Irish Republican Information Service (no. 76)
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: 16 Lúnasa / August 2006
 
Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom
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 Fein. Therefore it is totally unauthorised and should be regarded as such.
 
In this issue:
1. Family targeted in petrol attack
2. RUC attacked in Belfast
3. Trouble at internment anniversary
4. Apprentice Boys held their largest parade of the year
5. Picket in support of Maghaberry prisoners to take place in Lurgan
6. Republican prisoners snubbed by Provos
7. Diplock smokescreen equally repressive
8. Roger Casement remembered in Murlough and Dublin
9. Mooncoin honours the hunger strikers
10. Republican martyrs remembered in Dundalk
11. Families flee in latest UDA feud
12. Rossport protesters end walk in Dublin
13. Dispute over plot sign at baby grave
14. Nine held for protests at US arms components factory
15. Miami Five appeal denied

1. FAMILY TARGETED IN PETROL ATTACK
A FAMILY of three in Ballymena, Co Antrim escaped injury after being targeted in a petrol bomb attack in the early hours of August 6. The living room of the house in Ballyloughlan Park was extensively damaged by fire in the attack. The rest of the house was smoke-damaged. The three occupants suffered shock.
 
2. RUC ATTACKED IN BELFAST
THE RUC/PSNI were attacked with petrol bombs and other missiles during disturbances in west Belfast on August 10. Three petrol bombs were thrown at British colonial police vehicles on the Springfield Road, close to the Ballymurphy estate. One of the vehicles was damaged by stone-throwers in the same area about an hour later. Stones and bottles were also thrown at officers in a third attack. There were no reports of any injuries or arrests. The RUC/PSNI were also pelted with bricks, bottles and other missiles, but there were no injuries or arrests.
 
3. TROUBLE AT INTERNMENT ANNIVERSARY
ON August 8 serious trouble erupted between nationalists and loyalists in Magherafelt following a bonfire marking the anniversary of the introduction of internment.
The trouble broke out when missiles were thrown at the RUC/PSNI at a nationalist bonfire in the Sperrin Drive area of the Co Derry town.
Houses at Leckagh Walk, Leckagh Drive and Sperrin Drive were damaged by missiles, including petrol bombs and golf balls. A lamp-post was also shaken out of its foundations at Sperrin Drive.
A 33-year-old man suffered a head injury when he was struck with an iron bar after chasing a youth who had thrown a petrol bomb at a house in Greenvale Park.
Local people said a group of loyalists came from a nearby interface area to the nationalist bonfire with Union and ‘Ulster" flags and that they had burned an Irish Tricolour.
 
4. APPRENTICE BOYS HELD THEIR LARGEST PARADE OF THE YEAR
DOZENS of petrol bombs were thrown at the British colonial police during a night of disturbances in Derry on August 11 and into the early hours of August 12.
Two stolen cars, one of which was hijacked, were also burnt out at Free Derry Corner in the Bogside area. During the disturbances in the city, about 50 petrol bombs were thrown.
The main Apprentice Boys parade passed through the centre of Derry on August 12.
A petrol bomb was thrown at police in Fahan Street, stone-throwing took place at Butcher Gate, and petrol bombs were found in the Fahan Street area.
Six people were arrested by the RUC/PSNI for protesting as up to 10,000 members of the Apprentice Boys and 130 bands took part.
Later there were three arrests for riotous behaviour and a petrol bomb missed a tour bus of Italian visitors.
 
5. PICKET IN SUPPORT OF MAGHABERRY PRISONERS TO TAKE PLACE IN LURGAN
A WHITE-line picket for political status will take place in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, on Saturday, 19th August. Those attending the picket, organised by the Republican Prisoners’ Action Group, are asked to assemble at Edward Street in Lurgan at 2p.m.
Following the picket, speakers will outline the conditions faced by Republican POWs currently on protest in Maghaberry Gaol. The main speaker will be Des Long of Limerick.
 
