The Diary of Bobby Sands - March 9, 1981

Monday 9th

I have left this rather late tonight and it is cold. The priest Fr Murphy was in. I had a discussion with him on the situation. He said he enjoyed our talk and was somewhat enlightened, when he was leaving.

On the subject of priests, I received a small note from a Fr S. C. from Tralee, Kerry, and some holy pictures of Our Lady. The thought touched me. If it is the same man, I recall him giving a lecture to us in Cage 11 some years ago on the right to lift arms in defence of the freedom of one's occupied and oppressed nation. Preaching to the converted he was, but it all helps.

It is my birthday and the boys are having a sing-song for me, bless their hearts. I braved it to the door, at their request, to make a bit of a speech, for what it was worth. I wrote to several friends today including Bernie and my mother. I feel all right and my weight is 60 kgs.

I always keep thinking of James Connolly, and the great calm and dignity that he showed right to his very end, his courage and resolve. Perhaps I am biased, because there have been thousands like him but Connolly has always been the man that I looked up to.

I always have tremendous feeling for Liam Mellowes as well; and for the present leadership of the Republican Movement, and a confidence in them that they will always remain undaunted and unchanged. And again, dare I forget the Irish people of today, and the risen people of the past, they too hold a special place in my heart.

Well, I have gotten by twenty-seven years, so that is something. I may die, but the Republic of 1916 will never die. Onward to the Republic and liberation of our people.

The Diary of Bobby Sands - March 8, 1981

I had intended to post an entry from the diary of
Bobby Sands each day, but since Blogger locked my
account while I was trying to publish the first entry
and did not unlock it until this afternoon, I will
start with Bobby's March 8th entry. If you wish to
read Bobby's first week of entries (and I recommend
it), you can do so here.



Sunday 8th

In a few hours time I shall be twenty-seven grand
years of age. Paradoxically it will be a happy enough
birthday; perhaps that's because I am free in spirit.
I can offer no other reason.

I was at Mass today, and saw all the lads minus their
beards, etc. An American priest said Mass and I went
to Communion. One of the lads collapsed before Mass,
but he's all right now. Another was taken out to
Musgrave military hospital. These are regular
occurrences.

I am 60.8 kgs today, and have no medical complaints.

I received another note from my sister Bernie and her
boyfriend. It does my heart good to hear from her. I
got the Irish News today, which carried some adverts
in support of the hunger-strike.

There is a stand-by doctor who examined me at the
weekend, a young man whose name I did not know up
until now. Little friendly Dr Ross has been the
doctor. He was also the doctor during the last
hunger-strike.

Dr Emerson is, they say, down with the 'flu... Dr
Ross, although friendly, is in my opinion also an
examiner of people's minds. Which reminds me, they
haven't asked me to see a psychiatrist yet. No doubt
they will yet, but I won't see him for I am mentally
stable, probably more so than he.

I read some wild-life articles in various papers,
which indeed brought back memories of the
once-upon-a-time budding ornithologist! It was a
bright pleasant afternoon today and it is a calm
evening. It is surprising what even the confined eyes
and ears can discover.

I am awaiting the lark, for spring is all but upon us.
How I listened to that lark when I was in H-5, and
watched a pair of chaffinches which arrived in
February. Now lying on what indeed is my death bed, I
still listen even to the black crows. 

Loyalist March Abandoned

From the March, 2006 edition of Saoirse:


The scenes witnessed in Dublin city centre on February
25 only serve to illustrate how out of touch the
26-County political establishment was with the depth
of opposition to the routing of a loyalist march
through Dublin.
Indeed 26-County Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s
willingness to meet with the organisers of this march
while at the same time refusing to meet with the
relatives of those killed in the Britishdirected
loyalist Dublin and Monaghan bombs, or the relatives
of the Stardust tragedy, only serves to further
highlight the gulf that exists between the 26-County
political establishment and the views of ordinary
Irish people.
The people of Dublin have shown their rejection of the
ideology of sectarian hatred and bigotry represented
by those who organised this march. The
routing of such a march through Dublin was a
completely irresponsible act with scant thought given
to the consequences or the dangers it posed to people.
The Leinster House establishment was quick to mobilise
its media allies in the ‘blame-game’ which followed
the disturbances and some who should have
known better fell into line with their lies. On the
following day Irish Times journalist Patsy McGarry and
Leinster House TD Finian McGrath both broadcast the
falsehood that this newspaper’s February headline was
‘Stop loyalist march’ when it actually read ‘Oppose
loyalist march’. A protest picket against the march
sought to give the situation a political focus.
Indeed, Republican Sinn Féin ordered its members not
to carry the Irish Tricolour or black flags on the
picket. Once the loyalist march was cancelled the
protest picket was over and all members dispersed
along Parnell Square.
The charge of sectarianism was also thrown about with
abandon. It is easily answered. Rev David Frazer,
Church of Ireland minister in the Meath Diocese
(and a native of Co Down) publicly opposed the
loyalist march and claimed those taking part in it
regarded some victims of the troubles as ‘righteous’
and others as not so. After the abandoned parade he
said: “The ordinary decent unionist people of the
north of Ireland should understand that this violence
was not directed against them but against a march that
was itself very provocative.”
Justice for the Forgotten, the organisation of the
relatives of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombing also
came out in opposition to the march.
To those who scoffed at the Republican Sinn Féin
banner which read ‘Unite Catholic, Protestant and
Dissenter ...To Break the Connection with England’ it
should be pointed out that the Orange Order and
loyalist representatives do not represent Protestant
culture and neither are all Irish Protestants
Orangemen.

