Irish Time

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

FAREWELL TO WARRIOR RUAIRI O'BRADAIGH






Traditional Irish Republican Ruairí Ó Brádaigh passed away today at the age 80. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was probably the most significant figure in the Irish Republican movement in Ireland, since the war of Independence and besides being Former IRA Chief of Staff, served as President of both Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin respectively. I used to meet him at meetings in Castleblayney yeas ago and besides leaving a very strong impression on me, the last one he left with me, was the critical importance of our heritage. I wondered about his commitment to the socialist part of Irish republicanism and his reply was an Irish form of socialism.

Born in Longford in 1932 to a republican family, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh studied at UCD where he gained a degree in commerce. During his time at UCD he became involved with Sinn Féin and joined the IRA, of which his father had also been a member. Althoughr by profession a teache, Ruairí spent most of his time as a training officer for the IRA and in 1954 appointed to the Military Council of the IRA, eventually being IRA Chief of Staff until 1962.

He was elected as Sinn Féin TD in the Longford – Westmeath constituency in 1957. In 1970 Ruari Ó Brádaigh led the walkout from the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis after the majority voted in favour of the abolition of Sinn Féin’s policy of abstention. He became President of Provisional Sinn Féin which he held until his resignation in 1983. In 1986, Ruairi Ó Brádaigh again led a walk out, this time from the Provisonal Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, when they voted to drop the abstention policy. He and several supporters established Republican Sinn Féin and once again was appointed President until 2009 when he was succeeded by Des Dalton.

Ruairi Ó Brádaigh was arrested, imprisoned and interned many times throughout his life, for his actions and involvement with the IRA. He was perhaps best known for a hard line republican view particularly opposed to decommissioning by the Provisional IRA as part of the Good Friday Agreement.
"Dolours Price reviewing Ruairi O'Bradaigh's biography wrote the following in Indymedia Ireland
Monday June 26, 2006 20:11 by Dolours Price


Cardboard in their Shoes.


"This book belongs on all shelves, in all libraries, in all schools.This is the story of a man, a movement who toiled on, against all odds, who stayed with his choices, he is not the last Republican, he has been a custodian of Republicanism, for generations yet to come. Read this book again and again."

Cardboard in their Shoes.

By Dolours Price.

There is not a time in my remembered history within the family of Republicanism that I did not know the name Ruairi O' Bradaigh.

As a child, and later as a girl, I knew him as Mr. O'Bradaigh and I sat silently in the presence of my elders listening to stories of daring and struggle that had been the lot of Republicans throughout the ages. Ruairi O'Bradaigh figured often in these tales.

It is in the nature of life, of tgrowing up, of having 'done one's bit' that I can now call him ''Ruairi'' as he calls me 'Dolours'. The years and the deeds have brought some form of equality of status between us. My respect for him has never faltered and I like to think that I, in my turn have earned his respect also.

It was in Monkstown Culturlann that a biography of Ruairi was being launched. I rarely attend such affairs but the spirit moved me.

The biography by Professor Robert W. White, an American academic, looked impressive and copious copies were being signed by the subject himself, by the author and by anyone who felt a part of this period of Republican history. The fallow years when my father left for England to fight a war with cardboard in his shoes!

A look around the room took me back to Bodenstown commerations of many years agto, men still staunch but grown bent by the years and hard times in and out of prisons. Still true to the Faith as Ruairi would define it.

Bob White astounded me by the depth of research he poured into this work; names that I thought I had long since forgotten popped up regularly and a history I once thought I knew back to front became a whole new experience for me.
Having heard it all, as I thought , at my father's knee - I realised I had only heard a bit. Pieces, chunks, fell into place, some were elating and some were more depressing than even I could have imagined having lived through this time of deceit, double dealing and sell-outs. It was always there. Yes history does repeat itself!

Cathal Goulding, when the subject of constitutional politics, was first raised by the Official Movement is quoted as saying, ''We'll never take Ruairi with us'', they never did, nor did Gerry Adams. This easily read book makes that clear, this is a man who stood and stands in the face of others, willing to compromise, to cut corners, to convince themselves of the ''unimportance'' of the extremely ''important'' positions.

This vast work of academic and personal achievement will be read and re-read, will be thumbed by students, other academics, politicians and those who wish to know the real truth. The intrigue the 'fixing' of conventions, the devious dealings of those full of self concern and importance, the would be ''democract'' all is laid bare and makes for riveting, yet depressing reading.

