February/March 1998 Connolly Association: campaigning for a united and independent Ireland The buildiig of Irish national United democracy Irishmen Page 6 4-page supplement, pages 7-10

As sectarian loyalist murder gangs step up their campaign of terror, the Irish Democrat's Northern correspondent Bobbie Heatley warns the Blair government of the dangers of reverting to the failed policies of the past

he latest joint document from the British and Irish govern- ments has saved - for the time- being at least - the talks process, although Trimble's Ulster Unionists still refuse to engage with Sinn F6in, who along with the IIRA have formally rejected it as a basis for a negotiated settlement. The UUP can talk to loyalist, sec- tarian killers in The Maze, but not to the third largest political party in the North which has signed up to the Mitchell principles of non-violence, or to the IRA, who unlike the Loyalist Volunteer Force and its various associ- ates, is adhering to its ceasefire. Just a week before Trimble's party was going to have to address the nitty- gritty issues at the core of the dispute, after having avoided them (with Tory At last! Government announces new inquiry into Bloody Sunday help) for several years, unionism in British Prime Minister Tony Blair has confirmed that there will be a new judicial inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, 1972. The announcement, which general whipped up a 'crises' by is the culmination of growing pressure in recent years from the relatives of the victims, campaigners and the Irish government, followed a series of events threatening to abort the peace talks. throughout Britain and Ireland marking the 26th anniversary of the massacre. Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and Sinn Ftin's Dodie McGuinness (pictured The INLA's killing of Billy Wright, above) were among those who joined around 2,000 in a march through London days before details of the new inquiry were announced, (see also pages 3&4) public leader of the loyalist killing machine, the LVF, suspiciously, inside elements inside the UUP itself who commentators as wearing an Orange something contrary to what they real- state. In a militarised civic society, The Maze Prison, came as a god-send are incapable of contemplating any- Sash. It is said that the document, with ly want while being too troublesome they still bear the main brunt of to unionists. thing beyond a return to the former, its pro-unionist flavour, was necessary to constrain. oppression. With the Progressive Unionist pre-direct rule, Orange/unionist to cajole Trimble and his party to stay In the 1997 UK general election, The explanation for this perpetual Party (PUP), the political arm of the sums quo, were putting pressure on in the talks - the cusjomary way in out of around 788,000 votes cast, the partiality on the part of successive UVF, discontented about not being Trimble to withdraw from the talks as which British governments have unionist vote , excluding the Alliance British governments has little to do informed/consulted enough, and the well. Like those unionists who are responded to the threats of Northern Party, was just 388,707. The combined with unionist violence. It is about de- Ulster Unionists whinging on about already boycotting them, these ele- Ireland unionism. New Labour, fol- nationalist/republican vote was colonisation or, the ceding of self-gov- unspecified, and largely mythical, con- ments are of the opinion that the talks lowing in that oft«used lory tradition, 336,240, and growing. However, in the ernment (democracy) to the North - cessions to republicanism, Wright's will not deliver the undiluted which has pitifully failed to resolve the 120 years from the Act of Union up something that can be realised, only in assassination was the leavening supremacy that they covet problem, caaneteven be induced to until partition over 100 Coercion Acts an all-Ireland context. It is for the pur- required for a 'crises'. The PUP threat- Given this 1998 mini-version of the try political and economic persuasion. were legislated at Westminster to dra- pose gf obscuring this fact that succes- ened to withdraw from the talks Unionist revolt of 1912, the two gov- $wccsstaL British governments; goon the vast majority of the Irish peo- sive British governments have insert- because of its own grudge, while the ernments, Dublin and London, preferred to obscure the issue at ple Since partition the nationalist and ed 'itfo 'documents drawn up jointly LVF stepped up its on-going assassi- said to have 'blinked*. They cam* i; heart of the contiia, to the detri* republican section of the community wi(htht Irish government stipula- nation campaign against nationalists with the current 'Propositions on ment of the interests of their British in the North, most of whom are estab- tions, parameters and phraseology that and Catholics in general. Heads of Agreement' document - stig- electorates, pretending that the lishment outsider*, have suffered the leave most people bewildered. Given this heightening of tensions, matised in Ireland by many objective Northern Ireland unionists are doing coercion of a discriminatory police »#> Irish Democrat February/March 1998 Page 3 Irish Democrat February/March 1998

Stormont papers Iwsh OemociucPrisone r transfers welcomed Loyalist killings strain Founded 1939 Volume 53, No.2 reflect impact PRISONERS of CA's civil rights Democrat reporter peace process rate with the LVF in its ongoing cam- analysis ore than two years after LOYALIST VIOLENCE Z* Bat - transfer legislation coming paign of sectarian violence. THIRTY YEAR PAPERS FINESSING THE 'ORANGE CARD' Democrat reporter Confirmation of the UFF's ' COMPANY into force, progress has Democrat reporter The recent upsurge in the activities of the loyalist death squads, been made on the transfer The withdrawal from the talks of the involvement in the murders of Eddie Ulster Democratic Party, the political Treanor, Larry Brennan and Ben The 1967 Stormont Cabinet papers, following the killing of the imprisoned Loyalist Volunteer Force of republican prisoners back to Ireland. Three representatives of the UDA/UFF, fol- Hughes, which the organisation released recently to the public under leader Billy Wright in The Maze Prison by the INLA, has caused republicaMn prisoners were transferred lowing the admission by the loyalist described as "a measured military the 30 years rule, recall the Connolly dismay and distress