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http://www.irishnews.com/articles/540/5860/2009/10/17/630285_397259180226Hungerstr.html
RUAiRÍ Ó BRádaigh interview
By Allison Morris
Throughout the1981 republican Hunger Strike, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh reigned as president of Sinn Fein. It is also believed he was a member of the IRA’s ruling army council throughout the same period.
Controversy surrounding the publication of Richard O’Rawe’s book Blanketmen, which claims the fast was allowed to continue for political gain, has provoked reaction from a vast spectrum of republicans.
While Ó Brádaigh has said he passionately supported using elections as a strategy to draw global attention to prison protest, he maintains it’s unthinkable that men were sacrificed for electoral success.
“When the first four men had died we had a situation in the 26 counties where Charlie Haughey was hesitating calling a general election,” he said.
“Men were dying and Haughey knew this would do him no favours.
“After the first four died it was thought there would be a space – people generally go about 60 days – so Haughey finally called the election “I pushed for a contest and I have to say there was a lot of opposition to that, especially from people north of the border who wouldn’t be that familiar with the ground in the south.
“But eventually we got agreement and it went ahead.
“People were very nervous but men were dying. We had to do something.
“Getting reaction from people I knew well and whose judgment I trusted. The feedback I was getting back was that there was great support there.
“In the end two were elected but I would say if we had more time we could have got a couple more elected.”
The election of republican candidates achieved its aim, namely drawing attention to the protest.
However, allegations against Sinn Fein are that a deal, that came close to granting the prisoners’ five demands was rejected in order to exploit gains being made at the polls.
Ó Brádaigh, while no friend of the present Sinn Fein leadership, says he would challenge this version of events, claiming British dirty tricks were responsible for prolonging the protest.
“The Irish Commission for Justice and Peace (ICJP) were doing their best, I’m sure of that judging by the talks they had with us,” he said.
“But the Brits were up to their tricks.
“They would always have something else going on – and that is the diversion – while the real thing is going on somewhere else.
“That is what I believe was going on there with the ICJP, they were the diversion.”
As Ó Brádaigh was banned from Britain and Northern Ireland at the time he was only able to cross the border covertly.
It has been suggested the northern leadership could have been acting autonomously without his knowledge and so rejected any deal without the knowledge of the full IRA army council.
“No, no, no I wouldn’t say that at all. With the situation as it existed at the time, no,” Ó Brádaigh said.
“Or even for the second by-election that has been much talked about, no that just couldn’t and wouldn’t have happened.”
http://www.irishnews.com/articles/540/5860/2009/10/17/630263_397231448170Weplanted.html
By Allison Morris
17/10/09
Dissident splinter group Oglaigh na hEireann last night admitted planting an under-car bomb that injured the girlfriend of a police officer in east Belfast.
Using a recognised codeword the group said that it was a mercury tilt-switch-type device designed to cause maximum damage to the passenger side of the vehicle.
The republican organisation said a serving police officer who works as a dog handler was the intended target.
Police were on full alert last night after the attack which happened in a quiet residential street just half a mile from PSNI headquarters.
The 38-year-old woman was pulled from her mangled sports car at 7.30am and taken to hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.
She was reversing her red Mazda MX5 out of the driveway of a semi-detached house in Kingsdale Garden when the bomb exploded.
It is believed the woman often gave her partner a lift to work.
The attack sent shockwaves through the mainly unionist area.
While no details of the type of bomb have been officially released, police said it was viable and had been positioned under the passenger side of the vehicle.
Bomb disposal experts examined the car for several hours yesterday, while the street remained screened off from public view.
The attack signals a change of tactic for dissident republicans.
Last month the Real IRA detonated a bomb outside a policeman’s home in Derry on the same day that a pipe bomb failed to detonate outside his sister’s home.
The Continuity IRA claimed responsibility for the shooting of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon in March.
Recent dissident activity in the greater Belfast area has been mainly confined to the group calling itself Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH), a collection of disenfranchised individuals from other republican paramilitary groups.
However, while it claimed responsibility for failed bomb attempts in Co Down and south Armagh, its violence in Belfast has to date been confined to paramilitary-style ‘punishment’ attacks.
It is believed to be the first time the group has used an under-car bomb, suggesting that someone with that expertise may have joined its ranks.
