SAOIRSE32

BBC

Castlereagh

Police have warned dozens of republicans that their lives are under threat from loyalist paramilitaries.

It is linked to the discovery of a document believed to have been taken from an Army office in the Castlereagh security complex last year.

More than 20 soldiers were transferred to other duties while the investigation into the missing document began.

The republicans, from the Short Strand, were told their details had been found in the possession of paramilitaries.

Sinn Fein’s Alex Maskey said more than 50 homes were visited by police.

“This development is clearly of concern to the people involved directly, their families and the wider community in the Short Strand,” he said.

“It has been well over a decade since such a large number of republicans were visited in an operation like this in the city.”

Police said they recovered a document thought “linked to a breach of internal security in Army offices in July 2004″.

The PSNI said in a statement that “as a result, police are now warning a number of people about their personal security”.

Socialist Worker - Revolutionary women

Constance Markievicz

19 November 05

Click to view

Moira Nolan opens our series on women who fought back with a portrait of Irish revolutionary Constance Markievicz

Like most people educated in Britain, I was taught that the Tory ruling class that had opposed votes for women so vehemently nevertheless produced the first woman MP in 1919 — Nancy Astor.

When I was told this I challenged my teacher, arguing that Constance Markievicz was elected as Sinn Fein MP for St Patrick’s Dublin in 1918. I was told she did not count, because she never took her seat in Westminster.

Of course, nobody ever explained why Constance Markievicz refused to take her seat.

Along with 72 other Sinn Fein MPs elected in Irish seats that year, Markievicz refused to recognise the right of Westminster to rule over Ireland.

She viewed her election as part of the powerful campaign to overturn 400 years of British occupation.

Markievicz was a revolutionary socialist and leading figure in the Irish Republican movement during the critical years of the early 20th century.

She was an unlikely revolutionary, born Lady Constance Gore-Booth into a class of aristocratic British landlords determined to keep Ireland firmly under their rule.

But a combination of her personal experience of oppression and her revulsion at contemporary political events led Markievicz away from her background and into the movement for change.

Her constant frustration at the restrictions placed on women in Victorian society led her to join the women’s suffrage movement.

And her anger at the brutality of British imperialism during the Boer War in South Africa led her to define herself as Irish and join Sinn Fein at the age of 40 in 1908.

Markievicz — now married to a Polish count involved in the revival of Gaelic culture — began to see how the struggle for women’s equality had to be connected to the movement for Irish independence. “There can be no free women in an enslaved nation,” she declared.

Markievicz worked closely with James Connolly, a dynamic socialist thinker and leader of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU).

This experience helped clarify her ideas about how the various causes she championed – especially equality for women and justice for Dublin’s poor — could be linked through the wider struggle for socialism.

Connolly and Markievicz both understood how national liberation could only be fully achieved in Ireland through working class struggle.

Markievicz’s work in helping to organise the ITGWU earned her honorary membership of the union — and at least one severe beating at the hands of the Dublin police, when she helped protect ITGWU activists during the 1913 Dublin lockout.

But the union was starved into submission after Irish and British bosses combined to break its campaign to improve pay and conditions. This strengthened the hand of anti-socialist elements in the national liberation movement.

Nevertheless Markievicz and others still tried to maintain a separate workers’ organisation in that struggle, mindful that otherwise the Irish Republic would only offer limited gains to ordinary people.

Connolly’s Irish Citizen Army was the only armed organisation that allowed women to fight as equals alongside men in the 1916 Easter Rising. Markievicz served as second-in-command throughout the battle at St Stephen’s Green in the centre of Dublin.

Most of the rising’s leaders were executed by the British. Markievicz escaped the death penalty because she was a woman.

Instead she served the first of numerous prison sentences in her struggle to free Ireland. Thousands turned out to greet her return to Dublin from an English jail.

The harsh repression that followed 1916 only served to build sympathy for the Republican cause. A widescale guerilla campaign developed that led to the compromise of an Irish Free State with six counties left under British control.

