go in 

regard to the European Community 

and much trumpeted Single European 

Market of 1991 The Tories are openly 

arguing. A Bruges group consisting of 

politicians, city financiers and 

businessmen was formed following Mrs 

Thatcher's much publicised and 

misinterpreted speech at Bruges in 

Belgium last September which 

appeared to call for a brake on progress 

to European Union. 

Earlier this year saw a slogging 

match at the Institute of Directors. Sir 

John Hoskyns stated they should blow 

the whistle on 1992 and start again, 

whilst the Trade and Industry 

Minister, Lord Young, defended 1992 

and all the TV c6mmercials. 

More recently another group has 

weak- 

June 1989 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 

PETER BERRESFORD ELLIS 

L V 

contrasts the Irish government's failure to 

Language 

implement its language restoration policy 

with efforts by the New Zealand 

government. 

Life force of 

laeniu v oi 

individual 

the people 

New Zealand Government set up the 

Anonn is 

Maori Language Commission to 

promote the use of Maori 'as a living 

not got it. 

better than its present critical 

language and as an ordinary means of 

It is a vicious circle. Voluntary condition. But greed for the quick 

Anall 

communication.' Maori now has a group 

social worker Paddy O'Brien buck profit comes first. 

equal validity with English and any 

describes poverty in the city as 

KO TE REOTEMAURI. O TE 

GLOOMY 

citizen, Maori or not, can use the 

"unbelievable" and adds: "People are 

MAN A MAORI - Language is 

But few can deny that the picture 

language if they so desired even 

starving and children are going to 

the Life Force of the People. 

presented of the modern Ireland, where 

throughout the courts of New 

siderably 

school without having enough food." 

- Maori saying. 

where 5 per cent of the population 

Zealand. 

Recommendations of the 1986 owns 53 per cent of the wealth, and 

Imagine such status being given to 

Commission on Social Welfare have 

WHENEVER one mixes with 

where only 14 per cent of the children 

Welsh or Scottish Gaelic in the United 

been shelved by the present 

representatives of language 

of skilled manual workers go on to 

Kingdom! There is a thought! 

government, which while in 

movements from other parts of the 

ened. 

higher education, is gloomy indeed. 

opposition had called for their 

world, one always feels obliged to Maori is one of the Eastern 

Add to this the appalling poverty of 

implementation, and at the same time 

make an apology for Ireland. Yes, you Polynesian languages, closely related 

the underprivileged, the 30,000 living 

the misery of people in the city is 

find yourself saying, since 1921 the to Tahitian and Hawai'ian and less 

in squalor and the fact so many simply 

deplorable. 

Government of Ireland has been closely to Samoan and Tongan. New 

do not have the means to buy essential 

pledged to the restoration of the Irish Zealand has a population of 3,289, identity against the forces of 

GREEDY 

food — and it becomes infinitely 

language. Yes, you admit, so far it has 300, of which figure the Maori conformism." 

Contrast this with the announcement 

by Mr John Ronan, Cork-based 

worse. 

failed in this aim and, indeed, the population comprises 400,000. But I wonder how many readers will 

On the subject of emigration, it has 

number of mother-tongue speakers of only some 60,000 are mother-tongue hear an Irish echo to these sentiments? 

chairman of Shield Life Group, that 

once again become accepted as a 

Irish is in rapid decline. And yes, you speakers of the language while a In supporting the Maori Language 

their assets have topped the £400 

necessary evil by our politicians-who 

are forced to agree, that Ireland is the further 100,000 are said to have a Movement, in making Maori an 

million mark. Their latest venture, 

see it as inevitable, but also by a huge 

only country in the world which, limited, non-speaking knowledge of official language of the New Zealand 

called the Rainbow Fund, has proved 

slice of our young people, who see itas 

having won independence and whose the language. These figures are state, the New Zealand Government 

so successful it has netted over £50 

unavoidable. 

Government has made language comparable to mother-tongue have declared: "Language is central to 

million since it was introduced last 

restoration a policy, has singularly 

the cultural identity of both the 

August. In 1987 alone the company The tragedy is that, unless these 

failed in that aim. 

learn from New Zealand television? individual and the community ... If a 

produced over £ 100 million generated attitudes can be changed, the loss 

l£v€n stt, the Maori Language 

A list of those countries which have 

language is lost, the cultural identitiy 

through its Cork office. 

to the country will continue to be 

Commission is campaigning for 

enormous. 

completed successful linguistic 

of the group is considerably 

increases in television broadcasting to 

The group's original Cork 

revivals since achieving independence 

weakened, which in turn'alters the 

a level more proportionate to the 

connection goes back to 1950 when How can the government say things 

is often trotted out, making one feel 

very nature of the society of which 

Maori population (not the Maorispeaking 

population!) with more 

Shield Insurance was founded by a are improving when something like 

embarrassed on Ireland's behalf. You 

that group is part. In light of this, it 

consortium of local businesses under one third of the people are o^he 

have to confess that what the 

may be considered important to 

prime-time viewing. gadiOj especially 

the chairmanship of Mr Tom Doyle. breadline? -As Professor Joe Liwffaf 

Government says it believes in is one 

retain, and promote, the Maori 

local radio, is another area where 

UCC says, acceptance of emigration 

thing, what it actually does is 

language, in order, amongst other 

Corkonian Mr Pat O'Reilly, 

increases in Maori broadcasting are 

as a fact of life is an easy decision for 

something entirely different. 

things, to development a diverse and 

assistant general sales, attributes 

sought. 

the decision-makers. As long as it 

Professor Timoti Karetu, head of 

harmonious society". 

Shield's performance to the successful 

continues, so will their role as job 

the Maori Language Commission, The Maori Language Commission It is sad that such cultural 

adaptation of international products 

creators be made easier. 

who is attending a conference on says: "Maori is the foundation enlightenment does not exist among 

to Irish circumstances. 

lesser spoken languages in Ljouwert, language of New Zealand . . . It the legislators of these islands. 

