I >>>> l I i i i i i i i i I I I i i i • 11111M11111111111111111111 M • I I I I I I Mill II I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I P2 p4 p8 At last! Connolly statue unveiled Time to talk peace says Sinn Peter Berresford Ellis on Bram in Dublin Fein's Mitchel McLaughlin Stoker, Dracula and social reform

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I | | | • I | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | I I I I I I I I I I I toish Demcxmt August/September 1996 • Price 50p ConnoHy Association: campaigning for a united and independent Plea for action on marches

Democrat reporte diate action is needed if the current distrust and he RUC's deci antipathy is to be over- sion to give in to come and the security of the Orange local communities guar- mobs at Drum anteed. cree, and the The Association wel- . Tsectarian violence Un- comes the dialogue leashed against the between some marching nationalist community of organisations and local the North, have high- community repre- • The RUC caves in to unionist thuggery and gives Orange marchers safe passage where they weren't wanted... Photo: Pacemaker Press International lighted the need for sentatives. However, urgent action to protect additional measures will communities from inti- almost certainly be midation, triumphalism needed where agreement and violent, bigoted at cannot be reached. tacks. It is also clear that The inter-community questions must be tensions which have answered as to why the Parity of esteem? decision to ban the been stoked by the Orange Order's insist- Orange march from the ence on flaunting what's Garvaghy Road was left of unionism's tarn- overturned, and what ac- ished and flagging tion the security forces supremacy can only hin- are taking against those der efforts to rebuild the responsible for holding peace process. the Six Counties to ran- The Connolly Associ- som. ation has therefore called If the police have in- upon the British govern- formation about a ment to ensure that no conspiracy to endanger marches are allowed lives, what is the source through areas where of this information, and there is substantial and what action have they legitimate opposition taken in response to it? from local residents. The issue of Orange Such a measure would marches through pre- also have to apply to the dominantly catholic routeing of nationalist areas has huge implica- marches through tions for the peace residential areas where process. So far the actions objections are raised by of the RUC and the Brit- local protestants. ish government have While having no ob- done little to convince jections to the setting up catholics that parity of es- of an international com- teem and equality of treatment are anything • ...but it's open season on anyone who complains mission to look into the Photo: Pacemaker Press International issues of marches, imme- more than warm words. HEADLINES HEADLINES Parity of Labour movement looks OPINION esteem? Connolly statue unveiled On not keeping had delivered an election ad- towards options for peace our heads down f there are two lessons to be learned from the Dublin trades dress to Jewish workers in events of Drumcree and their aftermath, the first is Yiddish as a mark of respect to that they have served to expose to the world what unionists and an important minority, she AN I press you to a Wolfe Tone mug?" I was the British Government and the RUC really mean said. contribution was in marked chancing my luck for the fifth time at the by 'parity of esteem' and 'equality of treatment7. people throughout Connolly's testament was contrast to the majority of par- Four Provinces bookstall at this year's Irish IThat the British government and the RUC were "a challenge to us to move for- ticipants, even those critical of Book Fair. The tall aesthetic-looking Irish publicly seen to cave in to threats to intensify violence Ireland can feel ward, not as a society where Sinn Fein and the IRA, and re- man laughed. He was casting a discerning Ceye over the Irish-language manuals. against catholics has caused widespread anger throug- the divide was widening, but ceived little support from dele- hout the nationalist community and beyond. proud in as a people with a strong sense gates. . Our ensuing conversation was different from most However, whatever the disquiet experienced by Sir of community". Labour MP Ken Living- at the bookstall, when the customer relaxes into a per- Patrick Mayhew and John Major over the role played honouring the Other speakers at the cere- stone told the conference that sonal saga of life in Britain or a scholarly reflection on by David Trimble at Drumcree, they showed no desire mony included senior repre- the mortar bomb attack in Os- Irish history and literature, always intriguing for sales even to upbraid him for breaking the law or breaching great labour leader sentatives from the American nabruck signalled the end of staff but bad for turnover! My irresponsibly long con- the Mitchell principles on the use of violence and trade union centre AFL-CIO, the peace process. versation with the aforesaid Irishman, a plasterer by trade, sparked off a train of thought I'd like to share force to attain political ends, let alone threaten his James Connolly, Irish trade unions organisa- "The opportunity for peace with Democrat readers. party with exclusion from the talks process. tions and James' grandson, had been lost due to the machi- Just in case any of us missed the point, a few days reports CHARLIE Ross Connolly. nations of John Major," he told Like so many of his generation he had no univer- later John Major, legitimately concerned about a Special consideration was delegates. sity education, but demonstrated the comprehensive understanding of Irish history and sophisticated possible breakdown in the loyalist ceasefire, invited CUNNINGHAM also given to members of the Mr Livingstone urged the powers of political analysis which mark out the Irish- members of the new unionist parties for talks at Num- Connolly family and to the sur- Labour left to 'establish a dia- man of integrity. I asked if he belonged to any group. ber 10 Downing Street. The involvement in political viving members of the Con- logue' with working-class He did not. Years ago in he had been a regular and sectarian violence of some of those involved was nolly Column who fought with unionists' in much the same reader of the Irish Democrat but had moved away to a well known to Mr Major and his colleagues. the republican forces in the way that dialogue had been es- town where it was not on sale. Whatever our reservations about the PUP or the Spanish Civil War. tablished previously with re- UDP, we welcome any genuine commitment to work As heirs to the aspirations publicans. I suggested he might like to join the Connolly Asso- for a political solution to the conflict. What is both of- of Connolly — that working Fianna Fail spokesperson ciation, receive the paper and keep in touch with fensive and politically suspect, given the unravelling people should be masters of on prisoners Eamon O Cuiv people who were as well informed as himself. He pre- peace process, is what the meeting says about the Brit- their own destiny, and if this is TD reminded delegates that varicated but began explaining his hesitation in lo- ish government's idea of equality of treatment After not yet attainable, that they the struggle of the past 27 years wered tones. "You've got to understand," he said, all, this is a prime minister who refused to meet Sinn should at least be the main con- "had not been a one-sided "how do you think the Irish have survived over here? Fein after the IRA ceasefire and who placed endless Photo: Charlie Cunningham tenders for power — it re- catalogue of IRA atrocities, but By keeping our heads down. A long time ago I didn't precondition in the way of its inclusion in all-party AMES CONNOLLY was throughout Ireland with ship card of the Socialist La- mains evident that the a two-sided problem" which and they put me in prison for seven years." talks. not just a trade union or- schools, roads squares, rail- bour Party and in the pro- overriding barrier to progress had arisen as a result of parti- I caught my breath. It was the old story. "Was it pol- It is a matter of record that the British government Jganiser, for that is how he way stations, office buildings gramme of the Chesterfield in Ireland remains imposed tion. itical?" I asked. "They charged me with conspiracy to • Ken Livingstone and Ann! Marjoram at July's Agreed Ireland Forum conference rob...to fund terrorism." I did not need any more de- neither insisted that the loyalist paramilitaries hand in earned his living, but also a and hospitals named after him, May Day event disunity. While accepting that noth- political analyst, one of the Pic: David Granville tail. All I felt again was gratitude and respect. You are their weapons, nor asked them to guarantee that their and now, eighty years since his Unveiling the statue, Irish In 1914 Connolly correctly ing could change without