Bob White describes Ruairi as the ''last Republican'', I think Ruairi would agree with me when I say I believe this to be not true. There are many of us, slightly younger, and many younger again who hold true to Republicanism as Ruairi defined it in 1950. We will always have our small differences (that is part of being a Republican) but overall we are united, no more so than now against the Good Friday debacle.

Asked would he make money from this book Rurai laughed and said, ''Sure when did Republicans ever make money?''. This is not a heavy tome to be laboured over, rather it brings a smile on every other page. They were not the greatest organiisers in the world of war and revolution but what they lacked in expertise they made up for with pure heart and cardboard in their shoes.

Had I been asked to undertake a work of this magnitude I would have shriveled at the thought. Bob White did not, thankfully, and we now have a very important record, not just of one man's life, but of a whole period of Irish history for too long neglected.

This book belongs on all shelves, in all libraries, in all schools.This is the story of a man, a movement who toiled on, against all odds, who stayed with his choices, he is not the last Republican, he has been a custodian of Republicanism, for generations yet to come. Read this book again and again."

FREE THE PEOPLE : Release Martin Corey









Ireland: Martin Corey still denied justice, John Downey arrested


Martin Corey is a 63-year-old man jailed in the six counties of Ireland's

north still claimed by Britain. He has been held for three years without

trial.




http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54224




Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams accused the British government on May 24 of

breaching commitments given during peace talks over a decade ago. Adams'

comments came after the arrest of leading Donegal Sinn Fein member John

Downey.




http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54225



--

“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s 
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man

Under Socialism




“Tmmy?” — Jarvis Cocker



The 'Disappearance' of Martin Corey; a man who was removed from his home and family, without giving him the right to know why.



Martin Corey is a 62 year old man who has now been incarcerated at the behest of the British Secretary of State in Ireland for over three years. Martin has no charge against him and the only justification for his detention by his captors is that there is a dossier of Secret evidence against him.




So what is this secret evidence and who gathered it? It leads me to my next assumption, that there must be Secret Police working in the Occupied Six Counties.




Here is a definition of Secret Police:


"Secret police (sometimes political police) are intelligence agencies and or police agency, law enforcement office which operates in secrecy and also quite often beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime.


”Instead of transparently enforcing the rule of law and being subject to public scrutiny as ordinary police agencies do, secret police organisations are specifically intended to operate beyond and above the law in order to suppress political dissent through clandestine acts of terror and intimidation targeted against political enemies of the ruling authority. ”Secret police are notorious for raiding homes between midnight and dawn, to apprehend people suspected of dissent. ”People apprehended by the secret police are often arbitrarily arrested and detained without due process."

This description sounds very familiar in the context of the Occupied Six Counties currently under British Occupation in Ireland. Familiar today and not 30 or 40 years ago.




The internment of Martin Corey strikes at the very heart of democracy and the right to a fair trial. Martin cannot expect a charge never mind a trial. The British government have removed a man from his home and family, without giving him the right to know why. Because they have given no evidence against him, Martin has no chance to challenge his internment. Martin has simply disappeared and it would seem the general public and media are content to allow this to happen.




Although We know where Martin is, he has for all intents and purposes simply disappeared , Disappeared from his home with no charge, locked in a prison cell and told he is there due to Secret Evidence. Of course in the western world he is entitled to object to this through the courts, when he did just that a Judge ruled that he should be released as his continued internment was a breach of his human rights.




The Secret Police and those who control them stepped in and ordered that he remain in jail, overstepping the rule of the Courts and removing any illusion of due process. What more evidence therefore do we need that the British Government is running a Secret Police force in Ireland to quell political dissent?




The use of secret evidence, a secret police and shady dealings going on between the British Government and the judiciary should be enough for any citizen to publicly question what is going on.




It is now time that the media investigated what IS going on, that those concerned with human rights issues and all citizens demand an explanation as to why a 62-year old man was taken from his home and incarcerated due to secret evidence that we cannot see. I question the secret evidence, is there evidence at all? Or is this a well rehearsed ploy to stifle political dissent?




Demand the release of Martin Corey, do not allow this inhumanity to continue.


By Cáit Trainor, of the Release Martin Corey Committee.