throughout the North. While none doubted before Christmas and recently a paramilitary group of its involvement response" to "republican aggression" Association's campaign to expose the that the rabidly sectarian LVF was capable of entirely random further seven have returned to Ireland. in the recent muders of three came as the UFF announced a reintro- misdeeds of unionism in British There are currently 11 sentenced Catholics, casts a further shadow over duction of its ceasefire. Despite the labour circles in the 1960s. attacks of astounding brutality against Catholics, the confirmation republican prisoners in English jails. the already fragile talks process. announcement, sectarian attacks by It was the CA which first thought by RUC chief Ronnie Flanagan of the involvement of the There are also three men on trial in The move, which was announced loyalists have continued. Within up the civil rights strategy to discredit UFF/UDA in several of the killings, and continuing loyalist relation to the bombing of Canary by the UDP leaders to avoid the hours of the UFF statement Liam and bring down unionism by calling Conway was murdered whilst working violence, further strains the peace process. Wharf, which signalled the ending of humiliation of being expelled from the for equality and civil rights for the first IRA ceasefire two years ago. talks for a flagrant breach of the in a loyalist area of Belfast. Catholics in the North and setting out Despite the apparent efforts of at least some of the leadership of Suspiciously, no group has claimed Progress has been a long time com- Mitchell Principles, was inevitable to win allies for that policy in the responsibility, casting further doubt the Ulster Democratic Party, the political wing of the UFF/UDA, ing on this crucial issue. The Mitchell after it became clear that UDA/UFF ranks of British labour. on the UFF ceasefire statement. the latest round of sectarian blood-feasting has proved beyond any Report advised that "continued action elements were continuing to collabo- The newly released Stormont doubt that significant sections of loyalism are intent on intensify- by the Governments on prisoners papers show unionist Premier Captain would bolster trust". This advice was murdered in July 1997 at the Co. Terence O'Neill coming under ing their reign of terror in an attempt to halt progress towards a Recent victims of Antrim home of her Protestant pressure from Prime Minister Harold not initially taken up by the British The issue «f poOtical prisoners remains central to the successor the peace balanced settlement, interim or otherwise. boyfriend. Wilson and Home Secretary Roy government. At the same time, trans- as thto new mural in the New Lodge area of Belfast cleaiiy shows loyalist violence While progressives and democrats in Britain and Ireland will fers have been subject to incredible 10. James Morgan (16) abducted by Jenkins, who in turn were under pressure from growing numbers of shed no tears for the demise of the sectarian murderer Billy delays. to remove all republican prisoners Maze hopefully demonstrates a long- 1. Michael McGoWrick, Catholic taxi loyalists. His mutilated body was Progress, however has been made from the notorious Special Secure term commitment on the part of the driver, murdered July 1996. dumped in lime pit, July 1997. backbenchers. Wright, the circumstances of his death and that of UDA man Jim and the recent transfer follows a num- Units (SSUs), condemned by Amnesty British Government to a more realistic 2. David Templeton, former Protestant 11. Gerry Devlin, GAA official, shot is widespread These were responding to the CA- Guiney, have played directly into the hands the most reactionary ber of other significant developments. International, as constituting "cruel, approach to the issue of those minister convicted of child abuse, dead on December 5,1997, at St. suspicion that certain elements remain involved in sectarian attacks inspired campaign, which was taken elements within unionism and the British state. The Irish government restarted its inhuman and degrading treatment", is imprisoned as a result of the conflict beaten to death in January 1997. Enda's GAA club. up by the Campaign for Democracy in It's in this context, that we need to assess the significance of the early release programme before also welcome. It's to be hoped that Mo Mowlam will 3. John Slane, Catholic from West 12. Seamus Dillon, doorman January 19, 1998. whilst driving a digger in a loyalist Ulster, the National Council for Civil Christmas, while the amendment to SSUs were the source of immense now be as accommodating to the Belfast, murdered March 15, 1997. Glengannon Hotel, Dungannon, shot 17. Ben Hughes, Catholic, shot dead on area of Belfast on January 23,1998. Liberties, the Movement for Colonial 'Propositions on Heads of Agreement' document. While it is the UK Criminal Justice Act, 1961, frustration and anger during the remaining political prisoners in 4. Robert Hamill, Portadown Catholic, dead December 27,1997. Three January 21, 1998 leaving a Do-It- The attack took place within hours of Freedom and many others. obvious that the combination of unionist bluster and loyalist has meant that prisoners now trans- course of the first IRA ceasefire, as the English jails who, after all, are merely died after beating by loyalist gang others injured in the attack. Yourself motor store in south Belfast a statement from the UFF admitting The newly released papers show threats, appear to have reaped significant political dividends for ferred to the north can be either treatment of republican prisoners demanding their rights, not looking watched by RUC, May 1997. 13. Eddie Itoanor, Catholic from where he worked. its responsibility for three recent Prime Minster Harold Wilson press- the supporters of the anti-democratic status quo, at least in the restricted or unrestricted. actually worsened. At the same time for concessions." 