Markievicz spoke against the acceptance of the Free State, not least because the very bosses who had attacked Dublin’s workers in 1913 supported it wholeheartedly.

Even after the defeat of Republicans in the bloody civil war that followed, Markievicz’s last campaigns were against the repressive measures brought in during the “carnival of reaction” of partition.

Despite the relative weakness of socialists within the Irish movement, and her own conversion to a form of Catholic nationalism, Markievicz continued to campaign for workers’ rights till the bitter end.

© Copyright Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original and leave this notice in place.

BreakingNews.ie

15/11/2005 - 18:11:21

British government plans to allow on-the-run terrorists suspected of crimes to return home to Northern Ireland are being referred to the European Commission, it was announced tonight.

Democratic Unionist MEP Jim Allister has written to the Justice Commissioner inviting him to consider whether the “On the Runs” [OTRs] Bill is in accordance with Europe’s level of expectation in regard to the protection of the human rights of victims.

At the same time, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission voiced its concerns about the legislation directly with the Northern Ireland Security Minister.

Mr Allister said in his letter to the Commissioner that in the British government Bill a special process would be created whereby OTRs could not be arrested or detained, did not have to attend court, could never be imprisoned and never questioned about their crimes – all while their identity was kept secret.

He wrote: “I respectfully suggest that this proposed legislation involves such a denial of the human rights of victims, particularly the right to have an effective remedy, that you should show an interest in it and give us the benefit of your opinion.”

Victims of violence were, within the EU, recognised as having various human rights, including the right to an effective remedy before a national authority, said Mr Allister.

He asked the Commissioner: “How can a process which deliberately sets out to give special treatment to the perpetrators of crimes, often murder, so that they are kept out of prison, even approach providing an effective remedy for the victims of these crimes?”

The MEP said the legislation was “a shameful farce and gross abuse of both the human rights of victims and the judicial process”.

Meanwhile the Human Rights Commissioner, Professor Monica McWilliams, voiced her concerns over “on the runs” when Security Minister David Hanson visited her office.

She said commissioners understood that the proposed legislation was intended to contribute to “closure” on major issues outstanding from the decades of conflict.

However, she said they nevertheless had concerns that aspects of the draft legislation raised significant human rights issues.

The commissioner also told the minister the proposals were “another extremely painful step” for the victims of the conflict and their families.

Prof McWilliams said: “We had a frank and in-depth discussion with David Hanson on his proposals for on-the-runs and others, including agents of the state, who have not been dealt with by the courts for pre-Agreement crimes.

“Commissioners still have concerns with this draft legislation.”

She said they had agreed to scrutinise the Bill to ensure the proposals complied with human rights principles.

“The legitimate concerns of victims and survivors must not be overlooked in this legislation and we will be listening to their views and the concerns of other interested parties before we submit this advice,” Ms McWilliams added.

Belfast Telegraph

By Brian Hutton
15 November 2005

Legendary Irish rock band Horslips may have narrowly escaped the same tragic fate as the Miami Showband 30 years ago, former band members have revealed.

The band has spoken about how they believe they came close to a massacre during one of the darkest periods of the Troubles.

In a new DVD, The Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts, the rockers tell how one night in 1975 as they were returning from a gig in Banbridge, they were almost ambushed.

It was the same year three members of the Miami Showband - lead singer Fran O’Toole, Tony Geraghty and Brian McCoy - were murdered by the UVF

According to the band’s Tyrone-born bass player Barry Devlin Devlin, after the gig ended the RUC escorted the band seven miles outside the town before sending them on their way to Newry.

He recalls: “About three miles further on, we passed a side road and there was a car parked in there with its sidelights on.

As we passed, it switched on its headlights and came out and it was evident it was coming after us.” added Devlin.

Drummer Eamonn Carr remembers being petrified as the band sped along a country road with suspected paramilitaries giving chase.

“When I first spotted the car behind us, I said to Barry, ‘I think the cops want us to slow down’.

He said, ‘They are not the cops’.”

Devlin said: “Now we’re doing 90 miles an hour at this stage, which was really scary, and they began hitting us.”