"First they came for the socialists,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.Then they came for the trade unionists,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.Then they came for the Jews,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.Then they came for me,and there was no one left to speak for me."



 http://www.releasemartincorey.com/

PRESIDENT GIVES PRESSTITUTES TONGUE LASHING RT








President Michael D Higgins: “Even in those parts of the world where citizens are no longer misinformed by an ideological state media control, the risk of censorship can still present itself in the form of monopolies and oligarchy.” Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons

President Michael D Higgins: “Even in those parts of the world where citizens are no longer misinformed by an ideological state media control, the risk of censorship can still present itself in the form of monopolies and oligarchy.” Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons
   

Censorship has many forms, President tells journalists’ congress

Media ownership, structure and technology all exert editorial influence, journalists hear

President Michael D Higgins has warned the International Federation of Journalists’ world congress meeting in Dublin that the risk of censorship can present itself in the form of “monopolies and oligarchy”.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the conference that continues until Friday, Mr Higgins said the threat to impartial and free journalism could flow from within the media sector as well as from without. “It can flow from the concentration of power of owners, cross-ownership, advertisers’ pressure or even from the reticence of journalists to challenge received wisdom,” he said.
Mr Higgins said the media “landscape” had changed considerably in recent decades and journalism would be practised in changed circumstances in future, thanks to the concentration of ownership, the fragmentation of audiences and the convergence of technologies.

Monopoly and oligarchy
“Even in those parts of the world where citizens are no longer misinformed by an ideological state media control, the risk of censorship can still present itself in the form of monopolies and oligarchy.”
A mass media characterised by the rise of large transnational media players brought new challenges for journalists, the President said. A less diverse media would be less willing to challenge received wisdom or the interests of those in power.
“Journalists attempting to investigate and provide information on political and corporate corruption can often be hindered and intimidated by those with vested interests.”
Mr Higgins said the principles of diversity and pluralism must be protected to promote a free flow of ideas and information and strengthen the exercise of freedom of expression around the world.
He said mass media appeared to be converging on a set of online technologies to deliver content. He said this had some very profound opportunities for journalism, because it opened up a potentially global audience by rendering national borders redundant.
The possibilities for citizen journalists, civic groups and “dispossessed” people to “take control of their own narratives” were also immense, he said. However, he said the consequences must not be ignored.

Search engines
“The tools by which people seek to order and parse this flow are potentially hugely powerful. Already we can see the editorial power being granted to search engines,” he said.
These technologies could exercise an increasingly powerful role in how people access media.
“Similarly it is easy to see how this globalisation of content might allow popular commercial material to become the exclusive preserve of large multinational content-providers.”
Mr Higgins said the “commercial middle ground” and the platforms people used to view content might come under the control of what he described as “vertically integrated media companies”.
He added physical attacks on individual journalists were attacks on the very foundations of human rights.

NEWS YOU WON'T FIND WITH IRISH PRESSTITUTES


turk.jpg


INDYMEDIA IRELAND

International - Event Notice
Thursday June 13 2013
08:00 PM

Revolt in Turkey - Eyewitness Account

category international | anti-capitalism | event notice author Tuesday June 04, 2013 18:44author by Turing Report this post to the editors
Paul Murphy MEP will give an eyewitness account of the explosion of mass struggle in Turkey in the face of despicable state brutality. Discussion and debate will follow.

Thursday, June 13, 2013, 8 pm.

Wynns Hotel Dublin 35/39 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1


Turkey: Mass movement challenges Erdogan government
WRITTEN BY CWI TURKEY REPORTERS
TUESDAY, 04 JUNE 2013 12:00

Public sector workers take strike action against police violence – For a one day general strike as a next step to bring down the government!
KESK, Turkey’s Confederation of Public Workers’ Unions, announced a national strike against police violence for today (4 June 2013) and on Wednesday. DISK, the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey, a trade union federation with around 350,000 members, calls now also for a strike tomorrow, Wednesday, 5 June, in protest against the police violence. Hundreds of thousands are expected to come to the demonstrations. Yet the police continue to use tear gas and to violently attack demonstrators.

The ongoing police brutality, first seen in Gezi Park, on Taksim Square in Istanbul, shows again the arrogance and arbitrary police violence that the AKP (Justice and Development Party) government rests on. Hundreds were injured, some seriously. In the course of the mass movement, two demonstrators were killed.

The policies in Gezi Park were the spark that triggered an explosion. Now the anger, built up over years, has become visible. It is not only in Istanbul that protests are taking place. Hundreds of thousands are taking to the streets all over Turkey, in Ankara, in Inzmir and in Bodrum. In total, it is reported that mass demonstrations have taken place in 67 cities. There are even reports of divisions within the state apparatus, with military personnel distributing gas masks and some police officers supporting demonstrators.

The potential exists to develop a movement that challenges the Turkish capitalist elite.

This is a turning point. The AKP government, confronted with a sharp fall in economic growth rates this year, is now significantly challenged by a mass movement. The rise of the AKP over the last decade or so was based on several factors. This included the masses’ frustration with powerful Kemalist forces, a deep economic crisis at the beginning of the century, the alienation of many people towards the state bureaucracy and the history of interventions by the army in political life, including brutal coups. The AKP’s was able to present itself as a ‘moderate’ Islamic ‘alternative’ to the old establishment and pursued some populist social policies. But the events of the last days have shaken the rule of the AKP and Erdogan.