the foremost socialist thinkers of innocent until proved Irish: the old maxim remains as ceasefire was permanent, before allowing them to take execution, a fine statue has President Mary Robinson predicted that partition would the workplace, civil liberties democratic and peaceful consent of the unionist people, this century, a poet, historian, Labour movement true today as it ever was. up their place in the assembly. been erected outside Liberty stressed that Connolly, a unleash a 'carnival of reaction', and the experience of the Irish methods. He called on both he stressed that, "nothing playwright, songwriter, and Even more galling is the growing belief, at least out- Hall at the place where Con- champion of women's rights, set back the oncoming of Democrat reporters in Britain. governments to direct their en- could remain the same without But let us reflect for a moment on the notion that revolutionary who paid the ul- side of the RUC, that at least four recent killings in the nolly addressed many meet- would have been happy that the Irish Labour movement Speaking at the opening ergies into creating the politi- the consent of the nationalist the Irish have to keep their heads down 'to survive'. timate price for his act of pa- North, including that of catholic taxi driver Michael ings of Dublin's trade she would have the honour of and paralyse all advanced session, Clive Soley said that cal conditions that could lead people of Ireland, north and At some point in life, every man and women, both triotic defiance. fiist and second generations, living in what they call McGoldrick, are linked to loyalist paramilitaries. The unionists and socialists. unveiling the statue. movements while it endured. the explosions and the arms to a renewal of the IRA cease- south." the UK has to take a decision which, once taken, af- disparity of esteem here is manifest. Recognition of his import- In Britain, Connolly quotes Connolly had recognised Recent events have only HE IRISH peace process is find in County Laois had been fire and the start of meaningful "That means that we as a fects the quality of life. The question every Irish man A second important lesson resulting from Drum- ance and influence continues have also appeared on the the value of the full participa- served to reinforce how much not over, but it will be a serious setback to the peace and inclusive talks. . people north and south have to and woman has to face is this: do I stand up for the en- cree is that unionists are attempting to assert their su- to grow, both at home and notepaper of striking Mersey- tion of women and young of what he said remains true long, slow and painful, process. Identifying the political come to a new mutual accom- T ding of British sovereignty in Ireland, or do I keep my premacy from a position of weakness rather than abroad. His name is revered side dockers, on the member- people in society. In 1902 he today. Labour MP Cli ve Soley told the He defended Labour's pol- weakness of the Tory govern- modation," he said. "We have head down for a quiet life? strength. The Drumcree showdown and the eruption Options for a Lasting Peace in icy of 'unity by consent' as one ment as the key obstacle to en- to come up with a unique sol- of violence against catholics and nationalists is all part Ireland conference held in Lon- of the few party policies that suring a viable peace process ution for our particularly Facing this question poses a lifelong challenge for of their desperate attempts to hang on to what remains don recently. had survived since 1981. "La- he appealed to Tony Blair to unique problem." This would many Irish people, and when it crops up justification is rife: 'we have to think of the children'; 'it wouldn't of their ascendency position. The tide of history is not Organised by the Agreed bour's task will be to address negotiate with John Major to require inclusive talks with the Fine Gael gains support Irish in Britain die younger do if their father was a known troublemaker'; 'I have flowing their way, and they know it Politically back- Ireland Forum, the conference, the real lack of trust between secure a new, positive bi-parti- only preconditions being set to think of my job...promotion...pension'; 'I'm not pol- ward-looking, unionism offers no lasting hope for which was sponsored by a the two communities," he said, san approach to Ireland. "An by independent, international irrevocable peace process itical'. Understandable, but I have yet to meet an Irish protestants. In time, Drumcree may eventually be seen gressive Democrats seven per Some of this is due to life- number of trade unions, the adding that no party should arbiters. Opinion poll Health could be put in place within a man or woman who adopts a genuinely neutral stance as the beginning of the end for unionism's supremacy cent, Democratic Left two per style factors such as smoking Scottish TUC and the Irish have a veto. Shadow Northern Ireland matter of months if all of us on the political future of Ireland. in the North, rather than the victory some are so keen Democrat reporter cent, Green Party three per Democrat reporter and heavy drinking, but the Post, successfully brought SDLP vice chair Marietta secretary Mo Mowlam MP, take our mutual responsi- The scene has changed. Eighteen months of cease- to crow about. cent, others five per cent. BMJ article suggests that the together around 200 partici- Farrell condemned the Man- who had been scheduled to at- bilities seriously," he told dele- fire have created, for the first time in a quarter of a cen- Unfortunately, the resumption of the IRA's military The poll exemplifies the ease of migration from Ireland pants from the British and Irish chester bombing, but said that tend, backed out at the last gates. tury, a period of respite from the underlying fears campaign has thrown a life-line to divided unionists pattern of the old law estab- labour movements and cam- her party would continue to minute to attend another en- to Britain may have encour- which keep Irish heads below the parapet. The end of and the sorry remnants of a fading, and increasingly OHN BRUTON and Fine lished in 1948,1973 and again paign organisations. talk to Sinn Fein. In common Mr McLaughlin's contribu- gagement in Manchester. rish men and women born in aged less healthy people to the ceasefire should not be allowed to rob the Irish inept, Tory administration. There is again tremendous Gael have achieved their in 1995, — that by joining with with many contributors from tion followed a vitriolic attack In a message to the con- Britain are less healthy and move. Issues discussed by dele- community of the relief that has enabled us to speak potential for political advance on the Irish question in highest ratings, and the Fine Gael in coalition Labour both Britain and Ireland she on the Republican Movement ference Ms Mowlam said the J Idie younger than the rest of The curious thing is that the gates included policing in a openly and unambiguously to our friends about the ur- criticised Labour bi-partisan both Britain and Ireland following the events of Drum- Labour Party its lowest, since revives the latter, while doom- the population, according to a adverse pattern among first- divided society, women's by Brian Fitzgerald TD, speak- Labour Party was committed policy on Ireland. ing on behalf of the Tanaiste gent political necessity for a constitutional settlement cree. However, any advances today could just as the last Irish general election ing itself to decline. On the last recent British Medical Journalgeneratio n Irish immigrants rights and peace, economic re- to building reconciliation Dick Spring. establishing a united and independent Ireland. quickly be swept aside tomorrow by the next IRA according to a recent opinion occasion Labour ministers report. continues into the second generation in an all-Ireland Sinn Fein national chair within Northern Ireland and bombing, particularly if it's target like Manchester. poll. were all inclined to soldier on context, prisoners, employ- Mitchel McLaughlin reiterated Blaming republicans for the building "unity of the peoples" The great challenge of the Connolly Association The early death-rate among generation, who number more and other organisations have to meet in the coming Republicans should be in no doubt that those of us The general support for the government with Fianna Fail, ment equality, sectarianism in his party's commitment to breakdown in the ceasefire, his of Ireland. first-generation Irish immi- than two million people. months is that of encouraging Irish people and the in Britain who have consistently supported and cam- Irish Labour Party has plum- after Albert Reynold's resigna- grants exceeds that of British Among the reasons the ar- friends of Ireland to take a more active stance. paigned for a political solution to the Irish crisis see meted to ten per cent. If this tion. But Dick Spring said no. men by 30 per cent and British ticle suggests are poverty and Enabling Irish people and their allies in