One journalist, Susan McKay, who is also a Protestant,
was the only panel member on RTÉ’s Questions and
Answers who stood up to one of the
parade organisers, Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP.
Donaldson said he would rather have not marched than
be forced down O’Connell Street with the protection of
the riot squad. McKay asked him why then did the
unionist parties collude with loyalist death squads
and the British forces to force their Orange march
through the nationalist area of Whiterock in Belfast
last summer, causing three days of disturbances? The
mask slipped as Donaldson’s only response was to
accuse McKay of being disloyal to the Protestant
community.
On March 1, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, President, Republican
Sinn Féin, in a statement, refuted false accusations
made in Leinster House:
“A police report of a planned sit-down protest by
Republican Sinn Féin on the occasion of last
Saturday’s (February 25) loyalist march which has been
quoted in Leinster House is without foundation. It is
mere speculation and is not true.
“The matter of the loyalist march through the centre
of Dublin was discussed repeatedly at Ard-Chomhairle
meetings. Our information on the growing level of
disquiet and opposition to it was much more accurate
than that which it appears was available to the
“powers that be”.
“We sought to give this situation a political focus
and the sole staff member who was in An Ard-Oifig on
Monday, February 20 did not refuse to give the facts
to a Garda Inspector when he visited without notice.
“All was in the open and was carried on the front page
of the January and February issues of SAOIRSE.
Republican Sinn Féin carried out its protest picket as
planned and departed from the scene in an orderly
manner when the march was cancelled.
“Earlier a delegation had laid a wreath at the
memorial to the 33 people killed in the
Dublin-Monaghan loyalist bombings in 1974. All through
our time in Cavendish Row we were corralled off by
police barriers and an open space from the crowd which
gathered in O’Connell Street.
“In point of fact we were never in O’Connell Street
but located ourselves in Cavendish Row, a small street
which connects Parnell Square and O’Connell
Street. Banner, placards and leaflets were all there
for public scrutiny and the media were constantly in
attendance throughout our presence there and can vouch
for what we are saying.
“The principal leaflet was entitled “An Address to the
People of Ireland” which made a special appeal to
those of the Unionist political persuasion. It asked
them to reconsider our ÉIRE NUA programme for a new
four-province Federal Ireland including a nine-county
Ulster in which unionists would have a working
majority, but nationalists would be within reach of
power.
“We held a press conference three days earlier
(Wednesday, February 22) in a Dublin hotel at which we
gave interviews to UTV among others. Nothing was
hidden but false accusations have been made. Rumour
and public house talk is no substitute for accurate
information.
“We declared this loyalist march to be ill-advised. We
believe any attempted repetition of it to be even more
ill-advised.”

Account Unlocked - IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 57)

Well, now that Blogger, in their infinite wisdom, has finally determined that my blog is not in violation of any of their terms of agreement and has unlocked my account, I have alot of catching up to do. Thanks, Blogger... you idiots.
--------------

IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 57)
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1,
Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail:
http://us.f367.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=saoirse@iol.ie&YY=43476&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b
Date: 6 Márta / March 2006

Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom

http://saoirse.rr.nu/


In this issue:
1. Launch of book on Ó Brádaigh
2. Loyalist death squad threaten Belfast taxi-driver
3. RUC/PSNI fire shots in Belfast
4. Belfast bookies murder weapons probe call
5. British police attacked in Derry
6. Decision not to interview murder suspects
'political'
7. Seventeen quizzed over loyalist pub raid
8. Police raid murder victim's home
9. Controversial new law applied to Hamill inquiry
10. Move to have convicted soldiers thrown out of army
11. Number of legally-held weapons in the Six Counties
12. Protesters block re-opening of pub near Stardust
site
13. Bush's Shannon stopover picketed by anti-war group
14. Sean O'Reilly acquitted of 'obstructing a federal
officer'
15.

1. LAUNCH OF BOOK ON Ó BRÁDAIGH

THE biography "Ruairí Ó Brádaigh - The Life and
Politics of an Irish Revolutionary" will be launched
by Dr Ruán O'Donnell, Department of History, Limerick
University, on April 12 - the Wednesday before Easter.

Other speakers at the launch in the Cúltúrlann,
Monkstown, Dublin at 7.30pm will include the author
Professor Robert W White of Indiana University and the
subject of the book himself, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

The book is in hardback and runs to 350 pages with
another 60 pages of notes and is the result of over 20
years of research and interviews with the subject. Dr
O'Donnell did extensive work for the bicentenaries of
1798 and 1803 and is now engaged in a study on the
Republican Movement in the 1950s.

2. LOYALIST DEATH SQUAD THREATEN BELFAST TAXI-DRIVER

ON March 4 a nationalist taxi driver was threatened at
gunpoint in the Ligoniel area, near north Belfast
after he picked up four men in his car in the Beldoc
area of the Crumlin Road and drove them to Ligoniel.

One of the men produced a small handgun and placed it
at the back of the driver's head and threatened him.
The man wielding the gun was 25 years of age, with
short ginger hair and a blackeye, and was wearing a
faded denim baseball cap. A struggle ensued, and the
driver managed to escape uninjured.

The four men then left the car and fled down an
alleyway at the side of McKenna`s pub. The attack on
the taxi driver bore the hallmarks of a sectarian
murder bid. It is understood the man worked for a firm
on the Antrim Road in Belfast.

The Red Hand Defenders, a known cover name for the UDA
/UFF loyalist death squad admitted trying to murder
the taxi driver and threatened to kill Republican
ex-prisoners, in a call to a Belfast newspaper, using
a recognised code word. The anonymous caller told the
newspaper it now considered all Republican
ex-prisoners "legitimate targets" from midnight on
March 3.