The band believe that a grim conclusion to the episode was averted when they pulled into Loughbrickland, to meet an Army patrol coming at speed the other way. Devlin said: “The guys behind us obviously panicked and went up the hill. By the time they turned around and came back down, we were gone.”

RTE

15 November 2005 17:59

The group which supports multi-denominational schools in Ireland is holding a rally outside the Dáil this evening to highlight what it says is the Government’s failure to support the sector.

Educate Together says it will be forced to wind down operations unless it gets increased State funding.

It has accused the Government of failing to provide any alternative to religious schools in 98% of the country.

Educate Together says it is struggling to meet escalating demand for multi-denominational schools. It receives a State grant of just over €40,000 a year. It is seeking core funding of €500,000.

The group says there is huge inequality in State support for different educational sectors. 98% of primary schools in Ireland are religious run schools, the vast majority of them Catholic.

The rally was due to begin at 6pm outside Dáil Éireann. A number of politicians were expected to address it.

BreakingNews.ie

15/11/2005 - 10:15:45

Four hundred school children will be taken into custody by the Northern Ireland Prison Service this week to give them a first-hand taste of the realities of life behind bars.

Staff from Maghaberry, Magilligan and Hydebank Wood will take charge of their young ‘inmates’ for a day to teach them about the consequences of a life of crime.

The annual ‘Crime Days’ programme is part of the successful Prison! Me! No Way! Initiative in which prison officers speak to the young in schools and youth clubs.

First to get ‘banged up’ today are pupils from Killicomaine Junior High in Portadown, Co Armagh, to be followed tomorrow by those from Parkhall College in Antrim.

Prison officers will take the children through a series of workshops exploring different areas of offending behaviour.

The theme for the year is ‘Hoax Calls and the Consequences’, with a series of workshops conducted by the PSNI Drug Squad, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue service, O2 and prison officers from England.

Mrs Carmel Donnelly, whose son was killed when the stolen car he was in crashed, is discussing the devastation caused to families by so-called ‘joy-riding’.

Colin McAllister, co-ordinator of the programme said it was to make young people stop and think about their relationships without people who they trust and what the consequences could be if they get involved in crime.

“For the schools involved, it is a chance to show their own communities that they are tackling the pressures and problems facing young people.

“It is also an opportunity for young people to explore for themselves the issues affecting them in the community,” he said.

An Phoblacht

BY SHANE Mac THOMÁIS
11 November 2004

Hugh Leonard “Lenny” Murphy - photo from >>here

On 16 November 1982, [23] years ago, the IRA executed the psychopathic leader of the Shankill Butchers, Lenny Murphy.

The Shankill Butchers were a group of Belfast loyalists who abducted nationalists — their victims were usually walking home from a night out — tortured, beat them, and killed them, usually by cutting the throat.

The leader of the Shankill Butchers was one Lenny Murphy. He possessed seething anti-Catholicism/nationalism, and was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force. He soon gathered together a gang, the core being Murphy himself, Robert ‘Basher’ Bates, and ‘Big’ Sam McAllister, who used his huge frame to intimidate the Butchers’ victims. Typical of this gang’s ritualistic killings was the case of Francis Arthurs, who was abducted, beaten and stabbed for over an hour before being killed.

The murder of Tom Madden is seen as one of the most gruesome examples of the Butchers’ brutality. Madden was abducted and then stripped naked. He was hung upside down from the beam of a lock-up garage and slowly skinned alive. He eventually died of slow strangulation.

Francis Crossan, aged 34 and a father of two, was walking home from a night out when he was spotted by one of the gang. He was hit from behind with a wheel brace and dragged into a black taxi, which drove into the Shankill area. Francis was then tortured and badly beaten. He was repeatedly hit by Murphy, both with fists and with the wheel brace. Murphy repeatedly said things like, “I’m going to kill you, you bastard!” Francis Crossan was then dragged into an alley, and his throat was cut almost through the spine by Murphy. Pieces of glass found in Francis Crossan’s head showed that a beer glass had been shoved into his head, either in the black taxi or in the alley.