this no justification for a resumption of the IRA's military were maintained at the next women by 20 per cent, with the Spring's nose was out of poor housing, as well as ex- country to cling to and build upon this new-found campaign. It undermines the need to build the maxi- general election, Labour majority dying from cancer joint because of the kudos Fi- posed and dangerous employ- openness, despite the sudden downturn of hope, mum unity between nationalist, republican and pro- would lose half its Dublin and heart problems. anna Fail seemed to be getting ment on building sites. needs the co-operation of every individual member of gressive forces in Ireland and hinders all attempts to seats. from the peace process, and he the Irish community and our friends in the labour broaden the campaign for Irish democracy in Britain. According to the poll, Fi- wanted to have sole charge of 200 mark Chartist leader's life movement We must support anyone who in the last • DG anna Fail has 47 per cent sup- running that. The opinion Donations to the Connolly Association and the 18 months has peeped out of the safety of his or her port, Fine Gael 26 per cent, polls already show what a mis- May 12 — July 111996 Democrat columnist, reminded captured and imprisoned. home to wave a metaphorical tricolour in support of Labour 10 per cent, Pro- take he made. Irish Democrat Bronterre O'Brien immigrant, Mr Scargill said that the great Chartist leader, the audience of the support "That was true internation- Irish unity. J. Morrissey £29; G.F. £15; A. Higgins £11.60; E. Doyle £20; M. Democrat reporter who died in poverty in 1864, that the National Union of alism. That was the working- For an Irish-born citizen to raise his or her head class solidarity envisaged by toish DeraocuAcEight h Desmond Greaves Summer School Melly £5; J. Egan £2.50; C.C. Knight £2.50; M. Brennan; £10; held a special place in his affec- Mineworkers had given to Ire- above the parapet is an act of supreme courage in a G.C. Campbell £5; F. Jennings £15; A. Barron £10; H. Smith tions. land's long struggle against Bronterre O'Brien," said Mr country where the PTA keeps the whole community BI-MONTHLY NEWSPAPER OF £12.50; Paisley supporters £7; J.C. Delage £25; W. Booth £10; He told the gathering at imperialism. Berresford Ellis. disenfranchised from democracy. THE CONNOLLY ASSOCIATION Sessions include: Professor Terry Eagleton, Oxford, on The J. Grace £15;; K. Galley £5; R. Doyle £5; O. Cahn £5; Cllr R. HE WORST thing anyone O'Brien's graveside of his He recalled that an earlier To laments on the uilleart Support can be given in simple, personal ways Founded 1939. Volume 51, number 2 Ideology of Irish Studies; Di C hristopher Woods, May- McCormick £10, R. Smith £5; M. Loughran £15; J. Flemming can do in the face of op- growing disillusionment with miners' leader, Arthur Horner, pipes playeu by Wexfordman which CA members might like to suggest by writing Editorial board: Helen Bennett; Gerard Curran; nooth, on Tone and Russell, The Parting of Friends; Frankie £20; S MacLennan £5; B. Feeney £5; J.& M. Nolan £6; M. Folan pression is submit to it, Tony Blair's 'new Labour', as a young man was one of a Paul Garten, wreaths were laid in to the Democrat There is talk of a return to the status David Granville (editor); Jonathan Hardy; Peter Watson, Lei trim, on Teaching Irish History in Schools; T £5, AJ. Kenny £15; P.C. Walsh £10; Liz Goulding (in memory British miners' leader Arthur which he said had rejected so- contingent of South Wales on behalf of the Connolly As- quo of the last 25 years. We cannot allow this to hap- Mulligan; Alex Reid Moya Fenz St Leger. Kevin McCorry, , on The Way Forward Now in the sociation, the Bronterre of Harry Goulding) £5; P. McLoughlin (In memory of De- Scargill told 200 people ga- cialism. miners who offered their ser- pen. Political empowerment is not dispensed from Production: Derek Kotz Six Counties. O'Brien Committee, the Long- smond Greaves & Paddy Bond) £10; Anon £3.50; Customers thered in east London's Abney He added that Labour pol- vices to the Irish Citizens' above but nurtured at home, in the workplace and in PUBLISHED BY: Connolly Publications Ltd, 244 donations £16.80; Collection at London meeting £16. ford Exiles, the Longford Asso- Park cemetery in June to com- icy on Ireland was now no dif- Army during the War of Inde- and club. It is for us to ensure that the years of life Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR, telephone Friday to Sunday, August 23-25; Irish Labour History So- pendence. ciation in London, Conradh na my new plasterer friend spent in prison ultimately memorate the life of Bronterre ferent than that of the Tories. 0171 833 3022. ciety Museum, Beggars Bush, Dublin 4; Full School £12. En- Gaeilge and the Abney Park prove to be witness, not waste. Bankers' orders £335.05 (2 montsh) O'Brien. Peter Berresford Ellis, the Some had died, while PRINTED BY: Ripley Printers (TU) Ltd, Nottin- quiries to Micheal O Loingsigh, Summer School Director, Cemetery Trust. TOTAL £692.45 As the grandson of an Irish historian, novellist and Irish others, including Homer, were • Moya Frenz St Leger gham Road, Ripley, Derbyshire, telephone 01773 82 Barton Road East, Dublin 14; Tel: 298 5315. 743 621. IRISH DEMOCRAT Augu• t / September 1 9 9 6 page 3 IRISH DEMOCRAT Auguit/Siptimbir 1 9 9 6 page 2 DEBATE BEHIND THE HEADLINES

the political conditions where To convince the IRA to rein- Would Labour put an overrid- 'S KEYWORDS the necessary negotiations will state the cessation will require, ing priority on peace in Ire- be conducted in both a peace- not threats and exclusion and land, even if it meant accepting ful environment and manner. blackmail, but a consistent that for the remaining nine Clearly these conditions do defence by the sponsoring gov- months of this government, not exist at present Equally ernments of democratic prin- that there is only the very out- ciples and an unqualified Unemployment clearly, they will not be created side possibility that they can by discriminating against any respect for the electoral man- face an election on their terms? constituency or by excluding date. Such an extension of bi-par- Paisley rules UK? whole sections of the elector- In addition, explicit guaran- tisanships, whilst unpre- ate. tees should be issued by both cedented, would not be and capitalism Republicans, quite governments that the negotia- impossible or unreasonable, properly, and loyalists have tions, which the IRA is on rec- and, I believe, would be in La- NEMPLOYMENT IS endemic to capitalism. No acknowledged the hurt for ord as calling for and bour's interest. The immediate other mode of production depends on it so fun- which they have been respon- supporting, will be inclusive, benefits being that the leverage It would be a damentally. For no other — whether based on sible. In order for us all to move meaningful and focussed. The of the Tory backbenchers and slavery, serfdom or independent farm proprie- towards a new beginning, it is statements by John Major and the unionists would be mistake to label the torship — is so permeated by the need to maxi- time that the mainstream his ministers in recent weeks removed at a stroke, while the Umise surplus value, that is, the profit that can be unionist parties acknow- blatantly set aside these ele- Tory rebels would be neu- British squeezed out of employing workers over and above the ledged their responsibilities ments which are crucial moti- tralised on European issues cost of maintaining them in being. for the institutionalised vi- vating arguments and the Irish peace process for government as olence and injustices in the the remainder of this govern- Capitalist competition impels each firm to apply new North. ment. It would strengthen the technology, so as to increase the output and productivity wimps for its of its employees, and hence the surplus value that can be The British Government authority of the British govern- extracted from them. The fewer workers overall in a firm must also accept responsibility HE RESUMPTION of the ment at a crucial moment in craven submission at the prevailing level of technology, the more the output for the hurt that they have in- IRA campaign has ob- Irish political affairs and can be raised, the more profit can be extracted from each flicted on the Irish nation, par- viously created additional would prevent the unionists T to the Orangemen one. Hence the phenomenon of mass unemployment, as ticularly during the last 27 difficulties in achieving proper and their Tory allies from sab- advances in science and technology lead capitalists to years when over 1,000 Irish negotiations. But responsi- otaging the possibility of a at Drumcree throw their workers on the scrapheap. So capitalism people have been killed by uni- bility for the continuing im- renewed IRA cessation by im- makes the mind's achievements a bane rather than a formed servants of the British passe in the peace process can posing ever escalating precon- ditions. argues our Six