3. RUC/PSNI FIRE SHOTS IN BELFAST

MEMBERS of the British colonial police, the RUC/PSNI
fired two warning shots in north Belfast on March 6.
The trouble flared at about 1am when four men got out
of a car and threw bottles and other missiles at
Tennant Street RUC/PSNI station.
The police chased them into Montreal Street where a
female member of the RUC was grabbed and hit in the
face with a bottle.
About 30 people leaving a club then became involved,
attacking the British police with bricks, bottles and
other missiles, injuring four of them.
The RUC/PSNI fired two shots and one man was arrested.
Afterwards a van was set on fire at nearby Cambria
Street.

4. BELFAST BOOKIES MURDER WEAPONS PROBE CALL

THE families of five people murdered in a
British-backed loyalist gun attack on a south Belfast
bookmaker's have called on the RUC/PSNI to make public
the history of the weapons used in the attack.

Relatives of the dead gathered outside the Seán Graham
betting shop on the Ormeau Road on February 6 for a
memorial service on the 14th anniversary of the
killings.

On February 5, 1992, two Ulster Defence Association
gunmen opened fire in the bookmaker's shop with an
AK47 assault rifle and a Browning pistol. They killed
five people.

It later emerged that the UDA informer William Stobie
had given the Browning pistol to RUC detectives before
the attack.

The RUC gave the gun back to the UDA, which used the
weapon to murder a nationalist in a west Belfast pub
before using it in the Seán Graham massacre.

The AK47 had previously been used by the Ulster
Volunteer Force in a murder bid on a north Belfast
nationalist.

The British colonial police have consistently refused
to make public the full history of the weapons,
despite repeated requests from the families of the
Seán Graham victims to do so.

"There is something about those guns that they don't
want us to find out," he said. "Why else are they
refusing to disclose the full history of the weapons?
Why was this crucial information deleted in the
published version of the Cory report?

"I was shot five times in the attack. My
brother-in-law was killed, along with four other
people. I have a right to know the history of the guns
involved."

The Browning and AK47 were part of a consignment
brought into the Six-Counties in December 1987 by
British agent Brian Nelson.

The arms were divided between the UDA, UVF and the
Ulster Resistance group, which for a time had links to
Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party.

The South African weapons have been used in more than
100 sectarian killings since January 1988.

5.  BRITISH POLICE ATTACKED IN DERRY

MEMBERS of the British colonial police came under
attack from a crowd of up to 20 youths in the Moss
Park and Glengalliagh Road area of Derry on March 4.
The crowd attacked two RUC/PSNI vehicles shortly
before 12.30am and tried to drag members from one of
the cars. CS spray was used to disperse the crowd and
two young men were arrested, but one managed to escape
from custody while still wearing handcuffs. One
policeman was slightly injured in the disturbances and
two RUC/PSNI vehicles were damaged.

6. DECISION NOT TO INTERVIEW MURDER SUSPECTS
'POLITICAL'

THE decision not to interview four key suspects in the
murder of a Dundalk forestry worker 30 years ago was
probably political, according to Justice Henry Barron.

A British-backed loyalist death squad, including a
member of the British army's Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR) abducted Séamus Ludlow, aged 47, in County Louth
and shot dead on May 2, 1976, but the 26-County police
never interviewed the suspects who identified by the
RUC 18 months later.

At the Joint Leinster House Committee on Justice, on
February 16, Judge Henry Barron was asked if this
decision had been taken because of the volatile
situation at the time. "I think the reality is that it
was probably political," he replied.

In his report into Séamus Ludlow's death, Judge Barron
said it was most probable the decision not to carry
out the interviews with the Six-County-based suspects
was made by former Garda Commissioner Laurence Wren,
then head of the Garda C3 security section.

The two garda detectives who received the information
from the RUC in 1979 never received authorisation from
C3 to travel across the border to follow it up,
despite the fact that two of the suspects were in
prison and readily available for interview.

Judge Barron told the committee he stood over his
report's conclusion, despite strong denials from
Laurence Wren that he had any involvement in the
decision.

"It must have been made by the most senior member and
that was Mr Wren," he said.
The four suspects named in Judge Barron's report -
Paul Hosking, James Fitzsimmons, Richard Long and
Samuel Carroll - were arrested in the Six-Counties in
1998, but the Six-County DPP decided not to prosecute
them because of insufficient evidence.

Judge Barron said he would like to have seen the RUC
files on the Ludlow murder while compiling his report,
but this was not possible because he got no
co-operation from the British authorities.

The family of Séamus Ludlow, who have travelled from
Dundalk to attend each committee hearing, are calling
for a full public inquiry into his murder.

Judge Barron's fourth and final report, into bombings
in Dundalk in the 1970s, is almost complete, but its
publication may be delayed to see if the names of
those allegedly responsible can be included.

7. SEVENTEEN QUIZZED OVER LOYALIST PUB RAID

ON March 2 members of the RUC/PSNI arrested 17
following a raid on a north Belfast pub, believed to
be an operation against the loyalist Ulster Defence
Association.

Armed RUC/PSNI using CS gas stormed the Alexander Bar
in Tigers Bay, north Belfast, where it is understood
the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was rehearsing
for a so-called show of strength. It is understood an
event was being planned for some time this weekend.

It was later reported that  two leading loyalists who
have had talks with Bertie Ahern and 26-County
President Mary McAleese's husband were among the 17
people arrested.
South Belfast UDA leader Jackie McDonald and Ihab
Shoukri, brother of north Belfast UDA leader Andre,
were among those detained for questioning.