More killings followed, until 1979. One of the Butcher’s victims was found barely alive. He identified the Butchers, and they were all convicted of murder, except Murphy, who escaped on firearms charges. By 1982, he was out of prison, and he set about re-assembling his gang.

Murphy’s gang re-grouped around the time a UDR man was kidnapped. The IRA had kidnapped him and was demanding a ransom. Murphy decided to kidnap a nationalist and demand the release of Cochrane in exchange. Murphy hijacked a black taxi and headed to the Falls Road, where 48-year-old father-of-two Joseph Donegan waved them down. He was taken to Murphy’s house, where he was tortured. He had his teeth pulled out with pliers by Murphy until only three were left. He was finally killed by Murphy. Donegan’s body was found in the back of Murphy’s house. Murphy was arrested but the RUC said there was no evidence to suggest that he had committed the crime. The IRA, meanwhile, had set in train an operation to execute Murphy.

On 16 November 1982, Volunteers of the IRA’s Belfast Brigade drove a blue Marina van to Murphy’s girlfriend’s house at Forthriver Park in the Upper Shankill. Murphy was waiting outside. The van pulled up beside him and IRA Volunteers, armed with a 9mm sub-machine gun and a .38 special, opened fire on Murphy. Murphy was hit by 26 rounds and died instantly. The blue van used by the Volunteers, which had been specially purchased for the operation, was abandoned and set on fire in Glenside Park, a predominantly loyalist area of North Belfast. The setting of the abandoned vehicle, and the fact that Murphy had recently been involved in the typical internal feuding within the UVF, led the RUC to concentrate their enquires in the wrong direction

The IRA, taking full advantage of this confusion, delayed its statement claiming responsibility for the execution until a few days later, when it said the following:

“Lenny Murphy (master butcher) has been responsible for the horrific murders of over 20 innocent nationalists in the Belfast area and a number of Protestants. The IRA has been aware for some time that since his release recently from prison, Murphy was attempting to re-establish a similar murder gang to which he led in the mid-’70s and, in fact, he was responsible for a number of the recent sectarian murders in the Belfast area. The IRA takes this opportunity to restate its policy of non sectarian attacks, while retaining its right to take unequivocal action against those who direct or motivate sectarian slaughter against the nationalist population.”

Butchers may have been responsible for 1976 killing

Rosaleen O’Kane’s body was found at her Cliftonpark Avenue, on 17 September 1976, stripped naked and burnt.

A postmortem examination, carried out at the time, failed to determine the exact cause of her death, partly because a pathologist could not conclude whether O’Kane’s skull had been fractured before or after her death. In a sinister twist, blood and other forensic samples taken during the postmortem were destroyed in a fire at the Six-County Forensic Science Laboratory the next day.

Relatives of O’Kane were told by senior PSNI members that they had intelligence information that two men from North Belfast were suspected of being involved in the killing and that they could not rule out the possibility that the Shankill Butchers were involved.

Lawyers acting for the O’Kane family said they have now obtained funds from the Legal Services Department for a review of the original postmortem evidence, which will be carried out by Dublin state pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy.

Solicitor Patricia Coyle said O’Kane family has unanswered questions about the cause of death, the original investigation and who was responsible.

“The only thing they know is that their sister was murdered and possibly tortured and they further believe that the fire at the forensic laboratory may have been more than a coincidence,” she said.

UVF commander Lenny Murphy led the Shankill Butchers gang which, during a reign of terror in the mid-to late-1970s, killed over 30 Catholics. In 1979, eleven members of the sectarian killer gang were convicted of 19 killings and jailed for a total of 1,885 years.

Irish Examiner

By Ian Graham
15 November 2005

THE Reverend Ian Paisley was challenged by Sinn Féin yesterday to prove whether he was a man of his word.
Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness threw down the gauntlet to the Democratic Unionist Party leader as he met Northern Secretary Peter Hain and Foreign Affairs minister Dermot Ahern for discussions which the DUP is boycotting.