boon. crown. be traced back directly to the Of course society has an interest in raising labour pro- When we can all accept re- stance adopted by John Major Such a radical departure for County ductivity, and the rise in output and living standards that sponsibility for our part in the and his colleagues. British politicians would inject makes possible, so long as the gain is not appropriated to conflict and recognise the hurt enormous confidence to all These issues remain at the correspondent a class of private owners. But that requires planning and of others, instead of apportion- those striving to rebuild the heart of the difficulties in ar- the political will to plan. In other words it requires the li- ing blame to others, then we Irish peace process. guing for a restoration of the BOBBIE neaments of a socialist society. will be able to sit down cessation and must be ad- The recent co-operation of There is a clear contradiction between the desire of in- together and reach a demo- dressed in a realistic fashion. the government and the oppo- HEATLEY dividual capitalists, under the pressure of competition, to cratic accommodation. sition parties ensured the swift The extent of John Major's reduce the number of their employees, paying them as All parties, including Sinn passage of the entry to negotia- reliance on the unionist block little as possible so as to squeeze the maximum profit out Fein, accept that the only way tions legislation, which was vote, and what that represents, of each one, and the desire of capitalists as a group for a to achieve a lasting peace is achieveded despite the stalling is an infinitely greater obstacle ETTING ASIDE the feeble buoyant market where people have money to buy the through inclusive and intens- actions of the unionists and to achieving peace in Ireland. It excuse of blaming the goods that are produced. After all, the worker-producers ive negotiations. With the their supporters on the right is a matter which British politi- chief constable of the in the factory turn into consumers when they go home at wing of the Tory party. Why S • Paisley: rabble-rousing support for colonial rule entry to negotiations election cians, including those in the RUC, Major and Mayhew's re- the end of the day. Yet capitalism sets them at war with over, the Irish and British gov- not then extend and deepen British Labour Party, will have sponse to the events at Drum- one another. ernment's remain deadlocked the existing bi-partisan policy to address and resolve. cree has provided the history The other great May- a small detour so as to avoid actions, has demonstrated that with the mainstream unionist if it can create the dynamic Socialism can achieve full employment in a number of In the event of a Labour vic- of English/Irish relations with hew/Major contribution has giving offence. The Metropoli- nothing has changed in its gov- parties over what is being port- which has up to now been mis- ways. It can lay down rules for phasing in new technol- tory at the next election, what yet another defining moment; been to achieve by a slick tan police would safeguard the ernance of Northern Ireland rayed as a dispute over the de- sing in Westminster on the ogy gradually, so there id no sudden disruption of exist- are the prospects of a Labour one, this time, which cannot be sleight of hand the transforma- residents of Brixton in the face since the commencement of tails of procedure and agenda. Irish peace process ing jobs, and workers given time to retrain for new ones. government pursuing a demo- misunderstood, misrep- tion of all-party talks into of a National Front march, but the civil rights agitations in J Mitchel McLaughlin In fact, it is simply the latest Or it can maintain the existing number of jobs, but short- cratic, practical and flexible resented, or excused away. multi-party talks. for the British government to 1969. At that time, modest re- en the average working day or week, in effect a form of Photo: David Granville attempt by the unionists to dic- course? Again, after more than a act with consistency in North- formist demands threatened tate and dominate every aspect Their double-dealing and work-sharing. Both these policies require restraint on Labour front bench spokes- month, their achievement ern Ireland would be to the existence of the state. of the proceedings. hypocrisy has been exposed in competition from foreign firms, where capitalist prin- persons have been at pains to NTIL ALL sides recog- one fell swoop. They want the speaks for itself: a bitter row threaten the existence of the Twenty seven years later West- ciples of raising productivity per worker and throwing Surely all of the energies, emphasise that no party in the nise and accept that they Six Counties as it is, uni- over who should chair the pro- British state itself. minster cannot even enforce workers on the scrapheap, continue to prevail. especially those of both gov- north of Ireland should be Ucannot dictate either the formed. ceedings, coupled with union- 'parity of esteem'. ernments, should be directed waiting for a Labour adminis- present or the future on their Yet to describe their beha- ist attempts to hijack both the The danger now is that towards restoring confidence tration to embark upon a radi- own exclusivist terms terms viour as wimpish is to suggest procedures and the agenda. those who have ridiculed in the political process to those cal departure from John nothing is going to change for that they are in a different and With nothing achieved on HE CLIMB-DOWN was politics will have a strong case Mass unemployment is who have despaired, or those Major's policy on the peace the better in the north of Ire- superior political camp to the these issues, Trimble and Pais- not a mere matter of for saying "we told you so". Time to talk - who, because of the failure of process. Their present bi-parti- land. quagmire occupied by Paisley ley felt a compelling necessity Twimpishness; it involved Increasing anti-state violence, the clearest sign of the the past two years, have had san policy, which seems to in- The future of Ireland be- and Trimble. It would imply to walk out and attend to other cold, calculated, political ra- accompanied by an intensifica- their views on armed struggle dicate that this present longs to the people of Ireland. that at Drumcree they were matters at Drumcree. Not even tionale. The apparent incon- tion of state repression, includ- irrationality of capitalism reinforced rather than chal- miserable government, having It is not something which can forced to do something which Tory politicians like Andrew sistency of the British ing internment, could now lie lenged. done everything else so disas- be bartered, bordered, pros- went against their will. Hunter could describe these government when consent 4nd ahead. The future looks grim. trously wrong has somehow cribed or consented to in any How anyone can still be- actions as intended to foster so- non-coersion is involved is ex- But there is an alternative and Or planners can accept reduced employment in 'downsiz- got it right on Ireland, defies formula that ignores the lieve this nonsense after the cial harmony and promote plainable: consent and non- within a year or so new gov- ing' firms but tax the higher profits of capitalists and the common sense and logic. wishes and the aspirations of 'achievements' of successive 'parity of esteem'. coersion only apply to ernments could be elected in higher income of the workers still at work, with a view to HE QUESTION of politi- The bi-partisan policy has any sector of our people. British governments over the The all-party had become Orangemen and unionists, as both Ireland and Britain. giving others some benefit from the increase in social pro- time for peace cally motivated violence is been a sham and a fraud which Consent will be founded on multi-party talks through the does its objection to the use of From the Irish perspective, ductivity. Such taxes can then finance forms of social in- past 27 years is beyond under- Tclearly an issue which has made no credible contribu- consensus, not majoritarian- standing. July 111996 ought to exclusion of Sinn Fein, despite violence for the achievement of the answer to a wholesale re- come for everybody. That can be done in the form of must be resolved, as all other tion to resolving the peace pro- ism, no matter how camouf- have changed all that. its 15 per cent vote in the gov- political ends. turn to violence is for the na- social service transfers, providing everyone with good issues, to the satisfaction of all cess. Ireland is the only issue laged. Sinn Fein is convinced This particular Tory gov- ernment-rigged election which This is because Northern tionalist democracy in the quality education, health, public transport and cultural sides. Dialogue and negotia- on which John Major and Tony E MEET at a particu- the deep-rooted issues that lie that peace is attainable, and in ernment is especially indict- was held ostensibly as a 'direct Ireland is a part of the British