McDonald and Shoukri were part of an Ulster Political
Research Group (UPRG) delegation that held talks with
Bertie Ahern in 2004.

Martin McAleese has met the pair on a number of
occasions - the most recent of which was last month -
in an attempt to get the UDA declare and end to
paramilitary activity.

He also played a round of golf with McDonald at the
exclusive K Club, Co Kildare, and Mrs McAleese
embraced him during a visit to south Belfast last
year.

Eleven of those arrested were remanded in custody on
March 6 at  Belfast Magistrates' Court. The court was
packed as the suspects appeared in the dock one by one
to face charges of helping to set up a meeting of the
UDA and Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Before the men appeared, magistrate Des Perry warned
he would clear the courtroom if any disturbances broke
out.

Four of the accused: John Davis, 48, of Glebe Manor,
Glengormley; Alan McClean, 19, of Westland Drive; Gary
McKenzie, 34, of Claire Heights; and Samuel Robinson,
37, of Arosa Crescent, all of Belfast, were charged
with assisting in arranging or managing a meeting in
support of a proscribed organisation - the UDA or UFF.

The other seven were accused of the same offence plus
an additional charge of dressing like a member of the
banned groups.

They were: Stephen Crawford, 21, of Hillview Avenue
and Robert Neill, 21, from Fairview Crescent, both
Newtownabbey; George McHenry, 38, of Ardoyne Road;
Gary Dunseath, 22, from Upper Canning Street; James
Fisher, 36, of Alliance Road; Mark Green, 23, of
Hogarth Street; and Gary Dicks, 21, from Glenrosa
Street, all of Belfast.

Shoukri was among six other men and a woman questioned
as part of the police operation who have been released
while further reports are prepared for the Public
Prosecution Service.

All 11 men were remanded in custody to appear again
via videolink on April 3.

8. POLICE RAID MURDER VICTIM'S HOME

THE family of a murdered father-of-six condemned the
RUC/PSNI on March 2 for carrying out searches for
petrol bombs at his former home in west Belfast.
Gerard Devlin, 39, was stabbed to death in the
Ballymurphy area last month as he prepared to take his
children away for the weekend.
The victim's aunt, Bernadette O`Rawe, said eight
RUC/PSNI Land Rovers arrived at the family home in
Whitecliff Parade at 9am.
She claimed officers stayed for more than three hours
and took dozens of photographs inside the property.
The PSNI searches came just days after the family
returned to Ballymurphy after spending time away in
the aftermath of the murder.

9. CONTROVERSIAL NEW LAW APPLIED TO HAMILL INQUIRY

THE inquiry into the murder of Portadown man Robert
Hamill is to become the second collusion case switched
over to controversial new legislation.

The chairperson of the inquiry, which is examining
police handling of Robert Hamill's death at the hands
of a loyalist mob, recently asked Secretary of State
Peter Hain to convert the case to the Inquiries Act.

Former High Court Justice Edwin Jowitt has asked for
the switch because "important witnesses are unwilling
to give evidence" and the new law will allow him to
force them to appear.

The Act has attracted criticism because it gives
British Ministers unprecedented powers to keep
information secret.

David Wright, the father of murdered LVF leader Billy
Wright, is currently mounting a High Court challenge
against the use of the law in the inquiry into his
son's prison murder.

The Wright case was originally set up under the
Prisons Act but was converted to the Inquiries Act
last year.

The family of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane have
strenuously opposed Government plans to hold the
inquiry into his murder under the Act.

Peter Hain wrote to Pat Finucane's widow Geraldine
last week to defend the Act and tell her that it would
not be used to cover up information. He said the
"volume of sensitive evidence is far too great:"in the
Finucane case to use the old system.

Last week retired Canadian Supreme Court Justice Peter
Cory, who recommended the Hamill, Wright and Finucane
inquiries alongside two other cases, cast doubt over
the Government's claims that serious national security
issues could be compromised by the Finucane case.

10. MOVE TO HAVE CONVICTED SOLDIERS THROWN OUT OF ARMY

MORE than 50 British MPs are backing moves to have the
two Scottish soldiers convicted of murdering Belfast
teenager Peter McBride thirteen years ago thrown out
of the army.

Members of a range of parties at Westminster have
signed an SDLP Early Day Motion pushing for a change
in the regulations which allow the soldiers who shot
him to return to the army after serving just three
years in jail.

The news came after it was disclosed that Prime
Minister Tony Blair has refused to meet the mother of
the murdered teenager, Jean McBride. She has long been
campaigning to have the solider expelled from the
army.

Guardsmen Mark Wright and James Fisher were sentenced
to life for murdering Peter McBride in 1995.However,
they were released from prison three years later and
allowed to rejoin their regiment. At their trial they
said they opened fire because they wrongly thought
McBride was carrying a bomb.

11. NUMBER OF LEGALLY-HELD WEAPONS IN THE SIX COUNTIES

THE number of weapons, including shotguns, held on
licence in the Six Counties last May was 144,554 - up
by 5,634 (almost 4%) on the 2001 figure. It's
undisputed that the majority of licence holders are
unionists.

12. PROTESTERS BLOCK RE-OPENING OF PUB NEAR STARDUST
SITE

ON March 4 survivors of the Stardust disaster and
relatives of those killed in the nightclub fire
protested outside Bertie Ahern's constituency office
in Dublin.

The protest was part of a renewed campaign for a
proper inquiry into the blaze, which killed 48 people
on Valentine's Day in 1981.