Speaking outside Hillsborough Castle, Co Down, Mr McGuinness said he wanted Mr Paisley to show whether he would stand by his word and enter government with Sinn Féin now that the IRA had decommissioned its weapons.

He accused Mr Paisley of betraying his own electorate and failing to show the new confident face of Unionism he promised following the last Westminster Election.

Mr McGuinness said: “For almost nine months of the last year the British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern spent many long hours trying to convince Gerry Adams and myself that Ian Paisley would go into government with Sinn Féin if only the issue of arms could be resolved.”

He said they had emphasised “Ian Paisley told them that the only issue that he was concerned about was the issue of arms if that could be resolved he was prepared to go into government with Sinn Féin.

“Ian Paisley tells us he is a man of god, I would like to know whether he is a man of his word.”

He said Irish republicans had “delivered big time” by resolving the arms issue.

The DUP’s Ian Paisley later Jr hit back claiming: “Martin McGuiness wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped him in the face.”

He added: “His statement that Ian Paisley must now enter government and be a ‘man of his word’ is contemptible given that Martin McGuinness could hide behind a corkscrew he is so twisted.

“The fact is no such undertaking was ever given and more importantly there is no convincing evidence that all of the IRA’s guns have been decommissioned.

“Can McGuiness now tell us what was decommissioned and how it was put beyond use?”

Peter Hain played down expectations over the talks describing them as “stock-taking, ground-clearing discussions.”

He said they would not automatically lead on to political negotiations and made it clear he was not condemning the DUP for staying away.

Mr Ahern said he welcomed the opportunity to meet the parties this week and next adding: “Hopefully in the new year we can get down to more serious discussions.”

Irish Examiner

15 November 2005
By Harry McGee, Political Editor

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday denied for the second day running that Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin have a secret “cosy deal” in place for the 2007 elections.
In his second substantial remarks in as many days on the matter, Mr Ahern went to considerable lengths yesterday to reject the contention which gained new momentum at the Fine Gael Árd Fheis last weekend.

He said that Sinn Féin’s fiscal, economic and European policies were so at variance with those of his party that they would be incompatible coalition parties.

“You can’t cod yourself, you can’t do that with somebody whose policies are different in every respect,” he told reporters in Dublin.

The two straight denials by Mr Ahern come after Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny heavily implied at his party’s National Convention at the weekend that a FF and SF alliance was possible after the next general election.

Without stating it directly, he referred to the electorate being offered a stark choice between the Rainbow alternative and “Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin those rip-off republicans.”

On Sunday, Mr Kenny said he did not believe the Taoiseach’s denial of any such arrangement. With this claim sure to feature prominently in the political campaigns over the next 18 months, Mr Ahern yesterday returned to Mr Kenny’s assertion.

“He is obviously being advised because he keeps at it and has been at it a number of times over the last year that there’s some kind of arrangement or some kind of understanding,” he said.

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin also entered the debate yesterday, accusing the main political parties of using this “scare tactic” to prevent Sinn Féin’s electoral growth.

His colleague Martin McGuinness meanwhile suggested it was premature for the main political parties to be ruling out SF so quickly.

He said the party would make considerable gains and that it would be then left to the other parties to decide how they would deal with that.

BBC

A man is due to appear in court in connection with an attack on a close friend of Robert McCartney.

The man will appear at Belfast Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Jeff Commander.

He is the third person to be charged in connection with the attack on Mr Commander in Belfast on 12 September.

Robert McCartney, 33, was stabbed following a row in Magennis’s bar on 30 January. He died the following day.

Two men have been charged with his murder.

BBC

A 21-year-old County Antrim man has been remanded in custody charged with having downloaded an article on how to make an explosive device.

Paul Edward Darragh of Craignamaddy Heights, Cargan, was charged with possession of an article for use in terrorism.

Ballymena Magistrates Court heard he allegedly committed the offence on Sunday.

A detective constable told the court the accused replied “no” when charged.

The officer said he believed he could connect Mr Darragh to the charge.