6. REPUBLICAN PRISONERS SNUBBED BY PROVOS
The organisers of the August 13 Hunger Strike Commemoration at Casement Park in Belfast snubbed the prisoners currently in Maghaberry jail and their families.
The Belfast committee of the RPAG approached the organising committee earlier this week with a statement setting out the conditions of Republican prisoners in Maghaberry. The organisers confirmed on the morning of the event that the statement could be read, but refused to let the mother of the prisoner read it herself. Despite the promises when it came to the event that afternoon no statement was read out.
Geraldine Taylor of Republican Sinn Fein said:
"The prisoners and the families are outraged at how they have been treated. The families have shown solidarity with the families of the Hunger Strikers and believe that they have much in common. However the sacrifice of today’s prisoners’ and their families has been virtually ignored by those organising this event."
 
7. DIPLOCK SMOKESCREEN EQUALLY REPRESSIVE
THE Brit Supremo for the Six Counties, Peter Hain, announced that Diplock courts are to continue despite past assurances that they would be abolished.
As well as retaining the right to try persons suspected of engaging in certain military or political activities, the English government also plans to prevent those afforded a jury trial from challenging the jury panel.
In a statement on August 14, Richard Walsh, Derry, Assistant PRO of Republican Sinn Féin said: "Clearly this is not about removing oppressive legislation but merely replacing it with other repressive legislation.
"Republicans are well used to the smokescreens used by the Brits when dealing with the Irish people throughout eight-hundred years of occupation. This move has nothing whatsoever to do with protecting the rights of Irish citizens and everything to do with their continued subjugation and updating British rule as envisaged by the Stormont Agreement."
 
8. ROGER CASEMENT REMEMBERED IN MURLOUGH AND DUBLIN
THE 90th anniversary of the death of Roger Casement was commemorated at Murlough Bay in County Antrim on August 6. Those present marched to the spot where Roger Casement had wished to be buried.
Amongst the wreaths laid was one on behalf of the Roger Casement Commemoration Committee, and another on behalf of Republican Sinn Féin.
Margaret Dobbin, Carnlough, read the 1916 Proclamation, and Frank McCarry, Ballycastle, appealed to those present to help raise funds for the replacement of the Casement monument overlooking Murlough Bay. Brendan Magill, Lurgan, called on Republicans to redouble their efforts to ensure the return of Casement’s body to his final resting place. He also brought attention to the plight of Republican POWs currently incarcerated in Maghaberry jail, adding that they were soldiers of the Irish Republic and not criminals. Others who would describe themselves as Republicans had sold political status down the river, he added.
Geraldine Taylor, Ard-Chomhairle, Belfast, appealed to those in the Glens of Antrim to work for the restoration of political status.
Aileen McCarry recited a decade of the Rosary as Gaeilge.
The proceedings concluded with the playing of Amhrán na bhFiann by a piper from the Glens of Antrim band.
On August 5 Republican Sinn Féin held a commemoration in honour of the 90th anniversary of the execution of Roger Casement at his birthplace in Sandycove, Co Dublin. The parade assembled at the carpark in Glasthule, Dún Laoghaire and marched the short distance to his birthplace where a wreath was laid and a short address was delivered by Cathleen Knowles McGuirk.
 
9. MOONCOIN HONOURS THE HUNGER STRIKERS
ON Saturday August 12 the Bobby Sands/Liam Lynch Cumann of Republican Sinn Féin held a very successful commemoration in Mooncoin, Co Kilkenny.
The event began with a march from the Technical School to the cemetery at 7.30pm. A piper and colour party led the parade, other colour parties were provided by the Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin and Na Fianna Éireann.
Republican Sinn Fein Vice President Des Dalton, Kildare, chaired proceedings. The ceremony took place at the grave of lifelong Republican Jo Foran.
Her son, Willie Foran, laid a wreath on behalf of the Republican Movement. Readings at the graveside included the Roll of Honour of the 22 Hunger Strikers who have died since 1917, the letter to the people of South Derry by Francis Hughes, the 1916 Proclamation. Des Dalton read a statement from the OC of the Republican Prisoners in Maghberry prison, Co Antrim.
The ceremonies continued with a minute’s silence for all who died for Irish Freedom followed by a lament by played by the piper and the dipping of flags.
The oration was delivered by the Cathaoirleach of the Sands/Lynch Cumann, Ger Foran, a grandson of Jo Foran, who in a stirring oration said that the hunger strikers died to rid Ireland of British rule. He said that the political status hard won by Bobby Sands and his comrades had been "sold away by the Provisionals".
In his closing remarks Des Dalton said that the most fitting tribute to the dead hunger strikers was to support the Republican Prisoner’s campaign for political status in Maghaberry prison. "We must show that these prisoners are not facing the British state alone, but do so shoulder to shoulder with all of the Irish people in defiance of foreign rule in our country", he said. The parade marched back to the Technical School where the evening ended with the playing of Amhráin na bFiann. A very successful function was held that night in Mooncoin.
 