5. Greg Taylor, off-duty RUC officer north Belfast, shot dead in the Clifton 18. Chris McMahon was shot and sectarian murders and announcing ing O'Neill on one-man-one-vote in beaten to death in Ballymoney, May Tavern on December 31,1997. Five critically injured at a bakery in the reintroduction of its ceasefire. the six counties and the need to abol- Some transfers will now come there have been a number of attacks NEWS IN BRIEF short-term, it's not really, as media pundits are so fond of telling under the jurisdiction of the Northern on republican prisoners, and degrad- 1997. others were injured in the attack. Glengormley, north Belfast on 21. John McCoigan, a Catholic taxi ish the business vote for parliamentary us, "that the devil is in the detail". Rather it is how the forces of Ireland Office and not the Home ing searches continue. Mf-lftdmy aBhl 6. Seftn Brown, GAA official, 14. Terry Enright, Catholic January 22, 1998. driver was killed in West Belfast on elections. Irish national democracy and their allies can work towards the Office - previously a cause for griev- Unfortunately, there have also been Roi'sin McAliskey's German layer, abducted, tortured and murdered in community worker, shot dead 19. John McFarland, shot and injured January 24,1998. At a meeting at Downing Street kind of unity of purpose necessary to redress any imbalance. ance as those remaining under Home a number of unwelcome develop- Elke Nill, has told the Irish broadcast- Bellaghy, May 1997. January 10,1998. in north Belfast on January 22,1998 with O'Neill, Craig and Faulkner in Office control were not entitled to the ments: the Irish government has ing corporation RTE that she can 7. William HarMnson, Catholic beaten 15. Fergal McCusker, Catholic, shot - two hours later a Protestant man * The small republican paramilitary January 1967, Wilson referred to the In the meantime, the British government must understand that same rights to home and compassion- amended its legislation to ensure that produce witnesses confirming that the to death in Belfast, May 1997. dead on January 16,1998 in Maghera. was shot in the predominantly group, the INLA, which is opposed increasing unwillingness of Labour any blueprint for a solution which relies too heavily on the ate leave. transferred prisoners will not be Irish woman was not in Germany at 8. Bobbie 'Basher* Bates, former The fourth member of the GAA to be Protestant Belvoir Park estate, the to the peace process, has been backbenchers to accept the conven- creation of a Northern assembly while ignoring meaningful cross- The British government's decision released early; three of the remaining the time of the bombing of a British 'Shankill Butcher', murdered in killed in six weeks. attack is thought to be a case of responsible for the recent deaths of tion that matters transferred to LVF leader Billy Wright and UDA Stormont could not be raised or dis- border institutions empowered, over time, to develop in an all- political prisoners, Eddie Butler, Joe army barracks at Osnabriick. June 11,1997. 16. Larry Brennan, Catholic Taxi mistaken identity. O'Connell and Hugh Doherty, are Ms Nill however, has made it clear 9. Bernadette Martin (18) Catholic, driver shot dead in south Belfast on 20. Uarn Conway was shot and killed member Jim Guiney. cussed in the House of Commons. Ireland direction merely reinforces the existing status quo and is entering their 23rd year in prison. As that she is unhappy about the witness- Roy Jenkins emphasised that ger- unlikely to form a realistic basis of a settlement. Celtic Art Cards: St. Patrick's Day es being interviewed by the RUC rymandering in places like Derry and these men have not yet had their STOP PRESS cards, greetings in English and Irish, tariffs set, they are prevented from whom she claims "have no interest in the local government vote would soon £4.50 for 10 (overseas postage rates applying for transfer. getting really true statements". The Cork speaks Blair accepts need for a new come under fire from more Labour BRITISH FLAG CLAIMS ALL on request). Available from: Commenting on recent develop- RUC rather than the German police inquiry into Bloody Sunday MPs. Harold Wilson told the unionist Northampton Connolly Association, ments, Connolly Association general authorities were behind the initiation up for '98 An announcement by British Prime trio of the pressures he was under and The Irish harp quartered on the Queen's coat of arms symbolises 5 Woodland Avenue, Abington, secretary Enda Finlay said: "The of extradition proceedings, Ms Nill Minister Tony Blair on the eve of the of the deputations on Northern England's claim to sovereignty over the whole of Ireland. By rights Northampton NN3 2BY. recent visit of Mo Mowlam to the insists. The Irish Democrat's Cork 26th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Ireland affairs which the Home it should be replaced by the red hand of Ulster, as long as that new evidence warranted a fresh Secretary had received. Holidays In Ireland: B&B magnificent correspondent Jim Savage judicial inquiry has been broadly wel- Westminster makes laws for the six counties. Donations to the Connolly Association and the Irish Democrat There were about 150 MPs actively setting, Comeragh Mountains. 19 November 1997 to 16 January 1998 reflects on the importance comed by relatives of the victims and involved, but they had many sympa- The harp was the symbol of the ancient Gaelic Kings of Ireland. Excellent food, good wines, en-suite B.Doyle £10; K. Keable £10; T. Finn £5; L. Bradley £5; EW. Ladkin £10; campaigners. thisers in the other two parties. He Adopted by Henry VIII when he declared himself King of Ireland, rooms, wheelchair access. Easy reach £4 (in memory of Paddy Bond); ED. White £5; J. Boyd £2; G. Lysaght of the United Irishmen The new tribunal, which will have said the 1966 general election had Queen Victoria put it into the royal coat of arms as symbol of her Rosslare & Cork. Contact Pauline Y. Hart £1.50; N. Green £10; D. Daly £5; M. Williams £5; R. Thompson £8; the power to call witnesses and obtain brought into parliament a new irrever- Humphrys & Ken Keable, and examines local efforts papers, will be chaired by Lord Saville ent generation who were challenging sovereignty over the whole island. Section 75 of the 1920 £5; E Riddell £20 (in memory of John J. Egan £1; A Rogers £5; RJ. Murphy Coumshingaun Lodge, Kilclooney, Todd); A. Higgins £10; T. Leonard £14; L.Dwyer £5; J. McGrath £25 (in to commemorate their of Newdigate, assisted by two and questioning everything. For them Government of Ireland asserted the supreme authority of the Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford. £5.80; A. Reid £6; D. McGeogh £2; memory of Tommy Trainor); D.