The survivors and relatives have never accepted the
outcome of the original inquiry, which criticised
owner Eamon Butterly, Dublin Corporation and the
Department of the Environment for safety failings.

They say they have been inundated with new witness
statements since the airing of a television
documentary to mark the 25th anniversary of the
disaster last month.

13. BUSH'S SHANNON STOPOVER PICKETED BY ANTI-WAR GROUP

A SMALL group of anti-war activists held a protest
vigil when President George W Bush's plane refuelled
at Shannon airport early on March 5.

The US Presidential aircraft, Airforce One, touched
down at Shannon Airport just before 2.45am while
bringing George Bush home to Washington from his state
visit to Pakistan and India.

A security operation involving several hundred police
and soldiers was maintained before and during the
stopover.

A small group of anti-war campaigners protested at the
airport. Spokesperson Ed Horgan claimed that such
visits put Ireland at risk of a possible terror
attack.

"I think if the United States military continue to be
allowed use Shannon airport there is a very strong
danger Ireland will be attacked, but the attack would
be on Dublin, not on Shannon," he said.

14. SEAN O'REILLY ACQUITTED OF 'OBSTRUCTING A FEDERAL
OFFICER'

ON December 13, 2005 following a non-violent break in
at the NSA/CIA Pine Gap Sattelite Station in Alice
Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, Sean O'Reilly
was one of six people arrested during a peaceful
demonstration at Pine Gap.

Jim Dowling from Daybora and Adele Goldie from
Brisbane entered the base undetected and photographed
themselves on the roof of a building after cutting
through two security fences.

Donna Mulhern from Sydney and Bryan Law from Cairns
cut through a perimeter fence and went undetected for
an hour before being arrested cutting through a second
fence.

Jessica Morrison from Melbourne and Sean O'Reilly from
Brisbane held a peaceful vigil outside the front gates
around six that morning after the arrests had been
made. Police searched their vehicle and removed
property, when questioned about their actions, Sean
O'Reilly was arrested for hindering police. Jessica
Morrison was then followed for a two hours by federal
police before being taken into custody, but was later
released without charge.

Sean was charged with "obstructing a federal police
officer" merely for questioning the officers right to
search his car. Sean went to court in Alice Springs on
Monday February 27, 2006. The pre-trial hearing of the
remaining Pine Gap protestors is set for April with a
jury trial later in the year. Pine Gap is used for
electronic information gathering and targeting for the
U.S. war machine.

In the spirit civil disobedience the inspection, by
the group Christians Against ALL Terrorism, was an
anti-terrorist exercise. The base has long been closed
off to the Australian public and the Australian
Government. The group believes Pine Gap to be a
terrorist base. The Australian Government has become
complicit in terrorism by leasing the land to the
U.S., who uses the satellite tracking system to
pinpoint targets in Iraq and Afghanistan.

100,000 Iraqi civilians are dead, in a war that has
been declared illegal by the U.N. and condemned as
immoral by spiritual leaders worldwide. The group from
the beginning had made public their intention to
inspect Pine Gap. They contacted Defense Minister,
Senator Robert Hill, asking for permission to inspect
the base and then later stating when the inspection
would be carried out. The Senator replied by
threatening the group with seven years jail under the
1952 Defence act.

On Monday Sean's case commenced but evidence from
attending/arresting officers was full of inaccuracies
and inconsistencies. The case was adjourned until
Friday March 3.

An edited report from Sean said: "The Magistrate,
Melanie Little, took about 35 minutes to sum up.
Basically, she found too many inconsistencies in the
evidence provided by the prosecution and the previous
cases provided by the prosecutor re hindrance appeared
to work in my favour.

"Ms Little found that there was not sufficient
substance in the arresting officer's evidence to prove
I hindered him. It just feels great and I'm feeling
very happy with my performance in court. It is amazing
when you realize during the summation that it looks
like it is swinging in your favour. Trust it will be a
good omen for the 4 in April and beyond. I've made an
application for costs and have a hearing set down for
the 23 March with a telephone link up. The prosecutor
was sitting in Darwin and watching it all by video
link"

Related Link:
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2005/12/101603.php

ENDS

STATEMENT AT START OF SECOND HUNGER STRIKE

1 MARCH 1981 STATEMENT AT START OF SECOND HUNGER STRIKE

We, the Republican POWs in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh, and our comrades in Armagh prison, are entitled to and hereby demand political status, and we reject today, as we have consistently rejected every day since September 14th, 1976, when the Blanket protest began, the British government's attempted criminalisation of ourselves and our struggle.

Five years ago this day, the British government declared that anyone arrested and convicted after March 1st, 1976, was to be treated as a criminal and no longer as a political prisoner. Five years later we are still able to declare that that criminalisation policy, which we have resisted and suffered, has failed.

If a British government experienced such a long and persistent resistance to a domestic policy in England, then that policy would almost certainly be changed. But not so in Ireland where its traditional racist attitude blinds its judgement to reason and persuasion.

Only the loud voice of the Irish people and world opinion can bring them to their senses and only a hunger strike, where lives are laid down as proof of the strength of our political convictions, can rally such opinion, and present the British with the problem that, far from criminalising the cause of lreland, their intransigence is actually bringing popular attention to that cause.

We have asserted that we are political prisoners and everything about our country, our arrests, interrogations, trials and prison conditions show that we are politically motivated and not motivated by selfish reasons or for selfish ends. As further demonstration of our selflessness and the justness of our cause, a number of our comrades, beginning today with Bobby Sands, will hunger strike to the death unless the British government abandons its criminalisation policy and meets our demand for political status.

IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 56)

IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 56)
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1,
Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail:
saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 1 Márta / March 2006

Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom

http://saoirse.rr.nu

Irish Republican Information Service
THE body styling itself 'Limerick Republican
Information Service' is not connected with the Irish
Republican Information Service (IRIS), 223 Parnell
Street, Dublin 1, email saoirse@iol.ie and has not
been authorised either by IRIS or by the body that
sponsors IRIS, Republican Sinn Féin. Therefore it is
totally unauthorised and should be regarded as such.


In this issue:
1. Republican Sinn Féin protest at loyalist march
2. Republican prisoner victimised in Maghaberry jail
3. Another Basque political prisoner killed by Spanish
repression
4. Call for investigation into DNA evidence of
loyalist murders
5. M15 withheld information from RUC on Omagh
6. Three bricklayers released from jail
7. Successful function in Lurgan
8. Prisons for profit

1. REPUBLICAN SINN FÉIN PROTEST AT LOYALIST MARCH

THE 26-County political establishment once more
demonstrated the gulf of understanding that lies
between them and ordinary Irish people when they chose
to ignore warnings of serious disturbance if they
allowed a loyalist march proceed through the centre of
Dublin.

In the aftermath of the riots, which ensued on
February 25, and the abandonment of the loyalist march
Republican Sinn Féin pointed to where the true
responsibility for the chaos in Dublin lay. In a
statement RSF Vice President Des Dalton said: "The
scenes witnessed in Dublin today only serve to
illustrate how out of touch the 26-County political
establishment was with the depth of opposition to the
routing of a loyalist march through Dublin.

"Indeed 26-County Justice Minister Michael McDowell's
willingness to meet with the organisers of this march
while at the same time refusing to meet with the
relatives of those killed in the British-directed
loyalist Dublin and Monaghan bombs or the relatives of
the Stardust tragedy, only serves to further highlight
the gulf that exists between the 26-County political
establishment and the views of ordinary Irish people.

The people of Dublin have shown their rejection of the
ideology of sectarian hatred and bigotry represented
by those who organised this march. The routing of such
a march through Dublin was a completely irresponsible
act with scant thought given to the consequences or
the dangers it posed to people."

Since the march was first mooted in December of 2005
Republican Sinn Féin made it clear it intended to
protest. On February 22 it held a press conference in
Dublin to announce details of its protest however most
of the Dublin based media chose to ignore it. The
February edition of the newspaper SAOIRSE under the
headline "Oppose Loyalist march" called on people to
support a protest against the march as well as
outlining the three reasons why Republican Sinn Féin
were organising a protest.
These were also included in a leaflet distributed at
the protest and were:

* "One of the bodies sponsoring the Loyalist march,
FAIR, claims a near monopoly on suffering in Ireland
over the past 40 years. The facts are more than 1,000
innocent uninvolved nationalists were killed by
British-backed loyalist death squads. Of the 698
Protestants killed during the conflict in the Six
Counties 340 died at the hands of loyalists. FAIR
should be marching on the UDA and UVF in Belfast
rather than through the centre of Dublin.

* Republicans stand in solidarity with the beleaguered
nationalists of the Garvaghy Road, Ardoyne, Dunloy and
other such areas. The 26-County administration by
collaborating with this march has in effect turned its
back on all, north and south, who suffered at the
hands of British-backed loyalist death squads down the
decades.
* The question which has not been asked is whether
nationalist parades, of whatever kind, or even Civil
Rights marches would be allowed through the centre of
Portadown or Belfast's Royal Avenue? The British
forces would certainly block them.
* When the British Government finally leaves Ireland,
there will no longer be a question of supremacy of
Unionists over Nationalists and all interests will be
welcome to parade wherever they chose."

On the day RSF carried out all of the activities they
said would, this included gathering in Talbot Street,
Dublin at the Memorial to the victims of the loyalist
bombing of Dublin and Monaghan in May, 1974 in which
34 died.

Republican Sinn Féin President, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh,
read out the names of the victims and he also read out
the names of 13 civilians who were murdered in the
26-Counties by loyalist death squads.

He recalled having been at the funerals of the victims
and that he has attended the unveiling of the
memorials in 1991. He pointed out that the 26-County
administration had refused to meet with the victim's
families and that it was only in the past two weeks
that Bertie Ahern agreed to meet with the relatives of
the Stardust fire which claimed the lives of 48 young
people in 1981.

A minutes silence was observed when Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
laid a wreath after which those assembled made their
way to O'Connell Street where at the Parnell Monument
many more members, supporters and members of the
general public gathered with placards to oppose the
loyalist march from Parnell Square to Leinster House
where representatives of the Orange Order were to meet
with Michael McDowell, the 26-County justice minister.

A banner which read Unite Protestant Catholic &
Dissenter...To break the Connection with England was
carried by members of Dublin Republican Sinn Féin.

The lambeg drums could be clearly heard from the top
of Parnell Square where, dressed in full loyalist
regalia and carrying the Union Jack, the bands
assembled. Within a short time trouble flared between
groups of protestors who emerged from side streets
and were not part of the RSF protest, and the
26-County police - many of whom were in full riot
gear. It soon became obvious that the loyalist march
would not be going ahead due mainly to the large
numbers of people protesting.

Republican Sinn Féin continued their protest at the
Parnell Monument and later moved to Cavendish Row
until the loyalists boarded their busses and left
Parnell Square.

The loyalists were bussed to Leinster House and the
bands formed up there - again in full regalia and
carrying the Union Jack. However a crowd of protestors
having been told by the 26-County police that the
Loyalists had been bussed to Leinster House followed
them there and they had to pack up once again. However
representatives of the march held a meeting with
Michael McDowell in the Berkley Court Hotel.