10. REPUBLICAN MARTYRS REMEMBERED IN DUNDALK
ON August 13 a commemoration was held in Dundalk in memory of two great Dundalk Republican soldiers - Richard Goss, executed by a Free State firing squad on August 9, 1941 and Liam Gaughran, who took the fight to the British and was imprisoned on the Isle of Wight in the 1940s, where he contracted TB and was released to return to his home and died in August 1947.
The parade assembled at the Lisdoo Arms and led by a Republican colour party and a piper marched to St Patrick’s Cemetery where proceedings were chaired by Ruairí White, Ard Chomhairle, Republican Sinn Féin. A wreath was laid on behalf of Republican Sinn Féin by Niamh White and a decade of the Rosary recited as Gaeilge by Nuala Moore. Richard Walsh, Derry read a statement from the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry jail presently on protest.
The oration was given by Líta Ní Chathmhaoil, who said in the course of her address: "It is incumbent on all of us to highlight the plight of the Republican prisoners by pickets, protests, leafleting, contacting people of influence or any way possible. This is our duty and the prisoners rely on us for support.
"The root cause of the conflict in Ireland remains the presence of the British government and its forces here. Permanent peace will only come with final British disengagement from Ireland but the endeavour to get the entire body of nationalists to endorse and administer English rule here continues. Faithful Republicans believe with 1916 leader James Connolly that ‘the British government has no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland, and never can have any right in Ireland’. True Republicans insist that the British government and its occupation forces must give a date for disengagement and then the whole Irish people, acting as a unit, can determine how they will live together and govern themselves.
"There are still brave women and men who are willing to give their all so that future generations of Irishmen and women can live in a New Ireland where all sections of the population of the island may live in peace and harmony and we pledge them our full support. Republican soldiers like Richard Goss and Liam Gaughran and their comrades of the 1940s, who died in action, on hunger strike, by Free State firing squad, at the hands of a British hangman, both in Dublin and Belfast and as a result of the ill-treatment they received from their captors, as well as the martyrs of the current phase of the struggle, provide the inspiration for a new generation to take up the struggle and bring it to a successful conclusion."
 
11. FAMILIES FLEE IN LATEST UDA FEUD
AT least 12 families moved out of north Belfast in the latest loyalist feud. The dispute initially saw Alan McClean, who took over the UDA leadership in the north Belfast area after the Shoukri brothers were expelled from the organisation, leaving the area at around 5am on August 3.
He travelled to Dublin before catching a flight out of the country. He was followed by Yuk Shoukri - the older brother of Andre and Ihab - the boys’ mother and other supporters.
A Belfast newspaper also revealed that other families from the breakaway faction fled the Six Counties - mainly from the Westlands and Benview area.
Tensions between UDA rival groups in north Belfast remained high, following a stand-off between rival factions in recent weeks, when the UDA leadership held a public show of strength.
Last week about 200 people attended a meeting in the Ballysillan Leisure Centre to discuss a dispute within the ranks of the UDA. Members of the Ulster Political Research Group represented the views of the paramilitary group’s leadership.
They faced angry questions from the audience made up largely of women at Ballysillan Leisure Centre. A large crowd then left the meeting and stood outside the home of an interim brigadier.
 