North to reconstruct a unified services, or a basic income for all with which people can Sinn Fein chair tions between all of the parties Blair have identical positions. larly difficult time and at the heart of the conflict. a relatively short time, if all able. It squandered 18 months route into talks'. The reason: state and the Orangemen and extra-parliamentary move- buy things for themselves. and both governments is This might be understandable, Wit would be easy to des- The unity and inde- sides work creatively towards of an IRA ceasefire by refusing Sinn Fein is associated with unionists are its staunchest ment along civil rights lines Mass unemployment is the clearest sign of the irration- surely the most reasonable and or at least defensible, if the pol- MITCHEL pair, but I think that those who pendence of Ireland as a sover- it. to bring about all-party talks those involved in violence. supporters in the vestige which would be the basis upon ality of capitalism and why socialist planning is needed realistic means of resolving icy was working but it is hard want to see democratic struc- eign state is the first aim of We are ready for peace and and then, when it had caused The 'pacifists' who or- which it has in Ireland. which a resuscitated to build on capitalism's achievement in raising labour these matters. to justify when it manifestly is MCLAUGHLIN tures emerge from the scenario Irish republicans. It is a con- will discuss every option, ex- the collapse of the ceasefire, ganised the siege of Drumcree Although perfectly capable SDLP/SF/Irish government productivity and to restrain the abuse of workers it gets not. of conflict that has lasted for sidered preference of a clear When one considers the plore every issue with every used this as an excuse not to and the street terror and po- of facing-down the unionists, alliance could develop. This al- up to. There is no need to fear society will run out of outlined his many generations in Ireland majority of the people of Ire- shambles and squabbles at If Labour is perverse other participant to the con- talk. groms throughout the rest of this would sow divisions in the liance should then pursue the work. must never say surrender. land and is a reasonable, legit- Irish struggle for democracy in Stormont it is obvious that the enough to follow the Tories up flict. If we all want peace we Instead, it set up a ridicu- the month could not possibly, state itself, possibly with un- It is undoubtedly a good thing if assembly lines, com- party's stance on imate and identified option, the international sphere; en- We have all been chal- Irish and British governments what is clearly a political blind are all going to have to make lous assembly in the North — according to Mayhew and foreseen consequences. puters, robots and new technology take over more and one that has been denied us as hancing the American cam- lenged and credibility is an have failed to revive the peace alley in opposition, what will commitments to others as well another arena for squabbling Major, sit down with those Only a British government more of the mechanical and tedious tasks. That only frees reviving the peace a matter of British policy, and paign, but not restricting issue for all parties. The failure process. Indeed, they have cre- they do in government? as ourselves, to our com- over nothing — which after who use violence for political prepared to countenance a labour to move into areas where results improve and out- as a people, for far too long. efforts to that quarter. process at the to consolidate the opportunity ated additional problems by Over the last two years John munities and our children's fu- more than a month registered ends. fundamental restructuring of put is better the more human beings are employed, rather that emerged so dramatically Sinn Fein is absolutely com- imposing elections as a so- Major has not been without op- ture. None of us can afford to as its sole achievements pro- British security forces in the the historical colonialist rela- The British government than fewer — personal care, education and health work, recent Agreed in August 1994 is a collective mitted to democratic and called gateway to negotiations tions, unfortunately he has squander what may be the last longed rows over who should North, including reservists, tionship between and needs to be by-passed in its domestic service, many areas of entertainment. For robots failure. peaceful methods of resolving and then refusing to accept the been without the imagination opportunity for this gener- sit where, the suitability or not amounting to 18,500 military Ireland would be prepared to own jurisdiction by direct ap- will never set your hair, look after baby or granny, teach Sinn Fein always knew that these problems and is resol- democratic result of the ballot to realise this; consequently it ation to reach a democratic of a stand-in chairperson, and and 13,000 police were unable take this step. The current gov- >roaches to the non-estab- Johnny the tin-whistle or how to do craftwdrk! Ireland Forum box. making peace, attempting to utely determined to achieve an has become more and more ob- compromise in Ireland. whether or not the 'union' flag to protect and uphold the civil ernment clearly is not. fishment political democracy To a significant degree this is work in public services, undo the wrongs of centuries, equitable and lasting agree- Sinn Fein represents, not vious that he and his govern- Now is the time for the pos- should be flown over the rights of a small nationalist After Drumcree and the which exists both inside and which brings enormous benefit to society. Again plan- event in London. was never going to be easy. ment which can command the the IRA, but 15.5 per cent of the ment are the fatal weak link in turing on all sides to stop. No building during sittings. community which was threat- other events of July, the ques- outside the labour movement. ning is called for, to ensure that jobs in these areas are ex- What we are attempting to do allegiance and consent of all electorate in the north of Ire- a chain of political forces that more violence, no more exclu- The British government's ened by coat-training tion is: where do we go from Mr. Mallon is right, you panded as they decline in agriculture, private On this page is an is very ambitious, as well as the people of Ireland. land . To shut out Sinn Fein's 17 are necessary to make up a sion, no more coercion when money-saving exchequer is Orangemen whose purpose, here? Seamus Mallon MP of have been talking to the wrong manufacturing and capital intensive rather than labour in- risky and dangerous. We are elected negotiators is the equi- viable peace process. We remain hopeful that a persuasive argument will at- uncomplainingly funding this according to Trimble was sym- the SDLP has remarked that it people. Meanwhile Paisley, at tensive services. Clearly, state planning is the only way to edited account of seeking for the first time in valent of locking 100 MPs out meaningful negotiation pro- If the Tories won't move an tain the same. It's time for all farce to the tune of £100 per bolic — the exercise of supre- is futile to go on engaging with Major's behest, will continue to deal with unemployment. It is the economic essence of so- Irish history, and in the rela- of the House of Commons. Is cess will commence. The chal- election date will Tony Blair sides to be pragmatic and sitting for each of the 110 del- macy. All the Orangemen were an untrustworthy British gov- rule, not only Northern Ireland cialism, whether people use that word or not. what he said tionship between Ireland and this a democratic peace pro- lenge for all parties, and for think the unthinkable and generous. It's time to talk. It's egates, plus overhead costs. being asked to do was to make ernment which, by its recent but the UK itself —OK! Britain, to successfully resolve both governments, is to create cess? negotiate with John Major? time for peace.