The mass movement was initially dominated by frustrated lower segments of the middle classes. They were quickly joined by youth from working class suburbs. Now there is an increasing involvement of the organised workers’ movement (though this is still in its early stages). All this points towards ever increasing sections of society moving into mass action. This may be a harbinger of even greater mass struggles, moving towards a pre or revolutionary situation. Splits at the top of the regime, within Erdogan’s party, are also starting to emerge. ....
Related Link: http://www.socialistparty.net/international/1216-turkey...nment


Home

Ireland: Political prisoner Martin Corey denied justice

Monday, June 3, 2013
Martin Corey is a 63-year-old man jailed in the six counties of Ireland's north still claimed by Britain. He has been held for three years without trial.
On April 16, 2010, Corey’s house in Lurgan was visited by members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Corey was arrested.
When he asked what the charges were, Corey was told that the police officers “did not know”. All they were told was to arrest Corey.
Corey is a republican who, in his youth, fought against the foreign occupation of his land. During this struggle, he was charged with the murder of two members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the forerunner of the PSNI. Corey was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in December 1973.
Corey served just short of the next 19 years behind bars; he was released in June 1992. He did not sign any documents imposing conditions on his release.
Corey returned to Lurgan, where he set up a successful business as the local grave digger, formed a long-term relationship and settled down to a peaceful life.
That was, until his arrest three years ago.
Corey is still in jail and he still does not know what the charges against him are. Corey’s legal team also do not know what the charges are and nor does any judge hearing the case against him.
This is because, according to the British Northern Ireland Office (NIO), he is being held on “Undisclosed or Secret Charges”. A special advocate appointed by the NIO can view the evidence and tell the judge what they can do.
This makes a mockery of the judicial system when a politician, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland who is unelected by people in Ireland's north, can determine a person's freedom. Corey is selectively interned by an unjust British system.
As a prisoner with a life sentence, Corey is entitled to a parole hearing every 12 months. However, since he was arrested in 2010, this has been continually adjourned or not even scheduled.
The conditions Corey is being kept under are a disgrace. Mail has been kept from him for weeks at a time, craft that he has made has been smashed by vindictive prison officers and he has been denied proper medical treatment within a reasonable time.
In May last year, Corey appealed his jailing on the grounds that he had not been charged with any crime nor brought before a judge.
In his verdict on the appeal, Justice Treacy said Corey's human rights had been breached. He ordered Corey to be released immediately and placed no conditions on the release.
Corey returned to Maghaberry Prison to pack his belongings and his family travelled from Lurgan to take him home. While Corey waited in the prison's reception area he was told the then-secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson, had ordered him to be returned to his cell.
The NIO had appealed Treacy’s decision, but only after Treacy had boarded a plane and was about to leave the country. With Treacy out of the way, a patsy of the British NIO upheld its appeal and Corey was sent back behind bars.
When Corey’s legal team found out, they immediately launched legal action against the NIO's appeal, but to no avail. Corey finally got to appeal the decision in the High Court on July 11, more than six weeks after Treacy's original decision.
The NIO's appeal was upheld and Corey's case was set to be reheard on November 26. At the rehearing, a panel of three appeals judges upheld the NIO's decision to keep Corey incarcerated.
Corey’s legal team then applied to the High Court for permission to take their case before the Supreme Court in London.
They were confident of winning in the Supreme Court, but in early May, their euphoria was cut short as the appeal was denied without any valid reason being given.
If you look beyond this denial, you will see British intransigence at its best. Denying Corey the right to appeal to the Supreme Court blocks his application to the European Court of Human Rights, as he has not exhausted all domestic avenues.
British politicians can be quick to point the finger about human rights abuses elsewhere in the world, but are quiet when such are abuses are carried out by their own government.
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement, signed as part of the peace process to end armed conflict in Ireland's north, came with the promise of equality and justice for all. But 15 years on, Corey is one of those still suffering from a great injustice at the hands of a vindictive British government.
The law of the land must prevail. If the British authorities believe Corey is guilty of a crime, then they must charge him and bring him before a court of law, where he has the right to defend himself. Rather, he has been forced to fight an invisible foe in the guise of undisclosed charges.
The time is well passed when Martin Corey should be freed.
[Barry Kearney is a member of the James Connolly Association Australia, Melbourne.]

From GLW issue 968

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