&E. Commonwealth judges. The announce- nothing was sacrosanct and they British Parliament over all of Ireland until 1949, when the twenty- Tel 00 35351 646238. A. Esterson £100; C. Cunningham £5; Forrest £8; D.Kotz £1; various anony- outstanding contribution ment officially puts paid to the find- would soon be urging the Government to bring financial pressure on the six counties became a republic and Section 75 became applicable J. McLaughlin £10 (in memory of mous donations £7.60. ings of the original, and thoroughly Wanted: Cluttered shelves, moving to the struggle for discredited, Widgery Tribunal. North unless reforms were instituted. only to the remaining six counties. The royal coat of arms should Paddy Bond); E Jennm^ £10; S.&K. Bankers orders (2 months) £312.19 house? Don't throw out those unwant- Healy £100; M. Brennan £8; G. Logan Total: £741.09 democracy in Ireland Welcoming Mr. Blair's announce- Captain O'Neill reported back to have been changed then to reflect the fact that 'Her Majesty's' ed books on Ireland, donate them to capture the imagination of visitors to Rediscovered in 1982, the ship was ment, Tony Doherty, whose father Pat his Stormont colleagues at the end of proper new legal designation was monarch of the United the Four Provinces Bookshop. Irish I he 200th anniversary of the Bantry interested in the fascinating declared an Irish national monument was one of those killed, stressed that January and said that while the gener- Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, not of Britain history, politics, biography, literature, United Irishmen provides an history of the French Armada. in 1985. The Bantry French Armada any personal satisfaction "was tinged al atmosphere had been friendly, there Irish language books. Contact Four ideal opportunity to reflect on Inspired by Wolfe Tone and the Heritage Centre is home to its artifacts with profound sadness". "Bloody was an underlying sense of pressure. and Ireland. But that did not happen. Why not? Provinces Bookshop, 244 Gray's Inn Irosti Oemcmc d how, inspired by the egalitarian United Irishmen, the Armada intend- and history. Sunday should not have happened in But the concerns of the ineffable Of course England should get out of Ireland entirely and should Road, London WC1X 8JR (tel. 0171 ideals of the founding fathers of ed to provide vital French support to The ill-fated invasion could easily the first place and it should not have Harold Wilson were not enough. The 833 3022) For a united and independent Ireland been treated in the way that it was discard the symbols as well as the reality of Irish sovereignty. But the American and French revo- the United Irish insurrection. have changed the course of both Irish Prime Minister did not insist on lutions, th4'leadership of the United Almost 50 warships carried nearly and French history. However, afterwards. The whole eyent should. immediate and radical change, as the while she holds on the six counties, the proper legal and heraldic Published continuously since 1939, the Irish Democrat is the bi-modthfy Wanted: Pre-1979 issues of the Irish journal of the Connolly Association which campaigns for a united and Irishmen sought to unite all Irish 15,000 French soldiers to the coast of although local people commemorated have been sorted out long ago and peo- CA and others urged, but continued to symbols should be used. As the Stormont talks get down to Democrat & CA pamphlets, Irish cam- ndependent Ireland and the rights of the Irish in Britain. people, Catholic, Protestant and West Cork. Unfortunately the weather those who fought and fell in the 98 ple put out of their misery." temporise and accommodate O'Neill considering Section 75 of the Government of Ireland, Gerry paign badges and a copy of There Will Dissenter, in the quest for self-deter- intervened and the invasion failed to rebellion, the organisers were not sat- Speaking in the House of until it was too late, which led to the Be Another Day by Peadar O'Donnell. political explosion in the Six Counties Adams and John Hume should bring this matter to the attention Annual Subscription Rates (six issues) mination. take place. The gales were so bad that isfied and felt a need to leave a more Commons, Mr. Blair told MPs that the Contact: David Granville c/o Four To this end, the Cork '98 the French ships were blown offshore, tangible and lasting memorial. aim of the inquiry would not be to over the following two years. of the loyalists and unionists, who clearly are not as well up in the £5.50 Britain Provinces Bookshop, 244 Gray's Inn I enclose a cheque Commemoration Committee, a volun- leaving behind a ship's longboat A local body of the Cork Young "accuse individuals* or institutions or The huge lobbying and political £10.00 Solidarity subscription significance of their royalist symbolism as they might be. Road, London WC1X 8JR. (payable to "Connolly tary body drawing support from all which was stranded on Bear island, Ireland society undertook the task. It invite fresh recriminations but to effort put in by the Connolly £8.00 Europe (airmail) Publications Ltd")/postal parts of Cork City and County, has where its crew were captured. The is to that body that we owe the 'The establish the trith of what happened Association and others over thirty £11.00 USA/Canada (airmail) dS: Would you like to buy, order for £ been established. The Committee is original longboat is now displayed in National Monument' erected at the on that day". Despite growing pres- years MO is all detailed in back issues £12.00 Australia (airmail) IroshOemoauc sell exchange something? Advertise in organising a programme of lectures, the maritime museum in Dun iinction of the Grand Parade and sure for a new inquiry, doubts of t& JtumDemocrat of the time. Many Bi-monthly Newspaper of the Connolly Association the Irish Democrat. Forty words maxi- Name seminars and other events to stimulate Laoghaire, although a replica is; South Mall in Cork, which incorpo- remained over an announcement as older .CA members will remember mum (No personal contact ads.) Tel public awareness and appreciation of housed in the Bantry House museum. rates the figures of Wolfe Tone and the government continued to taking part in it. It is interesting that 0114 2738182 for further details. Address. encouner opposition from military top the efflux of time now enables us Helen Bennett; Gerard Curran; David Granville (editor); Jonathan Hardy; the role played by the United Ten ships were also lost, including Michael Dwyer, the names of the chief (There is no charge for these adverts, brass. Senior unionists, including Peter Mulligan; Alex Reid. Production: Derek Kotz Irishmen of Cork. The Committee's La Surveillante