IRISH DEMOCRAT Auguil/Sepltmbir 1 9 9 6 page 4 IRISH DEMOCRAT Augu• t / Septemb•r 1 9 9 6 page 5 IRISH BOOKS IRISH SONGS A novel, PETER MULLIGAN'S a brace of You might easy know a doffer Johnny I hardly knew ye PEEPSHOW histories This is one of the many work songs made famous by the July marked the 80th anniversary of the battle of the What a civilised country? McPeake family. It illustrates how the hierarchies of the Somme, where more than 25,000 troops Abuse, sell-outs and a book linen trades established their own rivalries. The song is walked to their deaths., including 6,000from the Ulsters' taken from Songs of Belfast, reviewed on the book page. Regiment. Although a product of the 19th century, this anti-war ballad remains most appropriate. prisoned men receive justice. and cover ups despair and helplessness. of words Vou might easy know doffer GERARD CURRAN In other words, miscarriages of He describes his relation- When she comes into town While going the road to sweet A-thy, A-roo, Ha-roo ship with his family during justice should be allowed to reviews Forever lost, With her long yellow hair While going the road to sweet A-thy, Ha-roo, Ha-roo GOVERNMENT SELL OU | — "It is not easy for a gov- those terrible years. When he run their course and the six forever gone by Paddy Joe ENDA FINLAY reviews a And her pickers hanging down ernment by a single act to abdicate its own moral was arrested for the Birming- should have been left in prison While going the road to sweet A-thy, a stick in my hand Hill and Gerard Hunt, With her rubber tied before her authority, undermine confidence in the police, insult ham pub bombing his eldest until they died. selection of summer and a tear in my eye, And her scraper in her hand church leaders of four principle faiths, and boost the Bloomsbury, 292pp, child was eight. When he was The author has a sting in his paperbacks acceptability of a terrorist organisation when a gov- £6.99 pbk. released, lie had grandchild- tale, acknowledging that dur- You will easy know a doffer A doleful damsel I heard cry, Johnny I hardly knew ye! ernment abandons the rule of law in favour of the rule of ren. ing his time in prison he met For she'll always get a man the mob, one must be very fearful of the long term many more innocent people Oh, she'll always get a man CHORUS He enables the reader to un- consequences." Dr Garret FitzGerald, former Irish Prime languishing in British goals. ATRICK McCABE has a Oh, she'll always get a man derstand what he went With your drums and guns and guns and drums, Minster. (The Sunday Independent) through and appreciate the He intends to devote some of unique style and is un- You might easy know a doffer A-roo, Ha-roo evil done to him, his co-de- the compensation money that doubtedly on of the most P For she'll always get her man. With your drums and guns and guns and drums, HISTORY OF ABUS_ E — "From East Belfast's Kincora fendants and all their families. he will eventually get to build- original Irish writers in years. A-roo, Ha-roo Boys' Home, via Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Lon- his excellent book ing an organisation to rectify His latest offering, The Dead T But this is not just the story You might easy know a weaver With your drums and guns and guns and drums, the don, to the children's homes of Clwyd, we have gives an insider's account of one man. He uses it to point miscarriages of justice. He be- School, (Picador, £6.99), hot on When she comes into town enemy nearly slew ye witnessed 25 years of cover-ups. Cover-ups not to pro- lieves others will contribute the heels of The Butcher Boy, of a gruesome miscarriage the finger of blame at those re- tect the innocent but to protect the regularly named from their compensation. Such continues McCabe's study of With her old greasy hair My darling dear, you look so queer, Och, Johnny I of justice. It presents a remark- sponsible, including the police, elements of the British establishment who surface an organisation could become the darker side of human emo- And her scissors hanging down hardly knew ye! able insight into the psycho- defe: ice lawyers and, above all, whenever widespread evidence of child abuse is ex- an even bigger thorn in the side tion and relationships. With a shawl around her shoulders logy of prison life, includes a the judges — the noble lords Where are your eyes that look so mild, A-roo, Ha-roo posed„..Part of the Northern Ireland peace process will damning critique of the British Bridge, Denning and Lane, of the English establishment Two fascinating books — And a shuttle in her hand Where are your eyes that look so mild, A-roo, Ha-roo that the IRA ever was. have to include coming to terms with the role child legal system, and tells us much analysing the events which led Before the Famine Struck: life in You will easy know a weaver Where are your eyes that look so mild, when my poor abuse played in the territory's dirty war'." Jon Snow, about the human spirit. to the imprisonment of inno- It is worth pointing out that West Clare 1834-1845 and /4 For she never gets her man heart you first beguiled journalist. (The Guardian) However, what is particu- cent men while the guilty were four years after his release Hill People Starved: life and death in No, she'll never get her man Why did you run from me and the child, Johnny, I larly gripping is not the plot, allowed to escape. has not been compensated and West Clare 1845-1851 by Igna- No, she'll never get her man SPECIAL POWERS RENEWED — The Northern Ireland but the personality of Paddy nobody has apologised. It is tius Murphy, (Irish Academic hardly Knew ye! The writer's analysis of You will easy know a weaver (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996 comes into effect on Joe Hill. also worth pointing out that Press, £7.95 each) highlight the Lord Denning is particularly August 25. The renewal maintains the provision for jury- Hill describes the desola- since his wrongful imprison- awful effect of the Great For she'll never get a man. CHORUS sharp, pointing out that Den- less, single-judge courts with the burden of proof laid on tion of his situation and the ef- ment, Lord Bridge has been Hunger on this rural com- ning inadvertently revealed the accused. The recently created and all-embracing fect it had, not just on himself, paid £2 million by the tax- munity. Where are the legs with which you run, A-roo, Ha-roo what the British legal system "offences again public security" are maintained, as are but on the remainder of his payer, some £500,000 since Where are the legs with which you run, A-roo, Ha-roo and the prime function of the Local historian Ignatius extraordinary police powers to arrest, search and detain family. He describes this as his Hill's release. courts was about. Murphy charts the changes Where are the legs with which you run ,when you went without charge. British Home Secretary Michael Howard worst torture. With extraordi- Denning, Master of the I leave the last word to the wrought over this 17-year to carry a gun? nary power he tells of his visit Redmond O'Hanlon announced: "We've never ruled internment out and we Rolls and the second most sen- English judge who was re- period with excellent accounts Indeed your dancing days are done, Johnny, I hardly are prepared to do whatever we think will be effective in to his dying father. All of us ior judge in England, observed garded by some as the greatest that can be applied to countless can perhaps imagine what it is Redmond O'Hanlon had served in the French Army knew ye! combatting violence." Mr. Howard is of course speaking in the Court of Appeal that it of the post-war period. When other areas of Ireland. of politically motivated violence by those not on his side. like to visit a dying patient in asked to comment on the re- before he became a sort of Robin Hood highwayman in was far more important that Dairmuid O'Muirithe's The CHORUS hospital. Few can imagine public confidence in the police lease of the Six, Lord Denning Words We Use (Four Courts . The French gave him the title Count for • Paddy Joe Hill: much to say about rotten British justice LED TO SLAUGHTER BY DONKEYS — Sir Edward Car- what it is like for a wrongly and the judiciary be main- said: "The case shows what a Press, £6.95) is an absorbing his services, After his exploits back in Iretdnd, related in It grieved my heart to see you sail, A-roo, Ha-roo son/the father figure of loyalism, extolled the virtues of convicted prisoner with all the tained than the six wrongly im- civilised country we are. collection of unusual phrases the ballad, he was assassinated in his sleep in 1681, no King and Country and thousands of the working class additional confused feelings of and words from the popular It grieved my heart to see you sail, A-roo, Ha-roo doubt the work of the English secret service of those days. flocked to fight a war that was not theirs. Considered by lost contact, guilt, remorse, eponymous Irish Times col- It grieved my heart to see you sail, though from my the generals as cannon fodder, 20,000 died in the umn. heart you took leg bail A Shepherd that lives on Slieve Gullion Somme on the first day of battle. Over 5,500 of those Came down to the county Tyrone, Like a cod you're doubled up head and tail, Johnny, I killed were from the Six Counties. As Derryman George Cromwell's ethnic cleansing And told us how Redmond O'Hanlon hardly knew ye! Lindsay, one of the few remaining survivors, said re- Revisionism goes cently: "I think most intelligent people saw the folly of Won't let the rich Saxon alone! The Four CHORUS He rides over moorland and mountain, the whole thing. We were sent out there to fight against and children were 'ethnically rarily diverted from their usual people that we'd no grudge against and who couldn By night, till a stranger is found, 't Jim Savage reviews The cleansed' by Cromwell, ban- routes to West Africa, where Provinces You haven't an arm you haven't a leg, A-roo, Ha-roo help being in the same position as ourselves." Unionist they were then resold at auc- Saying: 'Take your own choice