12. ROSSPORT PROTESTERS END WALK IN DUBLIN
Opponents of the Corrib gas project completed their 300-kilometre "long walk" from Rossport, Co Mayo, to Dublin on August 12.
The group left Rossport in July to highlight issues relating to the 900 million euro Corrib gas project. They were joined at stages by some of the five men jailed in 2005 over their opposition to the Corrib onshore pipeline and were accompanied throughout by the Shell to sea campaign trailer.
Nine men and women walked the entire distance, while hundreds more joined in at different points to show support, according to organisers.
A group of about 200 people gathered to greet the group from Rossport. The trek took 12 days and group leader John Monaghan said they received "phenomenal support" from people they met along the way. "In Roscommon, we were called into a house for tea and biscuits and other people offered to put us up for the night," he said.
John Monaghan added that the Shell to Sea campaign was determined to continue. "We’re refusing to accept an onshore gas refinery. The project needs to be reconfigured. They have changed nothing so our stance needs to be the same."
Having been met by the Lord Mayor of Dublin at Kilmainham, the group continued on to the GPO on O’Connell Street where Mícheál Ó Seighin, one of the five men imprisoned for 94 days in 2005 for their opposition to the pipeline, gave a brief oration in English and Irish. "Justice will be ours for we will overcome. The people have spoken and risen," he said. "We are the people. We reclaim our country."
John Monaghan said that taking part in the walk had been a "privilege and a pleasure". They had walked 215 miles "every one was worth every step". The group travelled from the Erris peninsula through Mayo, Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath and Kildare before reaching Dublin.
Inspiration for the walk had come from various sources, including Mahatma Gandhi and the eviction of the Davitt family in Straide, Co Mayo, in the 1850s.
Shell E&P is intending to continue working at the Bellanaboy gas terminal in September before reaching any agreement on a modified route for the controversial pipeline. The Shell to Sea campaign intends to maintain its pickets at the terminal site.
 
13. DISPUTE OVER PLOT SIGN AT BABY GRAVE
The owner of land where babies are buried was criticised on August 13 for not allowing a memorial on the site.
Historian Joe McGowan spoke at the unveiling of a monument commemorating hundreds of babies buried in secret unmarked graves on Hugh Tunney’s Classiebawn Castle estate at Mullaghmore, Co Sligo.
The memorial was erected on a road outside the estate because, Joe McGowan claimed, Hugh Tunney would not allow it to be placed on the actual burial site.
Joe McGowan, chairperson of a committee which campaigned for the memorial, told a crowd of about 100: "In time to come people may ask why the stone is on the side of the road rather than on the graveyard itself… Our hurt is understandable, but maybe Hugh Tunney is more to be pitied than blamed. He could be part of the community here with us today."
In recent years Hugh Tunney has been in dispute with local people and the planning department of Sligo County Council over work on sand dunes, the felling of trees and the blocking of rights of way.
Hundreds of similar sites around the country contain the remains of unbaptised infants and still-born babies as a result of the Catholic Church’s refusal to allow their burial on consecrated ground. Because a stigma was attached to the deaths, the bodies were often buried secretly and in darkness. Joe McGowan said that this practise continued in some areas until 1963, when the Catholic Church changed its teaching on the matter.
Hugh Tunney failed to respond to queries left on his voicemail about the dispute.
 
14. NINE HELD FOR PROTESTS AT US ARMS COMPONENTS FACTORY
Nine local men appeared before the British magistrate’s court in Derry on August 10 on charges relating to an anti-war protest at the US-owned Raytheon guided systems plant in the Springtown area of the city on August 9.
The nine aged, from 27 to 63, are jointly charged with unlawful assembly and with "aggravated burglary" with a crowbar with intent to cause "unlawful damage."
They were remanded in custody to appear before the same court via a video link on September 7. Defence solicitors told resident magistrate Barney McElholm that bail applications would be made in the Belfast High Court.
The nine are: journalist Éamon McCann (63), Westland Avenue; Sean Heaton (34), Beechwood Avenue; Eamon O’Donnell, Campion Court; Colm Bryce (40), Westland Avenue; Patrick McDaid (36), Malbouragh Street; Kieran Gallagher (40), the Craft Village; Michael Gallagher (27), Beechwood Avenue; Gary Donnelly (35), Kildrum Gardens; and James Kelly (45), Kilar Court.
As the men arrived at court about 25 supporters some of them carrying anti-war placards, chanted "stopping war crimes is no crime".
The court was told that in reply to the charge Éamon McCann said: "You look at the news coming in from Lebanon and you have to be doing something." Colm Bryce replied when charged: "I would just like to say I was engaged in a legitimate peaceful protest designed to draw attention to Raytheon and to the war crimes in the Middle East."
Michael Gallagher said: "I stand in solidarity with the oppressed people of Lebanon and Palestine who Raytheon have some sort of responsibility to share in their murders." Gary Donnelly said: "My action on the night was a direct response to the shameful presence of Raytheon in Derry. They are currently responsible for the mass deaths of men, women and children in Palestine and Lebanon."
The nine, all members of the Derry Anti-War Coalition were arrested after they entered the Raytheon plant in the city’s Ulster Science and Technology Park to protest against the US-owned firm’s involvement in the Middle East conflict.
They forced their way in just after 8am on August 9 and were arrested and removed eight hours later following an operation involving 80 members of the RUC\PSNI.
About an hour after the takeover, dozens of members of the British colonial police cordoned off the building. There then followed a stand-off.
The protestors said they were refusing to leave the building until Raytheon, which makes software used in guided missiles promised to close its premises in Derry.
 