which was scuttled off members of the United Irishmen, and gauge the effect it had on the other however a donation towards adminis- work, which is above party politics or Whiddy Island and which has lain the main participants in Robert David Trimble, have also voiced their side, and poetic irony that the Irish k) Connolly Publication! Ltd, 244 Gr»y'« Inn Rmd, London WC1X 8JR, td: 0171 833 3022 tration costs etc would be greatly opposition to a new inquiry. Democrat is still here to record it. Email: connolly(" geo2.poptel.org.uk Send to: Connolly Publications Ltd, 244 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR denominational religion, aims to undisturbed for almost 200 years. Emmet's rebellion of 1803. Ripley Printer! (TU) Ltd, Nottingham Road, Ripley Derbyshire, tel: 01773 743 621 appreciated.) Page 4 Irish Democrat February/March Bloody Sunday Irish Democrat February/March 1998 IRISH dCmOCRAC Page 5 we all come with blood on our hands. NEWS IN BRIEF The British government must not be Human Rights seen as honest brokers trying to keep PTA campaign Twenty-six years and still these two warring factions apart, when A new campaign calling for the repeal Solicitors petition in reality the injection of violence of the draconian Prevention of Confidence building is the key to progress which the British government was Terrorism Act was launched at Secretary of State responsible for on Bloody Sunday Islington Central Library in London Over 30 defence solicitors in the six Martin Collins describes the work of the London-based Britain & Ireland Human Rights Centre and explains waiting for the truth actually threw petrol on an already in November. Supporters stress that counties have signed a petition the need to create a 'critical mass for change' in Northern Ireland as an ongoing part of the peace process Connolly Association national treasurer, Jim Redmond spoke to Don Mullan in burning fire. the PTA is being used to intimidate expressing "grave concern at the "I believe hundreds of innocent communities and individuals cam failure of the rule of law" and calling hortly before Labour's Dublin about the ongoing attempts to discover the truth about the events of January people died as a result of Bloody paigning on a range of domestic and upon the British Secretary of State, Northern Ireland spokesper- i i&Ul Sunday and the voilence that resumed international issues. Among those Mo Mowlam, to launch an "immedi- son Mo Mowlam stepped into 30, 1972, when 14 civil rights marchers were killed by British paratroopers in Derry in its aftermath. It is by the British who continue to be targeted are Irish ate review of the RUC". the over-sized shoes of Sir government acknowledging that fact groups and individuals travelling to The petition, which also calls for Patrick Mayhew as Secretary on Mullan was a fifteen year and accepting its responsibility truth and from Britain, as well as those liv- the repeal of emergency legislation, of State for Northern Ireland, I old schoolboy when he wit- fully that it can become a confidence ing here. Other targets include animal the closure of RUC detention centres, Sremember telling her that I thought nessed the Bloody Sunday building measure and an important rights and road protesters, Kurdish a restoration of the right to silence, restoring the IRA ceasefire would massacre in Derry . Afterwards part of the healing process." and Turkish communities and envi- and an inquiry into the murder by prove one of the easier goals to achieve he gave a statement regarding With regard to recent speculation ronmentalists. Further details from: loyalists of solicitor Pat Finucane, is a and that she should set her sights on the day's events along with concerning an apology by the British Repeal the PTA Campaign, PO Box response to growing concern among how to make it last. approximatelD y 526 other people. "It government, Don Mullan sees this as 3923, London NWS IRA the legal profession in the North over The insight was not particularly was by no means an important state- them testing the water to see how the the safety of solicitors and lawyers profound. The shortcomings of a half- ment from what it revealed but from families and the campaign react. Asbestos action working with the nationalist commu- hearted commitment to the peace my perspective it shows that I was "We have always made it clear that The TUC and the Construction Safety nity. The solicitors claim widespread process under the Conservatives left there and established my whereabouts an apology is no substitute for truth Campaign are to lobby MPs on intimidation at the hands of the RUC. the fault-lines exposed for all to see. on the day," he explains. A re-reading and justice. An apology may at some February 17 as part of a trade union A letter to the media signed by the Five years previously, when the of his and the other eyewitness state- time be acceptable, and indeed be rel- campaign to ban the use of deadly thirty three solicitors states: "Central Britain & Ireland Human Rights ments 23 years later after a chance evant, but only after the full truth has asbestos. Campaigners will hold a rally to the conflict in Northern Ireland has Centre was first envisaged, things were meeting with Tony Doherty, whose been established. The only way to put in Westminster Central Hall at lunch been the failure of the law to guarantee not so clear. lather was killed on Bloody Sunday, right the wrongs that were done in time before moving on to the House of equal protection of rights. It therefore The Centre grew out of an interna- prompted him to publish Eyewitness 1972 is to give the families today what Commons to meet MPs. follows that the application in practice tional conference, organised by Bloody Sunday: The Truth, in 1997. should have been given to them as a The event, which is part of an of the principle that all are equal under Liberty, that attempted to set the The book draws attention to many matter of course in the immediate ongoing campaign to secure tougher the law is fundamental to a resolution causes of conflict in Northern Ireland eyewitness statements, medical and "What we are dealing with here is aftermath of Bloody Sunday, a truth- regulations for the use of asbestos, and of the conflict." in the context of divided societies ballistics opinion and British army not only a political decision that ful, independent public enquiry." ultimately to get it banned, has the full The petition follows