to be lodging back in time White Slaves of Barbados ished to Barbados in the Carib- You haven't an arm you haven't a leg, A-roo, Ha-roo leaders are still playing the jingo card. bean, and forced to work as tion for between £25 and £30. Right over or under the ground!' by Sean O'Callaghan, You haven't an arm you haven't a leg, you're an slaves on the colonial planta- Around 400 descendants of Bookshop MURDERER ON LICENCE — Six years ago paratrooper £18.50 those expelled continue to live eyeless, noseless, chickenless egg were rather primitive, their tions. If you whistle 'Whoo!' like native Lee Clegg shot Karen Reilly, 18, at a road block in in grim poverty in the West You'll have to be put in a bowl to beg, Johnny, I hardly PETER BERRESFORD scholarship only 'elemental' The book tells of how, after He leaves you the way to go clear; Belfast. In 1993 he was found guilty of murder and the fighting in Ireland had Indies. Known locally as 'red FOR BOOKS and knew ye! ELLIS reviews Dr Smyth quotes HO Tay- If you squeal out a 'Hew!' like a Scotsman, sentenced to life imprisonment. Right wing MPs and ended in 1652, the descendants legs' they represent the poorest pamphlets on Irish Understanding the universe lor who, in 1911, tried to ease You will pay him a guinea a year, friends in the Ministry of Defence rallied to his cause and the conscience of English im- N ENGLISH protestant of the 40,000 Irish soldiers who of the island's small poor white CHORUS he appealed to the House of Lords where five law lords in 7th-century Ireland by history, politics and But if you cry 'Haw!' like a Saxon, perialism by arguing the back- bishop recently stated had surrendered and who community. A far cry from the confirmed his conviction for murder. However, Sir Pa- literature and a wide Och, then, 'tis your life or your gold! Marina Smyth, The wardness of the Irish. Athat Britain would never were allowed to leave the opulence of the island's rich I'm happy to see you home, A-roo, Ha-roo trick Mayhew, the Northern Ireland Secretary, released Boydell Press, 431 pp £35 Taylor thought it unjustifi- be able to repay the wrongs country were rounded up and white residents and tourists, range of Irish lan- By stages Count Redmond O'Hanlon I'm happy to see you home, A-roo, Ha-roo him on licence last July. He returned to his regiment and able to regard the scholarship committed over the centuries. sold to English slave dealers in they remain a much over- guage material. Gets back what they plundered of old! I'm happy to see you home, all from the Island of was promoted to lance-corporal. He has now received of some gifted Irishmen who Sean O'Callaghan tells the Bristol for between £4 and £10 looked reminder of Crom- Sulloon permission to appeal to the Northern Ireland Appeal each. Transported in the no- well's barbaroi s treatment of lived in Europe as evidence of story of one such injustice, of The Four Provinces Old Coote of Cootehill is heartbroken; So low in flesh, so high in bone, Johnny, I hardly knew Court. The appeal will have to be held in Belfast. A how 50,000 Irish men, women torious slave ships, tempo- the Irish people scholarship in Ireland at the Bookshop, 244 Gray's And Johnston beyond in the Fews ye! special security operation Is expected by his col- E'VE SEEN 'revision- time: "We do not know where Has wasted eight barrels of powder leagues. (The Daily Telegraph) these men obtained their Inn Road, London ists' at work on recent Upon him, but all to no use! CHORUS knowledge; there is little rea- WC1X 8JR, telephone Wcenturies of Irish his- Although there's four hundred pounds sterling son to suppose that they got it tory. I had thought the 7th cen- 0171833 3022. If Redmond you'd put out of sight; But sad as it is to see you so, A-roo, Ha-roo tury «might be immune from in Ireland." A collection of Belfast songs Mind if the heart's dark in your body, But sad as it is to see you so, A-roo, Ha-roo the virus. I was wrong. This Dr Smyth is at pains to Open 10am-4 pin Monday show that Irish scholarship 'Tis Redmond will let in the light. But sad as it is to see you so, and I think of you now as LAST WORD title is a case in point. plied: "Sure, I was only jok- to Saturday. w.is 'rudimentary' compared cifically Orange rather than an object of woe Dr Smyth is a librarian at GERARD CURRAN Unionist. The most interesting ing." "The moment the very name of Ireland is mentioned, the with 'classical education'. She The great Duke of Ormond is frantic — Your Peggy'll still keep ye on as her beau, Johnny, I Notre Dame University, In- The regiment was absorbed is particularly denigrating reviews Songs of Belfast, one of these is the South Down English seem to bid adieu to common feeling, common diana, and this is an expansion into the Ulster Rifles during His soldiers got up with the lark hardly knew ye! about the Irish knowledge of edited by David Militia. Volunteers prudence and common sense, and to act with the barbarity of her 1984 doctoral thesis. Her This shows very clearly the the first world war, and we To catch the bold Redmond by daylight; of tyrants and the fatuity of idiots." astronomy. Hammond, Mercier Press, basic idea is hardly original. anti-democratic nature of know what happened to them But Redmond caught them in the dark. • Sydney Smith (1771-1845) Anglican journalist and As a colleague of mine at wanted We have, it seems, had a 're- 63pp, £3.50. Orangeism. It seems amaz- in July 1916. Six thousand went Says he when he stripped them and bound them: Music books at the Four Provinces Bookshop founder of the Edinburgh Review. Trinity College, Dublin, who grettable tendency in Irish ingly naive to keep going a to their deaths in the battle of has studied astronomy in Ire- 'Take back my best thanks to his Grace studies' to think of the 6th-10th song, which has the refrain the Somme — Lions led by WANTED: volunteers to re- land at this period, laconically For all the fine pistols and powder The following are a selection of songbooks avaiable from the Four "I wish that the bomb in Manchester had not happened. I centuries as a golden age of The South Down Militia is the Donkeys! view books for the Irish commented: "On that one HE MOST accurate de- He sent to this desolate place!' Provinces Bookshop, 244 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR, tel. wish that there weren't British soldiers on the streets of the Irish scholarship — the age of terror of the land.' My favourite work song is Democrat — political, his- basis alone, you can't take this scription of this collection 01718333022: six counties. I wish there wasn't discriminatio 1.1 wish that saints and scholars! You might easy know a Doffer, torical, biographical, travel, work seriously." is to say it does not include According to other lines our island was not partitioned. But the reality is that we deal In fact, in spite Of the evi- T fiction and poetry. Then here's to you Redmond O'Hanlon! any nationalist songs. The this force intimidated most of made famous by the Songs of Belfast, £3.50; Where songs do thunder, £6.99; The with the objective situation and the conditions which exist dence, in spite of a Saxon like Dr. Daibhi O Croinin's Long may your excellency reign, children's songs could be sung the rulers in the world. McPeakes. The best comic one words of 100 Irish party songs (Four Volumes) including in making peace, and making peace is very difficult I want Bede specifically stating that Early Medieval Ireland AD 400- High-ranger of Woods and Rivers by children of any religion or But we are told not to take it is The Labour Boro, relating the WANTED: a volunteer in- golden oldies from The auld triangle to The Red Rose Cafe, to see an end to armed struggle. My conviction is that we students from all over Europe, 1200 (Longman) is the necess- none. seriously, like Paisley's remark dream of a man on the dole in terested in representing our Surveyor of mountains and plain old favourites from Danny Boy to The fields of Athenry, will get a peace settlement and that it will grow out of inclu- including Anglo-Saxon ary corrective to this on radio recentl. When asked which he is treated with lavish interests with publishers in Examiner-in-Chief of all Traitors £2.75 each volume; The Troops Out songbook, £2.95; 100 sive dialogue and that Sinn Fein will be in there alongside princes, flocked to Irish col- ponderous propaganda. And Work songs are not specific why he had said. "We've got hospitality by the manager of relation to their forthcom- Protector of all that True — Irish ballads with words music and guitar chords. £6.95; the other parties and working with the two governments to leges for their learning, Dr his book, price-wise, is far to any particular tradition. Paddy on the run," Paisley re- the labour exchange ing publications. Henceforward, King Charlie of England Ceolta Gael, £2.75; Love songs of the Irish, £3.99. bring about an accord". Smyth assures us that the Irish cheaper. There are some which are spe- May take what he gets, after you. • Gerry Adams, 19 June 1996.