Under-car bombs were widely used during the Troubles by the IRA and INLA, and at a later stage by loyalists.
DUP leader and East Belfast MP Peter Robinson said: “Those responsible have nothing to offer and must face the full rigours of the law.”
Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said: “Attempts like this to derail the peace process must not be allowed to succeed.”
NIO security minister Paul Goggins said the attack was repulsive.
“Mercifully, this woman escaped with minor injuries but those who planted this bomb had murder in mind. They do not care who they kill,” he said.
http://leargas.blogspot.com/
October 17th 09
Remembering Mike Doyle
This Blog comes to you from Philadelphia. I am here to speak at an event to honour my friend Mike Doyle. I was to come to the USA earlier this week for a round of engagements in Washington but I postponed those because the current effort to get policing and justice powers devolved takes primacy at this time.
But I couldn’t cancel Mike’s event or think of not turning up. He always turned up for us. So here I am for one night – travel all day Friday; speak Friday night – travel all day back to Ireland Saturday.
Mike died last Christmas Eve. I couldn’t believe it when I was told.
With Mike's Wife Bernadette and their daughters.
left to right: Erin, Loretta, Mary, Bernadette, Denise, and Kathleen
My thoughts were immediately with his family, with his wife Bernadette and daughters Mary, Denise, Loretta, Kathleen and Erin and their son Michael, his grandchildren and family circle.
But they were also with his friends and colleagues here.
With those who served with him in the police service; those who worked with him as one of Philly’s best known and most loved Irish publicans; those who laboured with him over many years in support of the cause of freedom and justice in Ireland; and all of those who were touched by his great humanity and kindness.
Philly was for me always one of the high points of any visit to the USA. I remember, like it was yesterday, arriving in Philly on our first big tour of the USA in the autumn of 1994. We were wrecked. It was a long and exhausting tour from one side of the USA to the other and back again.
Mike put us in the flat above the pub. He made us comfortable and at home. And as we relaxed, fed and watered and tired, we lay around the tv and watched a video of Shawshank Redemption. It was a restful, secure evening of camaraderie among friends made possible by Mike’s generosity.
After that Mike and his close knit group of activists always had the Irish tea and homemade scones ready for us when we arrived. The good humoured banter between them belied great friendships that had endured for decades. The stories of their adventures in Ireland were the stuff of legend and hilariously funny – as much as because Mike told them with a straight face.
When news broke of Mike’s death last Christmas Eve there was profound shock in Ireland among his many friends in the republican struggle. It was difficult to comprehend his passing. He was one of those stalwarts of the struggle.
Mike believed fervently and passionately in a United Ireland and was vocal and active in his opposition to injustice and partition.
He was a figure of great strength and commitment who always seemed to have been there through the grim and dark days of conflict and the better days of the peace process.
Mike worked away unselfishly in support of embattled communities occupied by British troops; in support of prisoners and their families and children; in support of justice campaigns; he raised money; and opened his door and home to strangers.
Among those strangers was my friend Joe Cahill with whom Mike worked very closely over the years through Noraid and with whom he developed a close and enduring friendship.
For all of this he never looked for thanks or praise. He did what he did because it was the right thing to do. In fact he would get very embarrassed when I would single him out at events to thank him for his efforts.
Mike’s death has left a great void in all our lives and in the lives of his many, many friends in Philadelphia and in Ireland. He epitomised the best of Irish America. Through hard work and business acumen he did well in Philadelphia.
He never forgot where he came from; visiting his home place of Castlerea, County Roscommon regularly. He helped people arriving in the Philly area to find jobs and was a friend to more recent immigrants. He never faltered on a commitment, no matter how large or small.
Alex Maskey remembers Mike’s support for his efforts when Alex became the first Sinn Féin Mayor of Belfast and his success in bringing former world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier to Belfast.
On Monday of this week the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Belfast spelling out the US administrations support for the peace process and for the transfer of powers on policing and justice.
Her presence and the engagement by this and past administrations, and the positive contribution they have made to the peace process, is very much down to the hard work and tenacity of Mike Doyle and the thousands of others like him who have kept faith with the cause of peace and justice in Ireland.
We will miss him.
Mike Doyle made a difference.
Go ndeanfaidh Dia trocaire ar a anam.
Updated: 11/5/2009
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