a United elsewhere in the world. By trying to radio messages, which show that sev- resulted in mass murder, in which, I An apology may at The families require the answers to support of the TUC. Campaigners are Nations inquiry into the intimidation hold the Government to account for eral of the murdered men may have think, Stormont had a big hand, but in some time be three key questions about Bloody also encouraging people to write to by the security forces of solicitors and failing to uphold international stan- been killed by soldiers positioned on its aftermath. The cover up goes right Sunday: who planned it, who executed their MPs in support of the campaign. lawyers. Interviewed for a recent dards for the protection of human Derry's walls - evidence which the to the top, to the very heart of the acceptable... but only it and who covered it up? Despite the known dangers, asbestos Channel 4 Dispatches programme, rights, the conference contributed to past to rest and build new hope for the military-police complex. Phased demilitarisation and action on Widgery Tribunal failed to explore. British establishment. It involved the For Don Mullan, only an indepen- is still widely used in the construction leading UN lawyer Data Param creating a focus on remedies and future. The Centre has always held The Observer recently quoted a policing were part of a 58-point Over the years the campaign for an most senior judicial figure in London after the full truth dent public enquiry presided over by industry. Cumaraswamy said that solicitors in breaking down the notion that that the human rights agenda is not an senior RUC officer, openly briefing programme presented to Mo Mowlam independent public enquiry, led by the and the British Prime Minister. Was it three judges is likely to get at the the North had good reason to be con- Northern Ireland was a problem 'a la carte menu' and that the right of journalists that he considered the any coincidence the commander of the has been established families of those murdered, has been truth. "What we need is something Sellafield threat cerned about their safety. somehow uniquely intractable and self-determination is central to the Secretary of State to be out of touch. The confidence-building measures parachute regiment (Lieutenant- opposed by the British government. similar to the Truth and Recon- Environmentalists in Britain and insoluble. The Centre's founding doc- whole. It is in the field of politics and "She never listens to our advice", he required today threaten no-one except Colonel Derek Wilford) was given an Although he believes that Blair and and should be of concern to all people ciliation Commission in South Africa Ireland have stepped up their criti- uments argued that the search for not of the law that conflicting national said. "She just ploughs along like a those opposed to change and that is OBE in the new years honours list for where the main resistance lies. Mowlam are willing to confront the who believe in democracy. It is not just where people can tell their story, know cisms of the British Nuclear Fuel NY adopts Charter middle-ground consensus around an rights can be resolved. Nine months child who can't accept reality outside. 1973? I believe that the British issue with honesty, they are facing of concern to Irish people. British peo- that they are being heard and that reprocessing plant at Sellafield in internal settlement was likely to prove into the life of the new Labour gov- When we tell her what's really going Despite a flurry of parliamentary monarchy are also implicated in the serious opposition from the Ministry ple should also be concerned that their their words are not being twisted, Cumbria after the company confirmed for Change fruitless. Instead, we called for an ernment, there can be little doubt that on, she accuses us of not wanting the activity in the past three months, the cover up." of Defence and the British civil government and its army can carry out manipulated or ignored to exonerate that 'four reportable incidents' had New York City Council has adopted a international input into the situation the crucial issue for breaking the log- peace process to work... What's need- pace of change is still painfully slow. service. But could a new inquiry into actions against unarmed civilians and the guilty. What we don't want is a occurred during a four week period at strongly-worded resolution endorsing that could help break the log-jam of jam was a commitment to an inclusive On emergency legislation, the "Bloody Sunday was aimed at Bloody Sunday act as a catalyst to then use the full force of the state to Widgery Tribunal mark two. One the end of 1997 and the beginning of Cearta (Charter for Change), a new talks about talks, and create an inclu- talks process without preconditions. Government has dropped exclusion injecting the fear of God into the peo- bring peace and justice to Northern cover what was in truth mass murder. judge is not acceptable, even if he is 1998. A spokesperson for BNFL said campaign aimed at addressing the sive process. When the IRA announced the The confidence- orders, scrapped internment powers and begun to address the Diplock ple of Derry and the wider nationalist Ireland or would it just be seen by "As part of the peace process it has the Pope!" that one of the incidents had involved issue of national and democratic rights The methodology agreed by the resumption of its ceasefire in July building measures court system. Yet despite the good community, thereby causing them to loyalists as another concession to to be dealt with simply because the discharge of low-level liquid in the six counties. Centre for its work programme 1996, the Britain & Ireland Human nationalists and republicans? intentions of the Human Rights Bill to back off in terms of the political pres- Bloody Sunday was a watershed, a Eyewitness Bloody Sunday: The Truth radioactive waste outside of high-tide Within days of adopting the resolu- revolved around three interlocking Rights Centre presented the Secretary required today incorporate the European Convention sure that was mounting on Stormont, "This is not an issue of republican- seminal event in the last 30 years. by Don Mullan is published by The period of restriction required under tion, the New York City Council themes: conflict management, confi- of State with a 58-point programme of into domestic law, the State of and in terms of support for the IRA. ism, this is