A defence solicitor asked the investigating officer if it was correct that Mr Darragh said he obtained the information from a website “out of curiosity” and the officer said that was correct.

The solicitor also said the details were “crude in the extreme” and that his client had consistently denied any connection to republican groups during interview.

Belfast Telegraph

By Kathryn Torney
15 November 2005

The 11-plus has become a means of social exclusion in Northern Ireland, according to the SDLP’s education spokesman.

In an article written for the Belfast Telegraph, Dominic Bradley said statistics show children from wealthier families have an increased chance of being successful in the test. He said that his party supports doing away with selection in favour of informed choice.

He claims every child should be guaranteed a high-quality education of the type that their parents feel is right for them - either academic, vocational or a mixture of both.

“This means doing away with selection in favour of informed choice and it means ploughing extra resources into education so that reforms do not diminish existing high standards as we improve standards for all,” he said.

“We have tried over a dozen systems of academic selection here since 1947 and all were abandoned as inadequate.

“I believe that abolishing the 11-plus can help enhance standards for all as well as improving equality of opportunity and broadening options.

“The pupil profile as envisaged under Costello can inform choice and decision-making throughout a child’s educational career.”

If he was Education Minister, Mr Bradley said: “I believe that major investment in education, from early years through to third level, would more than pay for itself both in boosting our economy and in saving money in terms of reducing the cost of benefits, crime, social services and healthcare.

“The SDLP would invest further in education to maintain and enhance the quality of educational experiences for all children.”

Irish Independent

11:40 Tuesday November 15th 2005

President Mary McAleese has been discharged from hospital in Dublin after receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.

Mrs McAleese was taken to hospital on Sunday after feeling unwell for a number of days.

She was treated with antibiotics before being discharged this morning and is now recuperating at Aras an Uachtarain.

A spokesperson said she was in good spirits, but would be resting for the next few days.

Irish American Information Service

11/15/05 00:58 EST

The widow and family of murdered Belfast human rights attorney Pat Finucane are to meet Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern today to raise their concerns over the proposed format of an inquiry into the killing.

The family and Mr Justice Peter Cory, the retired Canadian supreme court judge who recommended holding an inquiry into the brutal 1989 UDA murder, have all rejected its terms under the Inquiries Act 2005.

The new laws allow for sections of the probe to be heard in private.

The Finucanes have insisted they will not co-operate unless all evidence is heard in public. They believe the restrictions would hinder the independence of the inquiry, damaging both its effectiveness and openness.

However, the British Government has so far resisted pressure to have a completely public probe, raising questions over its ability to fulfil its remit to establish whether there was official British collusion in Mr Finucane’s murder.

Geraldine Finucane has also written to senior British judges asking them not to work with any inquiry operating under the new legal framework.

And human rights group Amnesty International launched an internet campaign to persuade senior British judicial figures not to work with the planned inquiry.

The campaigning Human Rights organisation also called for the repeal of the act.

Indymedia.ie

Vol. Martin ‘Golfball’ Conlon - memoirs and a tribute

by A Comrade
Monday, Nov 14 2005, 6:27pm
IRA - North Armagh Brigade

On Thursday, 10th November as I watched the evening news, I saw a report of a woman who informed the viewers of how the MOD came knocking on her door delivering news that her partner had been killed by the Iraqi Resistance forces.

Damn imperialists, I thought; they get what they deserve! Furthermore, I thought, how would I repond if someone came to my door to inform me that a Comrade had been killed?

The following day I was completely and utterly shocked to read on one of the Celtic e-news lists that Martin Conlon had been killed in ‘mysterious circumstances on Monday, 6th November.’

I would like to pay a tribute to the late Vol. Martin ‘Golfball’ Conlon. Golfball was a good friend, a Comrade, unrepentant in every sense of the word, a true Republican.

When I first met Golfball, the first thing I asked him, why Golfball? He smiled and stated, ‘I used to take golf ball’s from the course and sell them!’