"We have been able to draw on 

It is all too easy to sit back and 

Belgium, this month (June 19 - 24) provides this country with a unique Imagine the United Kingdom 

products and ideas which have 

bemoan the misery and poverty while 

; tells me that the Maori people of New language identity in the rest of the Government taking the same attitude 

worked extremely well in countries 

doing nothing about it. For many 

1 Zealand have been inspired by the world, as this is the only place where as the New Zealand Goverment with 

such as Hong Kong, Australia and 

decades, each government has failed 

Irish claims towards language Maori is spoken. In more tangible respect to the Welsh or Scottish 

France," he says, adding that the 

this country miserably, but no 

restoration but are bitterly terms, the Maori language is a Gaelic languages and, while the Six 

group is approaching its second 

politician will admit that it is the 

disappointed by practical application powerful social force for the Counties remains part of its territory, 

decade "with an extremely optimistic 

capitalist system, who controls the 

of the policy. 

reconstruction of a damaged and speakers in Ireland, or the position 

outlook, ready to face the challenge 

financial institutions, which decides 

It may come as a surprise to readers deteriorated seTf-image among Maori of Scottish Gaelic speakers in 

presented by the need for innovative 

the future of our people. 

that Maori did not become an official youth, a vehicle of contribution to our Scotland. 

financial services in the 1990s and Monopoly capitalism by definition 

language of New Zealand until July society and therefore a means of Since World War 11 there has been 

beyond." 

operates against the public interest 

20th, 1987. It may come as even more regaining dignity. Finally, human an accelerated loss of Maori-speakers 

If these people had invested their and in favour of a small cliques of 

of a surprise that the Maori Language freedom is dependent at all levels on because economic demands have 

money in Ireland and showed a greedy exploiters and is consequently 

Act of 1987 contains several clauses choice and diversity; linguistic forced large sections of the Maori 

glimmer of patriotism and concern, anathema to a modern democratic 

(attributed to) from Bord na Gaeilge pluralism can be nothing other than a population to migrate to urban areas 

our country would now be some way state. 

Act, 1°78. Under the 1987 Act, the guardian of individual freedom and in search of work. A generation of 

emerged made up of Tory MPs calling trivial way may hinder the City making 

will tend to seek" such attractive This is why Chancellor Kohl can cock scampering along with all the grand 

itself 'No Turning Back' and has more money. 

locations. The claim is that the overall a snoop at NATO over modernisation plans without noticing that pockets and 

pronounced its aims in a pamphlet titled The No Turning Back group have i 

effect would "keep Europe as a whole of weapons, and at Britain as West purses are being picked. Without doubt 

Europe: Onwards from Bruges. spelt out their objectives for a 'dream* j 

competitive, so it can sell its goods on Germany exports even more the European Community has been the 

Europe: "The future of Europe must be 

the world market." 

manufactures to its old rival. 

cleverest thing ever invented because it 

All these groups however are fully 

has everyone at sixes and sevens. 

the pathway to free competition 

agreed about certain things. The Rome 

This group points out that 'If one 

The long-term aim of all these groups 

without frontiers ... it must be the 

The one saving element at the centre 

Treaty and Single European Act do not 

nation wishes to fund higher social is to v torn everything over to of the whole business is the national 

future of choice, of freedom, of 

need amending. In fact these treaties 

security with higher taxes then it may privatisation and place the lot in the question — which even the Thatcher 

enterprise and of opportunity." 

can and should be interpreted in 

pay the price in driving away business open market in order to let capitalism camp has to address and take heed of. 

different ways. 

into another part of the EC. This is as it 

"If Southern Europeans are 

rip and damn the consequences. Hence This brings us back to the work of 

should be." 

There is no disagreement either 

currently less well off and less well paid 

the assault on all social and health James Connolly and the late Desmond 

about having a free market without 

than Northern Europeans, the free 

So what are they arguing about? services. Whether workers still have Greaves — the right of nations to selfdetermination 

which is what 

frontiers, only about the steps and form 

movement of labour, factories aad 

Tactics and the best way to make more jobs or are just left to exist after the 

such a market takes. 

goods will tempt more factories to 

money and bow to get top dog position 'shake out' is of little or no importance. internationalism is about. Internationalism 

is not about doing away 

locate in the south, and to create more 

in the cut throat competition with the 

The luxury of all these groups 

The Bruges group in line with their opportunities there. This trend will be 

mark, franc, and lire. Hence the oft 

with nation states, but this is where 

arguing in public indicates the lack of 

Prime Minister make clear they want strengthened by lower housing costs" 

quoted statement "we will join the 

certain forces are trying to take the 

resistance upon the part of the labour 

no controls emanating from Brussels and a warmer and more pleasant 

European Monetary system when we 

labour and trade uoion movement and 

and trade union movement. Ibe lack of 

over their financial and industrial environment. 

it needs countering at every 

are ready" because currently the EMS 

resistance is due to being caught up in 

I 

opportunity. 

activity. They oppose any curbs on 

"Given a single market and free 

is dominated by the West German 

mergers and takeovers which in any 

movement across frontiers, busit mark. 

dreaming about 'Europe' and 

John Boyd 

K b 

• 

is central 

to the cultural 

H 

i % In i a 

norn tne 

and the 

community • • • If* 2i 

language is lost, the 

cultural id< entity of 

is con- 

Maori have grown up in urban areas 

and have lost their language. 

It is fascinating that it was in the 

urban areas that the greatest Maori 

activity is now taking place. The 

generation who have lost the language 

are now making demands, loundly 

and clearly, for linguistic and cultural 

reparation. The Maori are asserting 

their right to be taught and to speak 

their own language. 

According to Professor Timoti 

Karetu: "The philosophy of the Maori 

language movement^ not merely a 

'holding action' but intended to be a 

revival of the language for all its heirs. 