an issue of human rights When we go to the negotiating table Wolfhound Press, price £8.99 the company's licence. leader Peter Vallone flew to Belfast to dence-building, and conflict resolu- confidence-building measures we felt threaten no-one Emergency and accompanying dero- Commenting on the incidents Irish present the declaration to civic offi- tion. Conflict management was all were essential to build the critical gations remain. Emergency NO TURNING BACK (continued from p1) The simple solution must be better. to be resolved. by building-in of a longish-term Green Party MP, Trevor Sargeant, cials and peace campaigners. about using UN standards of protec- mass for change. The programme pro- except those opposed Provisions have been renewed into the As a result, of not facing up to facts, While transitional arrangements Through the use of scanty details unionist majority. Writing in Ireland's stressed that the "litany of accidents" The campaign, is continuing to tion to break the cycle of day-to-day posed an end to emergency legislation, there has been no progress towards to change next Millenium. might be acceptable, they must pro- and vague wording, purportedly to Sunday Business Post, professor at Sellafield represented a "constant attract support within Ireland and crises created by shoot-to-kill inci- a phased demilitarisation of Northern resolving the problem throughout the vide tangible political, institutional allow the negotiators to fill them out, Brendan O'Leary of the London threat" to those living by the Irish Sea. beyond, particularly throughout the dents, allegations of torture and the Ireland combined with action on pris- Overt military presence of British 29 years since the modern phase of the and constitutional, as well as econom- the two governments have provided a School of Economics recently suggest- US. Apart from New York City like. Confidence-building focussed on oners, policing and equalities. ed is someone who can look at things forces on the streets has been reduced, so-called Northern troubles began in ic, conduits through which the real formula for further interminable hair- ed various methods by which this Human rights call Council, Cearta is gaining support addressing long-led grievances which Mo Mowlam has demonstrated a coldly, who is more hard-hearted. All but the Government claim to have 1969. The matter is becoming farcical. introduced "less intrusive security fur- solution, Irish reunification, can be splitting and disagreements. Already could be achieved. Needless to say, any Amnesty International has written to among the American trade union could, we argued, create the climate determination and decisiveness incon- this touchy-feely stuff she engages in To say that the one-and-a half million niture" is contradicted by the day-to- attained. Without this, the failures of everyone is putting his or her own changes to Ireland's own democrati- the US secretary of state, Madeline movement including within the pow- for an end to violence. Its aim would ceivable under her predecessors. This has failed." population of Northern Ireland is day reality of 17,000 troops and 8,500 the past will be repeated. spin on what the document means. cally achieved constitution, for the Albright, expressing concern over erful AFL-CIO - roughly the equiva- be to create the critical mass required notwithstanding, her ability to 'think In November, the chair of the over-governed is to make the under- armed police, 24 surveillance towers Unfortunately, the 'Propositions on Trimble has one version of the writing in of Northern (not identical policing in Northern Ireland and call- lent of the British TUC or the Irish for parties to contemplate a negotiated the unthinkable' is continually Northern Ireland Police Federation statement of all time. And the current and the constant buzz of helicopter Heads of Agreement' document, in its proposed Irish cross-border institu- with unionist), consent ought also to ing for the repeal of anti-terrorist leg- Congress of Trade Unions. outcome. The final objective would be checked and constrained by the obsta- told a meeting of British police officers proposals will not help. Institutions support. Despite numerous reviews efforts to placate Trimble's party, tion - it would be purely cosmetic. avoid granting to a part of the nation islation. The organisation, which sent The AFL-CIO leadership in to lay the ground for a new process of cles of political intransigence and the in Dundee that the RUC had enjoyed abound (superfluous councils, stunted and consultations, the rules governing The SDLP has yet another. Here we an implied - or otherwise - 'right' to the letter in January, has also called for several key US cities are known to be conflict-resolution that could lay the vested interests of the colonial-style the consent of the overwhelming assemblies and their derived quangos the firing of plastic bullets and the use go again! self-determination. the US to press the governments of considering endorsement. majority of the people for the past sev- bureaucracies) and are being heaped of lethal force remain unchanged. From an Irish democratic point of Further, a new northern assembly enty-five years. Those advocating upon parliaments in London and People in Downing Britain and Ireland to address human Irish-American Labour Coalition view, it is reasonable to demand that ought to depend on the unionists change, he said, consisted of "drop- The Government has fired some Dublin (the latter consultative only). rights violations in the North. director, Joe Jamison stressed that the The daily paper campaigning for a Street and the any re-constituted assembly for the within it being legislatively con- In the letter Amnesty say: "To Charter was more than just an Irish outs, young people going through a shots across the bows of the RUC and Atop of all this is the Kuropean Union the Police Bill tackles some outstand- six-counties should not be a mere strained to accept a meaningful cross- ensure a just and durable peace it is issue: "It's a democracy and equality rebellious phase, criminals and terror- itself. Northern Ireland ing problems. But there is a long way piece in Blair's devolutionary jigsaw border institution with autonomous imperative that the human rights issue," he explained. "Americans pay- ists". Quite where the Secretary of to go from this to policing by consent. People in Downing Street and the Office are enjoying for preserving