I knew Golfball for probably over a decade, taking part in political actvities, music sessions (usually for the cause of the POW’s) and a few beers. On his visit to the Bloody Sunday Commemoration in London in the mid ’90’s, the branch asked why he was visiting London. He replied, ‘a drinking session for the weekend, what else’! When asked the same question on his return, he repeated the statement. ‘Oh said the branch, how then we have these photos of you on the parade with ya pals’!

Golfball was a steward at the large London meeting which hosted Gerry Adams as the chief guest. As far as I remember this was the same weekend as the Bloody Sunday Commemoration…. the following day, Sunday.

Golfball was passionate and active in the Republican struggle, through and through. We discussed many things over the years. I may have or not have agreed with everything he said or did, but I now understand that when he said ‘I will be a Republican till the day i die’, he meant it.

Golfball was tireless, an active Republican all his life. He was arrested on several occasions for his activities as an active Volunteer in the then (Provisional) IRA - North Armagh Brigade. He disapproved of the position of Sinn Féin / PIRA, not so much the ceasefire as far as I could work out, but the dismantling of the Movement and subsequent involvement in british state institutions as a result of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). One must always remember the line, I think Che Guevara stated it, that ‘during setbacks and crises, it is always important to maintain a nucleus of activists to resume the struggle at a given point’. So Golfball did, tried hard with unselfish Republican and Revolutionary spirit, never yielding for one moment!

Golfball was arrested whilst training Volunteers in firearms in County Meath and served years in Portlaoise prison. One can ask questions, discuss and debate regarding why Volunteers left the PIRA and wished to continue the struggle. Whatever you think whilst reading this, Volunteers like Golfball where never selfish; they simply wanted to continue the struggle, reorganise the movement and fight the brits! He sincerely believed in the right to organise and struggle till the Republic was won.

He didn’t believe in some half-baked measures, [not as some british leftists who never lifted a finger in support of the Irish struggle when the PIRA where spearheading it, only to become Sinn Féiners all of a sudden at the time when it was ’safe’ to support Sinn Féin in the absence of armed struggle.] If it’s the ‘duty of the Working Class and Oppressed to deal death blows to the ruling class in each country’ as british leftists ‘claim’, how then don’t they support Republicans struggling to rebuild the Revolutionary Movement in Ireland? We discussed these issues and we recognised mutually that as when the PIRA had limited supporters amongst the left in britain during years of struggle, the same will again be in this situation. Golfball stated that all the Prisoners in Portlaoise and Maghaberry were proud of the few who campaigned tirelessly for the Prisoners, albeit few in number as represented in britain by the Irish Political Status Committee and others.

We discussed Omagh on several occasions. The possibility of brit dirty work / infiltration into the Active Service Unit (ASU) has not only not ‘diminished’, but has now (and more than likely) become a proven fact. ‘Remember the PIRA bomb at Camden tube station amongst other actions’, said Golfball. The PIRA claimed it, but who really knows who and which forces where at work on that day, ‘planting it in the middle of your support base, the Irish with limbs missing!!’ Hence Omagh springs to mind, a town in a strong Republican County (Tyrone).

Golfball insisted that I should read ‘Bandit Country: The IRA and South Armagh’ by Toby Harnden. ‘You should definately read the book; I was involved in many of the operations in Armagh’!, he said. ‘You can tell people once I’m dead’ - so I am. He also reminded me how the brits had sent a bullet to him through the post. ‘Be careful he said, and remember to leave car doors open when you switch on the engine’. He was very wise.

Golfball’s expertise in the Republican struggle was once again put to good use. ‘Irish free state’ intelligence herded a group of Volunteers to Portlaoise prison once again. There the struggle resumed despite beatings and isolation. Republican handcrafts were made and sent to a function to Commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising supported by the Irish in Britain Representation Group, together with a fitting statement of ‘ones right of even a respectable minority to continue the struggle’.

Britain continues its dirty tricks and black propaganda. Over the centuries and during the past phase of struggle, they have used their agents within our communities to do their dirty work as expressed by the murder of Golfball. Golfball’s murder was indeed tragic. Criminals, agents of british imperialism in Ireland carried this out. When these actions are (mostly) behind closed doors, we can only use our consciousness and understanding to work out what happened.