Hence our having tojHKUcrminology 

to define the w^pOf^he '80s and 

'90s. If the language is to survive it 

must be able to accommodate the 

contemporary world as well as that of 

our forebears." 

There is now an excellent system of 

playschools (Kohanga Reo) in which 

traditional knowledge, crafts and 

customs are taught to children 

through the medium of Maori. The 

Kohanga Reo has become the centre 

of community interest and activity. A 

disgruntled Princess Anne was 

recently seen on television making an 

official visit to one of these 

playschools. 

A bilingual Government report has 

been issued on the Kohanga Reo and 

Government has endorsed the goal of 

the Maori Language Commission of 

ensuring that 75% of Maori children 

under five years of age speak Maori 

Page Five 

within the next ten years. Imagine that 

happening in a Celtic context! 

Of course, where the Kohanga Reo 

have managed to produce youngsters 

fluent in Maori, the good work is 

often undone because there are 

currently few primary schools in 

which the children can continue to 

receive instruction through Maori. So 

the Maori Language Commission are 

demanding the establishment of 

exclusively Maori medium schools 

and facilities at university level. Just 

published is the Commission's Report 

Tomorrow's Schools: Kura Kaupapa 

Maori Working Group. This states 

'The needs of children and their 

learning shall be paramount 

Therefore, the Whanau (extended 

family) will ensure that all children are 

provided with an education which 

respects their dignity, rights and 

uniqueness, and which excites them to 

reach their full potential. All school 

activities shall be designed to advance 

these purposes.' 

At present there is one daily new> 

programme on New Zealand 

television in Maori, with weekly 

programmes of current affairs, a 

discussion forum and a programme ' 

on cultural events. Has anyone 

checked Irish language programmes 

on RTE lately? Perhaps RTE could 

towards the Irish language? Imagine the 

United Kingdom Government 

actually giving some support towards 

the Cornish language'' 

Well, the fact that the United 

Kingdom Goverment is a culturally 

backward one, imbued with ideas of 

linguistic imperialism, can be 

demonstrated at international level. 

And perhaps it can be shamed into 

finally allowing full cultural human 

rights to the peoples of these islands. 

After all, since the Cornish language 

revival started at the end of the last 

century, no recognition or aid has ever 

been given to that language. 

Some months ago the European 

ever besn given to that language. 

Some * months ago the European 

Bureau of Lesser Used Languages 

gave a financial grant to Kesva an 

Tavas Kernewek (The Cornish 

Language Board) to help promote 

the language. The Cornwall County 

Council were immediately shamed 

into issuing their own grant aid to An 

Kesva. 

Perhaps the activities of the New 

Zealand Government, in respect of 

Maori, if promoted, could not only 

shame the United Kingdom into a 

proper recognition of its indigenous 

linguistic minorities but shame the 

Irish Goverment into finally taking 

the necessary steps towards language 

restoration. Additionally, the Manx 

Government, which unanimously 

adopteda language policy in 1985and 

has since done nothing about it, could 

be prompted into action. 

The Maoris have a saying: Ke le reo 

te ha. te mauri o le Maoritanga — 

language is the very life-breath of 

being Maori. In Irish, there is the 

saying — tirgan teanga, tirgan anam - 

a country without a language is a 

country without a soul. It seems that 

the Maori are determined to retain 

their souls while the Irish are losing 

their's. 

r CONNOLLY ASSOCIATION 

Founded in 1938 to campaign in Britain for a united and independent 

Ireland, the Connolly Association today supports the broad-based Time To 

Go movement for British disengagement. 

Membership costs £8 a year. £10 for couples, £4 unwaged, and carries 

with it a Free subscription to the Irisli Democrat 

I wish to join the Connolly Association. 

• 

Name 

Please send me a copy of the new pamphlet. How To Go (£1.25, 

including postage). 

Address

Page Six 

Edited by PATRICK BOND 

THE OLD CLADDAGH RING 

THE old Claddagh Ring, sure it was my grandmother's, 

She wore it a lifetime and gave it to me; 

All through the long years, she wore it so proudly, 

It was made where the Claddagh rolls down to the sea. 

What tales it could tell of trials and hardships, 

And of grand happy days when the whole world could sing - 

Co awa\ with your sorrow, it will bring love tomorrow, 

Even one loves it, the Old Claddagh Ring. 

W ith the crown and the crest to remind me of honour, 

And clasping the heart that God's blessing would bring, 

The circle of gold always kept us contented, 

Twas true love entwined in the Old Claddagh Ring. 

As she knelt at her prayers and thought of her dear ones, 

Her soft, gentle smile would charm a king: 

And on her worn hand as she told me the story, 

>ou could see the bright glint of the Old Claddagh Ring. 

Et was her gift to me and it made me so happy. 

With this on my finger m\ heart it would sing; 

No king on his throne could be half so happy, 

As I am when I am wearing my Old Claddagh Ring. 

When the angels above call me up to heaven 

In the heart of the Claddagh their \oices will sing, 

Saying. "Away with your sorrow, vou'll be with us tomorrow - 

Re sure and bring with you the Old Claddagh Ring." 

NELL FLAHERTY'S DRAKE 

OH my name it is Nell, the truth for to tell, 

I come from Cootehill which I'll never deny; 

1 had a fine drake, the truth for to speak, 

That my grandmother gave me and she going to die. 

The dear little fellow, his legs they were yellow, 

He could fly like a swallow or swim like a hake - 

But some wicked savage to grease his white cabbage 

Most wantonly murdered Nell Flaherty's drake. 

His neci it was green, most rare to be seen. 

He was fit for a queen of the highest degree, 

His body was white that would you delight. 

He was plump, fat and heaw and brisk as a bee. 

He was wholesome and sound and he weighed twenty pound, 

And the universe round I would roam for his lake: 

Bad luck to the robber, be he drunk or sober, 

That murdered Nell Flaherty's beautiful drake. 