IRISH DEMOCRAT A u g u s t / S e p t e m b e r 1 9 9 6 page IRISH DEMOCRAT A u g u • t / S e p t e m b e r 1 9 9 6 page 7 ANONN IS ANALL: THE PETER BERRESFORD ELLIS COLUMN

government, thev changed administration, had a higher leader of the Irish Party in 1918 No biographer has so far done real justice to Brain Stoker's life. their religion to Anglican and death rate than Calcutta or the when it was annihilated at the left Ulster. They became medi- slums of Moscow. In Dublin polls by Sinn Fein. cal men and civil servants, 41.9 per cent of all deaths oc- Bram was a political animal staid pillars of the Ascend- curred in pauper workhouses. to an extent. More liberal than ancy The infant mortality rate was his father he once addressed 168 per 1,000, double that of the Trinity College Historical the nation-wide average. Society on 'The Necessity for Some 87,000 Dubliners, out Political Honesty'. He con- ut it was Bram's mother of a population of 300,000, fessed to being a 'home ruler' who introduced a radical lived in dilapidated slum and later supported Glad- Btradition. She was Char- housing; 20,000 families lived stone's attempts to put lotte Matilda Blake Thornley in only one room, and 5,000 through his 'home rule' bills from Sligo. Her mother was a more families existed in two for Ireland. Bram was ac- Galway Blake, not one of the rooms. Of the 5,000 registered quainted with Gladstone, who Norman Caddell family (nick- tenement buildings at least admired Bram's fiction. named Le Blaca) but the de- 1,500 were condemned and it Even after Bram left Ireland scendants of O Blathmhaic. was not uncommon for such to live in London, where he be- Charlotte was born in Sligo in slum tenements to fall down of came business manager for the 1818. It was Charlotte who in- their own accord and kill or actor Sir Henry Irving — the stilled into the future author of injure their occupants. The city Lord Olivier of his day — man- Dracula a knowledge of Irish had the biggest red-light dis- aging the Lyceum Theatre, he history, folklore and culture. trict of any western city, where returned frequently to visit his Her mother's brother, women flocked nightly to at- family. His mother had, after a Bram's great-uncle, George tempt to better their standards few years in Europe, returned Blake, was a United Irishman. of living. Social standards did to live in Rathgar. His brother, When, in 1798, a French army not improve until Ireland was Thornley, never left Dublin under General Joseph Amable able to take control of its own and, although a leading sur- Humbert landed in Killala, Co political, social and economic geon, was also well acquainted Mayo, to help the Irish insur- life. with Dublin's artistic and lite- gents establish their republic, "Any measure calculated to rary world, his circle of friends young Blake joined them. encourage virtue and subdue included George Moore and After the battleat Ballinamuck, vice must be the wisest and Oliver St John Gogarty. Co. Longford, on September 8, best policy of a nation," Char- Bram himself joined the Blake was captured, given a lotte argued in another Irish Literary Society in Lon- drumhead courtmartial and pamphlet entitled On Female don where he found himself sentenced to be hanged. Emigration from Workhouses. among many old Trinity class As a token acknow- This was also published by mates, such as Alfred Perceval ledgement to his rank, Blake Alexander Thom of Dublin in Graves — father of Robert — was allowed to soap the rope 1864, the year young Bram en- John Todhunter and Standish before the hanging to ensure a O'Grady. quicker death than mere stran- Bram had married a famous gulation. Irish .beauty, Florence Bal- Small wonder that Bram's It seems that combe. Florrie was one of eight first novel was called The children, six girls and two Snake's Pass (1890), involving a Charlotte boys. lost treasure — gold brought Their father was also an by th-_ French in 1798 — lost in Stoker had extraordinary character. Born a shifting bog in Connemara. in Kilkenny, the son of an army Charlotte Stoker herself the effect of corporal, James Balcombe turned out to be something of joined the army himself at the a rebel and social reformer 'liberalising' age of 14 and rose to become a who, sadly, seems to have been quarter-master sergeant. He missed out of the pages of Bram's managed to transcend the studies of Irish women fight- powerful Victorian class sys- ing for social justice in the 19th opinions tem to become an 'officer and a century. gentleman' becoming a Her first campaign was to Lieutenant Colonel by the time Bram Stoker, pressure the English colonial tered Trinity College, Dublin. of his retirement. administration to establish "There is dignity in labour, Florrie had been Oscar state schools in Ireland for the and a self-supporting woman Wilde's first love. Indeed, it deaf and dumb. One of her is alike respected and respect- seemed that she was going to rousing speeches was publish- able. Why should the door of marry Oscar but rejected him ed as On the Necessity Ufa State hope be closed on those poor for Bram. Oscar Wilde seemed Provision for the Education of the women, and why refuse them to regret the ending of their re- Deaf and Dumb of Ireland, pub- the means of attaining inde- lationship — although he con- Dracula and lished by Alexander Thorn of pendence?" Curiously, how- tinued his friendship with the Dublin, 1863. ever, her husband, Bram's Stokers — for some years. Charlotte pointed out that father Abraham Stoker senior, When Florrie made an ap- in and Prussia such working in the office of the pearance on stage at the Ly- schools were established. Why Chief Secretary for Ireland, ceum in The Cup by Lord not Ireland? Why should the was a Tory unionist and re- Tennyson, he anonymously deaf and dumb of Ireland be mained so all his life. sent her a bouquet. He wrote to debilitated because of their the famous actress Ellen Terry: poverty? On the same platform "She thinks I never loved her, social reform at one meeting was a good thinks I forget. My God, how friend of the Stoker family, Dr t seems that Charlotte had could I?" — afterwards Sir — William the effect of 'liberalising' Florrie's sister Philippa Wilde, the eminent eye and ear IBram's opinions. He only married Dr J Freeman Knott, specialist, who was the father ever mentioned one boyhood and their daughter was to be of Oscar Wilde. friend and companion in later Dr Eleanor Knott, the leading Sir William and Lady Wilde years — Valentine Blake Dil- authority on Middle and Early — the famous 'Speranza' of the lon, the lawyer of the Land Modern Irish. Young Ireland movement — League who defended Charles Bram wrote a total of eleven EXT YEAR —June 1997, spin-offs. This is not to men- Castle. Bram's first book was were to keep a parental eye on Parnell in 1880. novels, two short-story collec- to be precise — will be the tion plays, radio adaptations, The Duties of Clerks of Petty young Bram when his parents Bram's friendship with Dil- tions, a book about famous im- Ncentenary of the publica- comics and practically every Sessions in Ireland (1879), for went to live in France, then lon could lie in the fact that postors in history and a tion of Bram Stoker's enduring form of merchandising you Bram rose to become Inspector Switzerland and Italy, follow- they were distant cousins, both two-volume biography of Gothic classic, Dracula. No can think of. of Petty Sessions before leav- ing Abraham senior's retire- Blakes of Sligo. When Dillon Henry Irving. But no other other novel, apart from Mary Perhaps it's hard to imagine ing for England at the age of 31. ment from Dublin Castle. died in 1904 he was being at- piece of work ever matched the Shelley's Frankenstein, has that hidden along the way The Stokers had moved to Close to Charlotte Stoker's tended by Bram's brother, a enduring quality of his weird seized the popular imagin- would bea connection with the Dublin at the start of the 18th heart was the vexed question leading Dublin surgeon (Wil- Gothic fantasy — Dracula. I ation and become, of itself, a Irish independence movement century from Ulster where, as of the situation in Dublin liam) Thornley Stoker. Dillon Just published is Professor 2()th century myth. and social reform. Mac an Stocaire — son of the workhouses. She had become a had been twice Lord Mayor of Barbara Belford's biography of Dracula has been translated Stoker, born Abraham — trumpeter — a sept of the Scot- workhouse visitor and was ap- Dublin and gets a mention in Stoker, published by Weiden- into some 50 languages, in- called Bram to differentiate tish MacPharlane clan, they palled at these state institu- James Joyce's Ulysses. feld and Nicolson, a rather di- cluding an Irish edition trans- him from his father, was born had settled in the 17th century. tions, such as the Dublin Dillon himself was the latory work with countless lated by Sean O Cuirrin in in Clontarf in 1847. He fol- To avoid the 1705 exclusion of Union, where young women nephew of the 1848 revolution- errors. This, sadly, is the fourth 1933, and made into a similar lowed his father into the Irish Presbyterians from holding of- had little hope but to fall into ary feader, John Blake Dillon biography of Bram, not one of number of films, not including Civil Service, working in the fice in law, the army, navy, cus- vice and wretchedness. (1816-1866) whose son, also which has done real justice to sequels, prequels and other legal department of Dublin toms and excise and municipal Dublin, under the colonial John (1851-1927), became him.

IRISH DEMOCRAT August/September 1996 page 8