In the days that followed Republican Sinn Féin, who
throughout had provided leadership and a political
focus to those opposed to the loyalist march deflected
attempts by the 26-County administration to blame them
for the riots. In interviews and statements on all of
the national as well as some international media
Republican Sinn Féin spokespeople including its
President, Ruairí O Brádaigh, its two Vice Presidents
Josephine Hayden and Des Dalton as well as publicity
Director Ruairí Óg Ó Brádaigh highlighted that the
26-County political establishment had lost touch with
ordinary Irish people in their rush to normalise
British rule in Ireland as well as appease
Unionism/Loyalism and its sectarian ideology.

On March 1, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, President, Republican
Sinn Féin, in a statement, refuted false accusations
made in Leinster House:

"A police report of a planned sit-down protest by
Republican Sinn Féin on the occasion of last
Saturday's (February 25) loyalist march which has been
quoted in Leinster House is without foundation. It is
mere speculation and is not true.

"The matter of the loyalist march through the centre
of Dublin was discussed repeatedly at Ard-Chomhairle
meetings. Our information on the growing level of
disquiet and opposition to it was much more accurate
than that which it appears was available to the
"powers that be".

"We sought to give this situation a political focus
and the sole woman staff member who was in An
Ard-Oifig on Monday, February 20 did not refuse to
give the facts to a Garda Inspector when he visited
without notice.

"All was in the open and was carried on the front page
of the January and February issues of SAOIRSE.
Republican Sinn Féin carried out its protest picket as
planned and departed from the scene in an orderly
manner when the march was cancelled.

"Earlier we had laid a wreath at the memorial to the
33 people killed in the Dublin-Monaghan loyalist
bombings in 1974. All through our time in Cavendish
Row we were corralled off by police barriers and an
open space from the crowd which gathered in O'Connell
Street.

"In point of fact we were never in O'Connell Street
but located ourselves in Cavendish Row, a small street
which connects Parnell Square and O'Connell Street.
Banner, placards and leaflets were all there for
public scrutiny and the media were constantly in
attendance throughout our presence there and can vouch
for what we are saying.

"The principal leaflet was entitled "An address to the
People of Ireland" which made a special appeal to
those of the Unionist political persuasion. It asked
them to reconsider our ÉIRE NUA programme for a new
four-province Federal Ireland including a nine-county
Ulster in which unionists would have a working
majority, but nationalists would be within reach of
power.

"We held a press conference three days earlier
(Wednesday, February 22) in a Dublin hotel at which we
gave interviews to UTV among others. Nothing was
hidden but false accusations have been made. Rumour
and public house talk is no substitute for accurate
information.

"We declared this loyalist march to be ill-advised. We
believe any attempted repetition of it to be even more
ill-advised."

It was reported on February 27 that loyalists
returning from the abandoned Love Ulster march in
Dublin were responsible for riots in Portadown, Co
Armagh, in the early hours of February 26. Six RUC/
PSNI officers were injured during the trouble,
involving more than 100 people in the High Street and
Edward Street areas.

Local people reported that a loyalist crowd attacked
customers leaving two nationalist-owned bars in the
town. The report said that the attackers included
several loyalist bandsmen who had been in Dublin
earlier in the day for the Love Ulster march.

2. REPUBLICAN PRISONER VICTIMISED IN MAGHABERRY JAIL

STÍOFÁN Ó Dálaigh, OC of the Continuity IRA prisoners
in Maghaberry jail in Co Antrim was released on the
weekend of February 18-20 on what is termed
pre-release parole.

Upon his return to the jail on Monday, February 20 he
was sent to the punishment block for 48 hours after
prison warders said that their search dog had got a
positive scent from him for drugs. Stíofán stated
that it took all the dog-handler's strength to get the
dog to stop beside him and that the warders laughed at
the outcome.

This was a deliberate act of harassment and
humiliation by British prison warders as it is
accepted that neither Stíofán nor indeed anyone on the
Republican wing would tolerate any connection with
such substances. The prison authorities and their
warders are using this pretence of drug prevention to
harass and intimidate Republican POWs and their
visitors.

In a statement on February 28 Republican Sinn Féin
said that the continued harassment of Republican
prisoners and their visitors at Maghaberry prison
would only increase the determination of the prisoners
and their supporters to continue the struggle against
British occupation.

3. ANOTHER BASQUE POLITICAL PRISONER KILLED BY SPANISH REPRESSION

BASQUE political prisoner Igor Angulo was found dead
on February 29, hanging from his cell window in Cuenca
Jail more than 600 klm from the Basque Country. He was
the only Basque political prisoner in Cuenca. Because
of the Spanish dispersal policy before he was
transferred to Cuenca in 2001 he was kept in six
different jails all around Spain. He was locked in his
cell for 18 hours a day. He was tortured when he was
arrested in 1996.

He is the third Basque political prisoner to be found
dead in his cell in the last year and this is a
consequence of the merciless and brutal Spanish and
French governments' prison policy against Basques.
More than 700 Basque political prisoners are kept in
80 prisons all around France and Spain suffering
beatings, isolation, medical mistreatment, dispersal
and denying of most basic rights like studying,
speaking in Basque etc.

irishbasques at hotmail.com and
http://www.indymedia.ie

4. CALL FOR INVESTIGATION INTO DNA EVIDENCE OF
LOYALIST MURDERS

IT was reported on February 27 that important DNA
evidence had emerged in the case of two teenagers
butchered by loyalists six years ago, prompting the
father of one of the victims to call for an inquiry
into why police did not act upon it before.