Mav his spade never dig, mav his sow never pig, 

May each nit in his wig be as large as a snail, 

May his door have no latch, may his house have no thatch, 

May his turkey not hatch, may the rats eat his meal, 

May every old fairy from Cork to Dun Laoire 

Dip him snug and airy in river or lake, 

Where the eel and the trout they may dine on the snout 

Of the monster that murdered Nell Flaherty's drake. 

May his pig never grunt, may his cat never hunt, 

That a ghost may him haunt in the dead of the night; 

May his hen never lay, may his ass never bray, 

Mav his goat fly away like an old paper kite. 

That the flies and fleas may the wretch ever tease 

And a bitter north wind make him shiver and shake, 

Mav a big hairy bug make a nest in the lug 

Of the monster that murdered Nell Flaherty's drake. 

The only good news that I have to diffuse 

Is that long Peter Hughes and blind piper McPeake 

That Michae O'Dwyer and Cornie Maguire 

Have each got a grandson of my darling drake. 

My treasure has dozens of nephews and cousins 

And one I must get or my heart it will break, 

To set my mind easy or else I'll go crazy 

So ends the whole song of Nell Flaherty's drake. 

COME BY THE HILLS 

COME by the hills, there's a land where fancy is free, 

And stand where the peaks meet the sky and the rocks meet the sea 

Where the rivers run clear and the blossom is gold in the sun, 

And the cares of tomorrow can wait till this day is done. 

Come by the hills, there's a land where life is a song, 

And sing while »he birds fill the air with their joy all day long 

Where the trees sway in time and even the wind sings in tune, 


Come by the hills, there's a land where legends remain, 

Where glories of old All the heart and may yet come again, 

Where our past has been lost and the future is yet to be won, 


THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 

A NATION 

ONCE AGAIN 

WHEN boyhood's fire was in my 

blood, 

I read of ancient freemen, 

Of Greece and Rome who bravely 

stood, 

Three hundred men and three men; 

And then I prayed I yet might see 

Our fetters rent in twain, 

And Ireland long a province, be 

A Nation once again! 

CHORUS: 

A Nation once again, 

A Nation once again, 

And Ireland, long a province, 

be 

A Nation once again. 

And from that time through wildest 

woe, 

That hope has shone a far light, 

Nor could love's brightest summer 

glow 

Outshine that solemn starlight; 

It seemed to watch above my head 

In forum, field and fame, 

Its angel voice rang round my bed, 


It whispered too, that freedom's 

ark, 

And service high and holy, 

Would be profaned by feelings dark 

And passions vain and lowly; 

For, Freedom comes from God's 

right hand. 

And needs a Godly train; 

And righteous men must make our 

land 

A Nation once again. 

So, as I grew from boy to man, 

I bent me to that bidding 

My spirit of each selfish plan 

And cruel passion ridding, 

For, thus I hoped some day to aid. 

Oh, can such hope be vain 

When my deaf country shall be 

made 


KILLETER 

FAIR 

ATTENTION! honest country folk 

A wee while, if you please; 

"II sing for you a verse or two 

To amuse you at your ease, 

t's all about a handsome girl - 

To find her equal would be rare; 

And the first place that I met her 

Was at Killeter Fair. 

Her eyes did shine like diamonds, 

Her cheeks bloomed like the 

rose; 

She is my first and only love, 

I'NO matter where she goes, 

She completely stole my heart, my 

boys, 

The truth I now declare, 

And the first place that I met her, 

Was at Killeter Fair. 

But now we have got married, 

And we're happy as you know; 

We're always light-hearted, 

Let it either freeze or snow, 

And sitting by the fireside, 

She laughs quite heartily there, 

Saying: "The first place that I met 

you John 

Was at Killeter Fair." 

We're blessed with a family, 

Two girls and a boy, 

They are the sunshine of our home, 

Our heart's delight and joy, 

And little John, the youngest, 

Laughs when sitting in his chair, 

Saying: "The first place that you 

met my Ma, 

Was at Killeter Fair." 

klM 

wWre 

1QOA 

I5w 

AN SPAILPIN FANACH 

GO deo deo aris ni raghad go Caiseal 

Ag diol na ag reic ma shlainte 

Na ar mhargadh na saoire im' shui cois balta 

Im scaoinse a leataoibh sraide 

Bodairi na tire ag teacht ar a gcapall 

Da thiafrai an bhfuilim hiralta 

O teannaim chun siuil ta an cursa fada 

Sea ar siul an Spailpin Fanach. 

Im Spailpin fanach fagadh mise 

Ag seasamh ar mo shlainte, 

Ag siul an druchts go moch ar maidin, 

's ag bailui galair raithe, 

Ni theicfear cor ran im' laimh chun bainte, 

Suiste n afeac beag rainne 

Ach bratacha no bhFrannceach os cionn mo leapan 

Is pice agam chun saite. 

Mo chuig cead sian chun duiche m'athar, 

Agus chun an oileain gramhair. 

Is chun buaichailli na Culach os diobh na mhiê 

In aimsir costa an gharda. 

Arch anois o taimse im chadhan bhochi dhealbh 

Imease no nduichi fain seo 

'Se mo chumba croi mar fuair me an ghairin, 

Bheith riambh im' Spailpin Fanach. 

Is robhrea is cuimhin Horn mo dhaoine bheith sea lad 

Thia ar droichead Chaile, 

Fe bhuai, fe chaorai, fe laoi bheage gheala 

Agus capaill ann le h-aireamh. 

Acht b'e toil Chriost e gur cuireadh sinn asta, 

Is go ndeaghamhar i leith ar slainte, 

Is gurbh e bhris mo chroi i ngach tir rachainn 

"Call here, you Spailpin Fanach." 

NANCY SPAIN 

OF all the stars that ever shone 

Not one does twinkle like your pale blue eyes, 

Like golden corn at harvest time, your hair 

Sailing in my boat the wind gently blows and fills my sail. 