15. MIAMI FIVE APPEAL DENIED
THE United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeal has, on a 10-2 vote, upheld the Miami District Court’s denial of a change of venue motion thereby overruling the decision of an earlier 11th Circuit Panel which granted them a new trial on 2-1 vote.
Free the Miami Five Campaign is naturally disappointed at the outcome and said in a statement that the decision is, perhaps, indicative of the degree of erosion of the constitutional separation of powers and the fundamental principals of justice in the USA at this point in its history.
The five are innocent, they did not receive a fair trial and their incarceration is an insult to natural justice. They are now, more than ever before, entitled to be called "political prisoners" of the USA. The struggle for their release will continue.
"This is not the end of the case," stressed US attorney Leonard Weinglass, one of the defence lawyers of the five Cubans held in US jails during a teleconference to comment on the decision of the Federal Court of Appeals in Atlanta that overturned the ruling issued exactly a year before by a three judge panel of that same court. At that time, the judges unanimously acknowledged the hostile atmosphere that prevailed in Miami during the trial of the Cuban Five, ordered a retrial and revoked their sentences.
During the press conference Weinglass stated that there are 9 additional issues pending before the Court which, alongside the venue issue, were argued before the three judge panel. Weinglass said the six lawyer defence team will meet to discuss the case: "If we decide to go to the Supreme Court, we will have 90 days to improve on our appeal request. Then the government (the prosecution) can respond or not, and then we would have to wait for the decision of the court".
"If we decide not to go to the Supreme Court, then the case would return to the three judge panel, and we would have to hear from them to see how we should further proceed with the other nine issues," said Weinglass. "There is a long way to go," he added and continued: "We had the impression, just like the dissenting judges, that the majority totally overlooked the coercive atmosphere that exists and has existed for years in Miami against any person considered to be associated with the government of Cuba. And that was the climate that interfered and denied the defendants a fair trial."
Bruce Nestor, former director of the National Lawyers Guild, confirmed that the latest decision does not bring the appeals to an end: "This ruling not only denies justice to the Five, it also has also very profound implications for anybody seeking a fair trial within the current political climate in the United States," he said.
Nestor added: "I think this decision grants the government immense power to raise politically motivated causes and then find a venue where the community prejudice and attitude will ultimately favor them in the trial, even though evidence does not confirm a crime."
The Coordinator of the US National Committee to Free the Five, Gloria La Riva, reiterated that on September 23 representatives from some 250 organizations will stage a march from the Justice Department to the White House in Washington, to demand the release of the five men.
THE MIAMI FIVE
Five Cubans who were trying to stop Miami based terrorist groups from carrying out violent actions against the people of Cuba. They were found guilty of charges ranging from murder to espionage by a court in Miami which relied on the evidence of convicted terrorists. All are innocent of the charges brought against them. Extensive intimidation of jurists by these same terrorists was a feature of the trial. They are currently appealing their convictions.
The Miami Five:
Gerardo Hernandez
Antonio Guerrero
Ramon Labanino
Fernando Gonzalez
Rene Gonzalez
email: freemiami5@eircom.net
WEB SITE: freethefive.org
 
ENDS