Paul McIlwaine, whose son David was murdered alongside
Andrew Robb in February 2000, called for a new Police
Ombudsman investigation last night after he was
contacted by the detective currently in charge of the
manhunt. He said the RUC/PSNI detective revealed that
a forensic review had turned up a DNA link between his
son's body and a suspect in the case.

He called on the Police Ombudsman - who reviewed the
case last year - to conduct a new inquiry to determine
why the evidence had not been available for six years.

Paul McIlwaine said last year's Ombudsman review
concluded that police had carried out "a thorough and
professional investigation" but called on the
Ombudsman "to reinvestigate this case in light of this
information".

The RUC/PSNI refused to comment on Mr McIlwaine's
allegations, saying the case is subjudice because two
men are currently awaiting trial.

David McIlwaine (18), and 19-year-old Andrew Robb were
murdered in the early hours of February 19, 2000 by
loyalists believed to belong to the UVF.

The boys' bodies were found near Tandragee. They had
been stabbed repeatedly and their throats had been
slashed. Two years ago Paul McIlwaine raised queries
about the available evidence in the Belfast Telegraph
newspaper, citing police papers he had won access to
after a long court battle.

He said those papers indicated that substantial
forensic evidence, including DNA evidence, was
available. He previously alleged that an informer for
the security forces was among the killers.

A suspect was charged a short time after the murders
but was released months later because prosecutors said
there was insufficient evidence to secure a
conviction.

Two years ago police told Paul McIlwaine that DNA
material was being resubmitted for review, and new
files were prepared for the Director of Public
Prosecutions. But the DPP concluded again that there
was not enough evidence to secure a conviction.

"We never accepted that this was the case," Paul
McElwaine said. "On the limited evidence available to
us we had a number of human rights experts
independently examine the evidence. All felt that on
the body of evidence that prosecutions should have
been taken."

Last September the case featured in the BBC's
Crimewatch programme and within weeks two men had been
charged with the murders. They are currently in
custody awaiting trial.

5. MI5 WITHHELD INFORMATION FROM RUC ON OMAGH

INFORMATION supplied to MI5 by their agent David
Rupert, who also was an FBI and Garda Special Branch
agent, four months before the Omagh bomb in 1998 was
never passed on to the RUC Special Branch according
Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid.

The information was in relation to an earlier planned
attack [in April prior to the signing of the Belfast
Agreement] on either Derry or Omagh. The intelligence
was passed on to the Gardaí in the 26 Counties and
resulted in three people being arrested.

This revelation comes at a time when responsibility
for 'national security intelligence' in the Six
Occupied Counties is being transferred to MI5 from the
Special Branch.

6. THREE BRICKLAYERS RELEASED FROM JAIL

THREE unemployed Dublin bricklayers, William McClurg,
Keith Kelly and Andrew Clarke were released by the
High Court in Dublin on Saturday Feburary 25 after
giving an undertaking not to picket the Collen
Construction site in Ballybrack.

The three men had been jailed on February 10 for
refusing to refrain from picketing the site which
stopped work on a 77 house scheme for Dun
Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Collen Construction
brought the case against the men and applied for
orders to commit them to prison after they ignored a
High Court injunction restraining them from picketing
the site.

Work on two other Collen sites, University College
Dublin and the Hugh Lane Gallery, had also been
disrupted by picketing. The three men claim that
sub-contractors on Collen sites are not paying the
legal minimum rates and that they {Collen} are
refusing to employ local labour and in particular
members of the Building and Allied Trade Union (Batu).


7. SUCCESSFUL FUNCTION IN LURGAN

THE Thomas Hart Cumann of Republican Sinn Féin held a
very successful Fundraiser on February 24 last.

Finance was raised towards the costs of the Belfast
office and for CABHAIR (Irish Republican Prisoners'
Dependants Fund. The event was well attended with
members from Tyrone, Derry, Armagh, and Fermanagh all
showing up to lend their support and enjoy the craic.

The music on the night was performed Foggy Dew who
were excellent throughout and a draw was held and
three lucky people scooped the three prizes, including
a framed Spirit of Freedom picture from Maghaberry
jail, a framed picture commemorating the 1916 Easter
Rising and a bottle of whiskey. Brenden Magill
auctioned off two beautiful Bodhrán, one with the
image off Bobby Sands, the other a Celtic football
emblem.

There were several speeches on the night, amongst them
Fergal Moore stressing that the conditions in
Maghaberry were totally unacceptable for Irish
Republican POWs. He said those who were held in
Maghaberry were being held for fighting for Irish
freedom and he called on everyone to support them and
the continued fight for Irish freedom.

8. PRISONS FOR PROFIT

THIS month's announcement that the new prison complex
to replace Mountjoy will be built under a Public
Private Parnership (PPP) ushers in the era of
prisons-for-profit in Ireland.

According to a report in the Irish Times of February
4, the new prison will house at least 1,200 prisoners
and "will be designed to allow for its easy extension
in the future".
The government has called for tenders from private
companies to design, build, finance and maintain the
new facility. The contract with the private firm
chosen will run for up to 35 years.

Government enthusiasm for PPPs stems from the dubious
claim that such projects are cheaper to the state.
However, the 2004 annual report of the comptroller and
auditor general estimated the cost of PPP schools in
Ireland to be 8-13% more expensive than traditional
funding methods. The government wrongly predicted
that the use of PPP would result in a 6% savings.

Yet despite this track record - and the failure to
provide any evidence in support of its privatisation
scheme - the government plans to roll out Ireland's
first for-profit prison in 2010.

ENDS