Your sweet scented breath is everywhere. 

'>*..»* i, 

Daylight peeping through the curtains of 

The passing night time is your smile. 

The sun in the sky is like your lattgh, 

Come back to me Nancy linger for just a while, 

Since you left these shores I know no peace nor joy. 

Chorus: 

No matter where I wander I'm still haunted by your smile. 

The portrait of your beauty stays the same. 

Standing by the ocean, wondering where you've gone, 

If you'll return again. 

Where is the ring I gave to Nancy Spain? 

On the day in spring when the snow starts to melt and streams to flow. 

With the birds I'll sing to you a song. 

In the while I'll wander down by bluebell grove 

Where wild flowers grow 

And I'll hope that lovely Nancy will return. 

BARNEY RUSH 

THE THREE FLOWERS 

AS I was walking down a lane when night was drawing nigh 

I met a cail'n with three flowers and she more young than I, 

"St Patrick, bless you dear," said I, "I pray you to me tell 

The place that you did find these flowers - I seem to know them well." 

She took and kissed the first flower once and sweetly said to me, 

"This flower I found on the Wicldow Hills, dew-wet and pure and free. 

Its name is Michael Dwyer, the strongest flower of all, 

And I'll keep it fresh within my breast, though all the world should fall." 

She took and kissed the next flower twice and sweetly said tQ me, 

"This flower I culled on the old Cave Hill, outside Belfast City, 

The name I call it is Wolfe Tone, the bravest flower of all; 

And I'll keep it fresh within my breast, though all the world should fall." 

She took and kissed the third flower thrice, and softly fpM tone, 

"This flower I found in Thomas Street, in Dublin Town," said she. 

"It's name is Robert Emmet, the youngest flower of afe 

And TO keep it fresh within my breast, though all the world, should fall" 

Then Enunett, Dwyer and Tone I'll keep, for I *> love t*em all, 

And ril keep them fresh within my breast I, though all the world •lAclj 

should fall" 

"i.Wifc 

;. f ;!•«1 

June 1989 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT Page Stvtn 

DORIS DALY 

TIM Lost Children of th* El 

Phillip B#Hn «nd Joy 

HumpfMes, founder of The 

Migrant Trust (£12*5 fiNc). 

THIS is a great yearforanniversaries! 

Seventy years ago a Miss Eglantyne 

Jebb founded The Save the Children 

Fund and Sht was generously helped 

by the British miners to get the fund 

started! 

The fund was founded to save 

starving children in post-wan 

Germany. All very laudable until one 

discovers that from the British Isles, 

children were being transported b> 

the boatload to the colonies. This 

henious practice is for the first time 

brought to the attention of the World 

by a book. The Lost Children Of The 

Empire. 

It transpires that for 306 years 

belore Miss Jebb set Out to save the 

Children ot Europe. ISrrtiA children 

who were abandoned. oiptttrtcd oi 

homeless, were sent off dn long sea 

voyages crowded into ships without 

much care or supervision, and transported' 

And the awful part is, that this 

practicewent on tip to 1967m the year 

of our Lord! Children as young as 

three years of a$6, separated from 

theirbrOthersArtd sisters. We vertosee 

(he shores df Britain or theft family 

ajgatn — wheh god«»ept. the Children 

wept* Evacttes 6f war arenot included 

in this exp0s£ 

In All 130,000 children left Britain 

to li Ves of unrdem i ng hardship. 

cruelty, exploitation and abuses of 

DORIS DALY 

trif^*, * . . J...... •— *.— .. t——— 

Tne irisn i ncKirar, oy man iiwiiwn 

(Sheffield Academic Preee, £13.05 

hbk.) 

THIS book of 120 pages of tightlywritten 

prose with notes and appendix 

Is periiaps a bit pricey. However, ft 

is a specialist Wk that is the result 

of 20 years research wfth primary 

material in the Irish language 

associated with tile Trickster theme, 

as found in drama, fiterituire And, of 

course, folklore. 

The Trickster? Well, he is the 

Jester, The Fool, The Buffoon, The 

Rhymer, TheSeanmChai, The Satirist, 

The Guizer, The Scurra or our own 

very well-known 'eejit'l And here we 

have directed reaearehand 

comparisons with many Cultures up 

to PhD standaid ! The original work 

was a thesis tn the Irish language for 

die author's Doctorate. An 

Omsantacth it the Irish/Gaelic 

title. In this English language version, 

the authdr attempts to Account for a 

cultural phenomenon, of 'whfch the 

literarfgeni* te m HufniftsMttion. 

He dtanc IJKM IM MFEHBR of 

behaviour, and of how such 

every kind, sent to the \ 

i of the 

I pink, 

institutions, 

the lower classes, 

and controlled civil 

unrest\ 

Transportation to the colonies was 

a tried and true machine of the 

Empire State. It emptied costly institutions. 

culled the lower classes, 

controlled civil unrest, while at the 

satne time ensuring a full complement 

01 white people in the colonies to keep 

the black natives at bay. and to replace 

those who died in battle or from 

bad health. Instant white persons' 

Child migration was organised on a 

grand scale and was perniciously 

persistant, ft was not always a trawl 

catch and despatch job either. 

those who went to South Africa, 

and particularly Rhodesia, wefe 

tested and only those of high IQ and 

with 'potential' went to Black Africa 

to father a Master white race there! 

And not All the children who went 

to Africa were abandoned strays; their 

families Were alive and well, but sent 

their children away for a letter 

chance in life' As Africa had an 

abundant native population of 

Blacks to exploit, the white children 

Weire treated well and educated 

according to their ability for their 

Master Class rtfe' " 

The children Who went to Canada 

Were not so fortunate. Canada had no 

natives to exploit (thev preferred to 

slaughter the Red Indians instead): 

the wails and strays from Britain were 

exploited instead. They became the 

'white niggers' ol North America. 