* The CIRA’s statement that Golfball was not an agent of any sort is valid.

* The CIRA’s statement that ‘all anti GFA Republican groups get on well in Armagh’ is also valid.

* Golfball was a tireless Republican all his life, very modest and true. I know this as a fact!

* Golfball disliked hoods and criminals of every description. He would have done everything to develop the Movement in Ireland!

So who was behind this act of murder? In Ireland we have two camps. The british camp and the Irish. This is the principal contradiction and is yet to be resolved. Taking this basic principle into consideration, enemies of Ireland carried this out!

It looks like Republicans continue to be eliminated from the scene. At one time it was ’shoot-to-kill’, now it is black propaganda combined with the online spooks, spreading rumours about criminal activities, endlessly sowing confusion amongst the people. Will the murderers of Golfball be found? Very much doubt it!

The usual dribble of RUC / PSNI, ‘please come forward if you have any news’, the usual PR spin…

The branch may laugh, but Republicans and all genuine anti-imperialists who read this will have a better understanding of the nature of Golfball. I have expressed only a few memories of Martin ‘Golfball’ Conlon. He will be sadly missed by all his friends and Comrades.

Martin ‘Golfball’ Conlon was buried in Armagh on Saturday, 12th November, which would have been his 36th birthday, in a military Republican funeral. It’s what he would have wanted.

To those who read these few lines, please pay respect to Golfball. To those who stand by the GFA and whether you knew Golfball or not, respect his role as an active PIRA Volunteer during the struggle. To those who oppose the GFA, repect this late Volunteer who attempted to rebuild the Republican Movement.

Martin ‘Golfball’ Conlon, a true IRA Volunteer, North Armagh Brigade!

A true fighter to the end and expert Sniper!

Remembered always!

“You may kill the Revolutionary, but never the Revolution”!

BBC ON THIS DAY

15 November 1985

The agreement was signed at Hillsborough Castle in County Down

Britain and the Republic of Ireland have signed a deal giving Dublin a role in Northern Ireland for the first time in more than 60 years.

Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said it brought new hope of ending the violence in Northern Ireland.

But Treasury minister Ian Gow - one of Mrs Thatcher’s closest political allies - has resigned in protest at the deal which is also opposed by the Ulster Unionists.

In a letter, Mr Gow told Mrs Thatcher the government’s change of policy on Northern Ireland would “prolong and not diminish the agony of Ulster.”

The Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed by Margaret Thatcher and Irish Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald at Hillsborough Castle in County Down, Northern Ireland.

Inducement

It sets up a framework for regular conferences between British and Irish ministers to discuss matters affecting Northern Ireland.

However, if a devolved government were established in Northern Ireland, matters transferred to its power would no longer fall under the remit of the conferences.

That is being seen as an inducement for unionists who want to remain part of the United Kingdom and keep Dublin at bay.

But, for the first time, the British Government has officially committed to promoting legislation for a united Ireland if a majority is in favour.

The deal has been met with anger and bitterness by the majority loyalist community in Northern Ireland.

The 15 Ulster Unionist MPs have accused Mrs Thatcher of treachery and have said they will resign unless a referendum is held on the agreement.

However, opposition leaders at Westminster have pledged their support and the government seems certain to secure a big majority when the deal comes up for approval.

Irish MPs also have to approve the agreement which will be reviewed after three years.

In Context

Thousands turned out for demonstrations led by unionist MPs against the agreement.

Ian Gow was among Conservatives who set up an anti-agreement group in 1986 to fight the case for keeping the status quo in Northern Ireland.

In July 1990 Mr Gow was killed by a bomb planted at his home in Sussex by the IRA.

The Anglo-Irish agreement followed a failed attempt in 1973 to set up a power-sharing executive of nationalist and unionist politicians and an all-Ireland Council.

No deal accepted by all sides was reached until the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998 which created the Northern Ireland Assembly and new cross-border institutions.