The book gives harrowing accounts ot 

the children's lives, in transit and in 

residence. Ninety thousand children 

went to Canada and 11 per cent of the 

Canadian population are direct 

descendants ot the survivors of this 

exodus. And il vou have enjoyed the 

book or film Anne of Green Gable* 

vou should read Hie Lost Children 

Of The Empire for an un romantic, 

truer version of events' This heinious 

trade in human bondage was stopped 

to Canada in 1920 

The Australian shipments continued 

into the 1960s. First it got 'the 

lelons" and then the children to 

populate this Vast continent and to 

halt the spread of Asians and 

Orientals into The Antipodes. 

Australia had no blades to exploit, 

the Aborigines fled to the bush and 

outbacks, so the migrant children 

tand the convicts) were a means of 

is alive and well 

characters are perceived, sometimes 

even demonic, but yet universally 

tolerated. The eejits are alive and well 

forever! 

This theme of The Trickster in the 

Insh language And literature is 

explored and expanded With infinite 

extravagance turning up little gems 

of information as k bubbles along. 

Our christian past, it Seems, goes 

well back before St Patrick and indeed 

there is evidence that a Bishop 

Palladius visited the Emerald Isle 

in 431 AD, one year before Patrick 

came to Tara. 

It also seems that our Pagan past is 

alive and well, and has in fact 

influenced the Irish more than 

Christianity! 

Our customs, our religious rites 

and, indeed, rites of passage, all 

spring from our pagan past. For 

instance the strawboys on St Bridget's 

day with their "Biddy DoHs" and 

thek straw Or rush crosses, the 

Btoidbeggars at a wedding, The Wren 

Boys on St Stephen's Day tod the 

Big Fellow with a pig's bladder & • 

pole, and of course The Mummers, 

aft%H relics of our Mphpft, With 

the Jester or joker ot Trickster die 

fttfAifitopVion i-ca • 

identifies the clown. The word 

Trickster In Irish/Gaelic is 

'crosintacth' from which the names 

'Crossan' and 'Crosbie' are derived, 

so we nowknow that the Crossansare 

descendants of perhaps bards or court 

jesters. 

It also informs us that the Cross 

bearer in religious ceremonies is 

also a crossdntacth, or cross-bearer! 

I suppose the priest sent the jester 

or fool out first to find out what way 

the wind was blowing, much the same 

as throwing OAt's hat in the door 

first to test the welcome one might 

get! 

But it was not all cross-bearing 

either literally or metaphorically, 

theit WAS AlwAys the underlying 

theme, or sometimes very explicit 

theme, of bAwdiness, obscenity and 

suggestiveness either in dance or 

language. 

The bandbeggers at a wedding are a 

good example of bawdiness and 

indeed fertility and good luck rites. 

On the fertility theme St John's 

night and the bonfire, and May Day 

rituals are all fertility, purity and 

good luck rituals from our Pagan 

past. 

This is a very fascinating book. 

However, U» collection of ndtes is 

intonating and to douMMftuble 

one, an appendix is also added to 

which the footnotes continuously 

refer. It's enough to make a Brid6g 

!. Or is the author playing 

having total control over the labouring 

class and of exploiting them 

unmercifully. Migration of children 

to Australia went on until 1967. 

At this time also, fund raising for 

underprivileged countries like 

devastated Biafra was monumental 

in scope and volume of funds. Britain 

saved the world's children and threw 

away its own! 

This chronicle of exploitation, 

abuse, cruelty, deception and 

manipulation of children leaves 

European fascists of recent memor> 

in the shade. 

'This chronicle of 

exploitation, abuse, 

cruelty, deception 

and manipulation 

leaves European 

fascists of recent 

memory in the 

shade\ 

The State and Crown did nothing 

to protect the lives of the migrant 

children, but then children had no 

rights. This gave carte blanche to the 

shifting of human cargoes around 

the Empire to maintain the British 

class system at home and abroad. 

The children had no famihes, And if 

they had they wert not told. Their 

only identity was a loyalty to King 

and Country. Church and State, 

I All is not well h vthin 

I THE cgomeuHfr empire.-- 

Tni 

ingrained .nto them by hymn, song 

and violence. 

By far the most awful accounts ol 

pederasty, violence and deception are 

levelled against the Roman Catholic 

clergy. The Roman Catholic 

hierarchy, fearful of losing its powerbase 

in the whitecolonial population, 

set up in opposition to the Pro testa rra» 

Children's Societies, and with their 

god squads of nuns and Christian 

Brothers transported children wholesale 

to isolated areas of Australia 

where they operated uncurtailed until 

the 1960s. In the name of god and 

celibacy, they had complete dominion 

oser the children 'conceived in sin ' 

Many ol the children were not 

loundlings or even illegitimate; their 

families for one reason or another 

gave their offsprings up for adoption, 

but their children were shipped to 

Australia instead. Some of them have 

no birth certificates and therefore do 

not exist! 

This book is a shocker. It is far 

more comprehensive than last 

month's Granada telev ision 

documentary. It names names, 

organisations and places. It gives firsthand 

accounts. Il is an awful 

indictment against the human race 

and the established Church. 

It will be interesting to see what 

reaction this book will have, and what 

Will be done for the surviving Child 

migrants. 

The Child Migrant Trust will give 

help and further information to those 

who wish to trace their relatives. Its 

founder Margaret Humphries should 

be honoured, for her initiative and 

courage, and, like Miss Jebb of Save 

the Children, her name written into 

history. 

ENEN THE NATIVES 

GETTit4& RESTLESS 

f T r OUft SONS AND 

Vte. DAUGHTERS ARE 

A T LAST,,,THE LEADER. S P E A K S . . . ] 

111 I

Page Eight THE IRISH DEMOCRAT June 1989 

What's 

on 

guide 

CONNOLLY ASSOCIATION 

JUNE LONDON MEMBERS' 

MEETING. Wolfe Tone and the 

French Revolution. Guest 

speaker. 8 pm, Wednesday, 

June 28th, Marchmont Street 

Community Centre, Marchmont 

Street, LONDON WCI. 

Org: London CA. 

IRELAND: HOW CAN PEACE 

BE WON? A tribute to Desmond 

Greaves, with Clare Short MP, 

Martin Moriarty (Connolly 

Dissociation), Chris Myant 

(Communist Party), and 

Nessan Danaher (Soar Valley 

College). 7.30 pm, Friday, 9th 

June, Star Club (above Key 

Books), 136 Dlgbeth, BIR- 

MINGHAM. Org: Midlands 

j Marxism Today Forum. 

i JUST FOR THE IRISH 

! PEOPLE: 20 YEARS ON. Oneday 

conference. Speakers 

include Ken Livingstone MP, 

Michael Mansfield (barrister), 

Father Des Wilson and Tom 

Walsh (Federation of Irish 

1 

Societies), 9.30 am - 5.00 pm, 

| Manchester Town Hall, Albert 

j Square, MANCHESTER. Org: 

| Manchester iBRG. 

TIME TO GO! SHOW. Weekend 

of discussion and debate on 

how Britain can leave Ireland. 

Speakers Include Gerry Adams 

MP. Clare Short MP, Bernadette 

McAlllskey, Nell 

McCafferty, Victoria Brlttain, 

Kader Asmal and many more. 

Children's festival, video 

festival, lunchtime and evening 

entertainment, 17th-18th June, 

City University, St John St, 

LONDON EC1. Org: Time To 

Jmd. 

BRONTERRE O'BRIEN COM- 

MEMO RATION. Annual 

commemoration of Irish 

Chartist. Oration: Prolnslas 

MacAonghusa. 12 noon, 

Sunday, 18th June, Abney 

Cemetery, Stoke Newlngton 

Church Street, LONDON N16. 

Saving the planet 

from destru 

T 11F: great cry all round us these days 

is 'Save The Planet'. Mrs Thatcher 

and cabinet spent six hours with 

scientists a month ago discussing 

pollution. Obviously she is going to 

use the alarm about the planet to push 

her own favourite form of power on 

the people of Britain. That means 

more nuclear power stations. Mr 

Sârgill and theen\ ironmentalisis will 

have something to sav about that. 

W hy tins sudden concern about the 

planet about which the playwright 

I hekhov was warning at the 

I cginn : ig of the century'.' The first 

"gieen" in drama must have been the 

I )octor in Uncle lanva. 

Mrs I hatcher's sudden concern for 

li->ra and fauna has more to do with 

contemporary politics. Hie alliance in 

West Germany between greens and 

- 'cialists is forcing Mr Kohl along the 

; .ith of demilitarisation and has put 

' in in conflict with Britain and the 

i S. the two most reactionary 

i'lllucnces in l.urope. 

Socialists in Britain in the Labour 

I'arty, the different Communist 

I ,iities, have realised the importance 

'lie conference of greens and 

socialists at Chesterfield. What the 

left has tailed to do is make the 

connection between saving the planet 

and the light against imperialism and 

the curbing of the power of the 

multinationals. 

In South and Central America the 

connection is easier to see. Both Costa 

Rica and Panama are being turned 

into countries whose entire economies 

are being made to serve the fast-food 

industry in the US. 

The first stage is to destroy the trees 

in preparation for grass. In these 

regions once the trees have gone the 

road to ihe dust bowl situation is 

opened up More and more chemicals 

are needed to keep the grass fertile for 

feeding the cattle. The destruction of 

the previous tree mantle soon leads to 

less rainfall. 

In Panama it is foreseen that the 

climate is de'eriorating so rapidiy that 

in ten years' time tne canal itself will 

have dried up. This means the 

country's basic asset is being 

destroyed. Only an alliance between 

those groups fighting neocolonialism 

and the greens can save these 

countries. 

Ihe forests were destroyed many 

years ago in Ireland before the 19th 

century. There is still a similarity 

between Ireland and Central 

America. In the 19th century there 

was a change from tillage to cattle 

rearing. The people had to go. From 

the economist's point of view, the 

famine came at the right time. 

According to Jim Savage, our Cork 

correspondent, at present there is a 

major pollution -threat 'from new 

chemical industries. As in Central 

America, the operations of 

multinationals are beginning to 

undermine the fertility of the soil, this 

time in Munster. Remember this area 

is known as the Golden Vale, and is 

famous for its dairying industry. Thtj^j 

dumping of toxic industrial waste is 

beginning to worry frequenters of 

beaches, fishermen and farmers. 

As in Central America, only 

economic and political independence 

can save t tf e country from 

destruction, its people from 

immigration, poverty and 

unemployment. The alliance of 

greens, socialists, nuclear disarmers 

and nationalists will make a very 

powerful force. As is shown by the 

situation in West Germany only such 

alliances can save the planet from 

pollution and nuclear destruction. 

The planet cannot be saved unless 

movements for national independence 

are successful 

Gerard Curran 

Editorial 

licence 

ON behalf of the Nottingham branch 

of the Connolly Association, I wish to 

express our disappointment at the 

manner in which Josephine Logan's 

article (Democrat, May 1989) was 

edited. 

In its pre-edited form, that article 

accurately represented the range of 

ideas explored in our (Nottingham 

branch) discussion forum. The 

editing, however, in managing to 

exclude the more controversial, 

sophisticated and progressive ideas 

mooted, promotes the impression that 

our discussion forums are little more 

than a regurgitation of the obvious — 

hardly a recipe for encouraging 

participation. 

Con Lodziak, 

Nottingham CA. 

future 

MOST PEOPLE in Britain now 

realise that It's 'Time To Go' as 

far as Ireland is concerned, 

thanks to the sterling work of a 

number of organisations over 

the years, including the 

Connolly Association. 

We've just organised a 

successful How To Go 

conference, and published a 

pamphlet to go with It, which is 

selling very well. 

We have another pamphlet In 

the pipeline, plans for a series 

of broadsheets on the 

mechanics of disengagement, 

and want to mount regional 

How To Go events. 

All this costs money — but It's 

money well spent You can help 

out with our day to day costs by 

becoming a regular contributor 

to our Sustentation Fund, or by 

organising an event to raise a 

bumper sum. 

And then there's the 

Desmond Greaves Memorial 

Appeal to fund a full-time 

worker for the CA. Have you 

taken out your standing order 

yet? What about £5 a month, or 

£10? You'll be funding the 

future without breaking the 

bank. 

Our thanks to: Stepney 

UCATT £10, B. Deeie £1, C. OS 

IfrHn memory ot Prank HOIfy 

from G. & C. Findlay £10, M. 

Brennan £5, D. McLoughlin £4, 

J. J. McLoughlin £10, In 

memory of Harry Goulding 

from E. Goulding £12, R. Smith 

£6, J. Watson £5, P. McLoughlin 

£7, J. Harmon £6, C. 

Cunningham £2, J. Hoffman £7, 

South London CA £15, Acton 

UCATT £20, supporters In 

Central London 20p, in South 

London £6.94. Total £132.14. 

Special appeal: Our thanks 

to: P. Geddes £20. New 

standing orders: C. Pamment 

£4, M. MulhoHand £5. Total 

received this month from 

standing orders: £80.15. 

t 

RULERS LIVING IN FEAR - "More 

than 200 'very important persons' in 

Northern Ireland are given some form 

-of permanent protection from the 

IRA's watchful gaze by the Protection 

•and Security Branch of the Royal 

Ulster Constabulary. The level of 

protection varies according to the 

RUC's assessment of the threat. It will 

range from round the clock armed 

jiuard at a judge's home, to providing 

mobile protection in an armoured 

saloon car. It is not unusual for cars, 

overloaded by up to a hundredweight 

of armoured plating, to break down. 

The happened to Mr Tom King, the 

Northern Ireland Secretary, whose 

car came to a halt outside the YMCA 

in the docks area of Belfast. A 

bewildered queue of tramps found 

themselves surrounded by nervous 

men with guns. A potential target can 

apply to the RUC for a personal 

protection weapon, usually a Walter 

PPK, oi a heavy Browning 9 

millimetre pistol with a magazine that 

can hold 15 ounds. Many houses are 

surrounded by security fences and 

bright I ^hts. They can have bulletproof 

windows, movement sensors, 

sirens, video camera, a radio link and 

a strong room in the middle, should 

attackers sledgehammer their way 

through the front. It can cost up to 

£3J0,000 of taxpayers money to do 

this." Guardian. 

WAR BY OTHER MEANS 1 - "The 

electoral reforms directed at 

excluding Sinn Fein by requiring a 

'loyal oath' are regarded as simply a 

novel twist on the theme of 

gerrymandering whereby Westminster 

seeks to impose its will on 

who people should vote for." New 

Statesman and Seciety. 

WAR BY OTHER MEANS 2 - "Every 

24 hours in Northern Ireland between 

three and four thousand vehicle 

check-points are mounted. The two 

Land Rovers, lights flashing, stop at 

spi ci.it ntervals along the road. Two 

soldiers climb into nearby ditches, 

ready to open fire or pull a spiked 

chain across the road if any refuses to 

stop. The p;trol moves on after 15 

minutes, any longer and it could be 

targeted.'' Financial Times. 

POOR LORD HANSON. His. 

company's accounts show he suffered 

a £24,000 pay cut in the year to 

September 30th. That left him with 

only £1,239,000- Independent. 

CENSORSHIP - To date over 81 TV 

programmes about Northern Ireland 

have been censqttd Or banned. 

COMMUNITY POUCE - '.'If 

someone in Clonani has been burgled: 

or had their (u stolen, they most 

likely report it to the police and she 

IRA (via thtf S*in Fein Office). > 

Whether its Bombay Street getting 

shot- at like the other night, or joyriders 

racing up and down doing 

handbrakers at three in the morning, 

vour natural reaction is: where is the 

IRA?" Fr Alec Reid, Clonard, Belfast. 

Sunday Times. 

LOYALIST UNION - Mr Joe 

Bowers, vice president of the 

Confederation of Shipbuilding and 

Engineering Unions, said: 'The 

Management (of Short Brothers, 

Belfast) have made it clear that they 

are a British company, proud to be 

British and fly the Union Jack 365 

days a year. As far as we are 

concerned this dispute is a nonissue'." 

Hie Times. NB. The firm 

Gallaghers also capitulated to loyalist 

demands and allowed a "limited 

display" of Union Jack flags within 

the factory. 

PRIVATISE AND CONTROL - Mr 

Notman Tebbit, former Conservative 

party chairman, has been appointed a - 

director of British Telecom. He is 

already a director of Sears, the 

department stofe and shoes group and 

Blue Arrow, an employment service 

company. 

YOUR ENGLAND - Detective 

Sergeant Farr said: 'It is highly 

probable that my closed fists might 

have come into contact with his face.' 

But he denied deliberately punching 

Mr Rose. Guardian. 

PING-PONG - Nicaragoan President - 

Daniel Ortega got an hour-long 

lecture about democracy when l fte 

visited Mrs Thatcher last month. "She 

gave me her whole attention, but she 

did not reply to my points. Our 

exchange was like a ping-pong match*. 

She just repeated points the United - 

States has made against us foi many 

years, about press freedom and 

democracy. I told her that in: 

Nicaragua the opposition radio 

stations, could interview the. Coritras . 

in Honduras and the United States,:: 

while in England it was forbidden to j 

interview the IRA."; Iriifc Times. , 

Printed >Y Rialfijt Priweis LftUTO). r.. 

. 1 Connofly Publications, 

td, 244Grayi Inn So*f, London WCT 

Telephone: 0M33-3022 • ; j

Irish Democrat June 1989

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?