Westminster's Anglo- powers, as the SDLP's Sean Farren dimension of the conflict be addressed ing attention have been dismayed by State fitted into his scheme of things, Northern Ireland Office are enjoying a centric dominance, within the UK, defined it, to "...promote reconcilia- in conjunction with the political the footdragging of the 'No Change' he was too polite to mention. Likewise, there has been progress great |oke at the British taxpayer's on controversial parades and equali- a great joke over the other nations of these islands. tion, co-operation and co-ordination process. "Indeed, the systematic viola- camp at the Belfast talks. "This is UNITED To a large measure, the debate expense. Never mind the cost of this ties issues but there are ominous The creation of such an assembly, with respect to thg political, social and tion of individual rights has fuelled unacceptable to American public around human rights policy has ridiculous waste of education, time noises off-stage about hidden costs, in at the British as a transitional measure, should economic needs affecting relation- hostilities and served to perpetuate the opinion. We are stakeholders too. moved on to the means of delivery and and energy. The single mothers, peo- responding positively to the 140 depend on just what would be the ships throughout the island of violence in Northern Ireland." President Clinton was persuaded implimentatioii..Ibt Labour govern- ple on invalidity benefit and the pen- taxpayer's expense recommendations proposed by the nature of the changes Westminster Ireland". mainly by us, ordinary Americans, to ment accepts - at least in principle - sioners can pay for that. Standing Advisory Commission on would be prepared to make in its Some people who, in Trimble's Anger without fear involve the United States in the search IRELAND the need to get rid of emergency legis- Major's brainchild Forum is still Human Rights in its review of fair baulks at charting a course towards the legislation for the setting up of such a words, are out of touch with reality Speaking at the funeral of Terry for a solution." lation, to dismantle the security appa- here as an arena in which powerless employment legislation. Where the one available, but always excluded, body. While avoiding ceding to the (we are not here talking about Sinn Enright, shot dead by loyalists at the He stressed that the Charter, which ratus, to create a representative and unionists can hurl abuse at each other, Government has acted decisively on solution to this conflict. North an unjustifiable 'right' to self- Fein) are now, following the produc- Space Club, Fr. Des Wilson told had grown out of the nationalist MORNING STAR accountable police service, to provide at a cost of only £10m to set up with a confidence-building measures, it has What the two governments say determination, the Act of Union and tion of the 'Heads' document, talking mourners: "We are a dignified people... residents campaign aimed at prevent- thoroughgoing equalities protection fee of £100 to each delegate when in won widespread support that has they have done is to spotlight the key the 1973 Northern Ireland Consti- about March as a date for an overall We will be a free people no matter who ing provocative and supremacist TO MY NEWSAGENT enshrined in a Bill of Rights. Even on session. The expense of policing silenced its critics. Only when it areas which encompass the crux of the tution Act ought to be amended to settlement. stands in the way of our freedom. We Orange marches, set "a minimum Please deliver/reserve the Morning Star daily until the contentious issue of prisoners, the Drumcree is equally massive, and just problem. But everyone has known for hesitates has begrudgery gained a allow a majority vote in the assembly Given New Labour's present are not a fearful people, we are an rights threshold" that would give further notice (Delate as required) Secretary of State has met directly and so that the RUC can get Orange feet on years what these are. foothold. (or perhaps a sufficiency of consensus) antics, although they appear willing to angry people. Those who have perse- Ireland a chance for reconciliation and openly with paramilitary organisa- to the Garvaghy Road. 1 What was wanted was a clear, to agree a new Irish Constitution for a accept the need for some revisions to cuted our families and friends will be lasting peace. Nairn U :,. tions and said publicly that the Yet all this pales into insignificance unambiguous indication, based on reunited Ireland. the impositions of partition, we should brought to justice. Any political settle- Government is prepared "to work on For more information about the Britain when compared to the expense of run- legitimate national rights, as to the Address & Ireland Human Rights Centre, write The northern assembly should also expect this particular conflict to rage ment which does not provide for this The Connolly Association will discuss an account of what would happen in ning a militarised 'civic' society. correct way in which these issues had sending a self-addressed envelope: BM be precluded from becoming ossified on for some time to come. is not worth anything." formal adoption of the Charter at the respect of prisoner releases in the con- Box Rapporteur, London WCIN 3XX organisation's first executive meeting of the (ki CMS of difficulty ring our Circulation D«pt on 01712540033) text of a peaceful and lasting settle- or Email: Rapporteur(« compuserve.com year on February 7. ment being agreed" Irish Democrat February/March 1998 IRISH dCmOCRAC Page 7 Page 6 Irish Democrat February/March 1998 Special 4-page supplement wmi^mmmma^mmmmmm^^mmm^^m^ma^^m^^^^mmmmmmHmm^^mmm^mmm Peace Process Two hundred years after the unsuccessful United Irishmen rebellion of 1798, the Irish Democrat salutes £ the collapse of the ceasefire. Although ii Quote Unquote 99 | the peace process was largely initiated those Irish men and women whose bold and historic attempt to unite the people of Ireland, 'Catholic, "There is no public pressure on the < by the republicans, there was a large Protestant and Dissenter' under the common banner of'Irishman', and to sever the connection with Government to deal with loyalists on element in their ranks which neither England, has had blasting impact on the struggle for justice and national democracy in Ireland. the same terms as they have done the supported nor understood the new IRA. Having done all they can to sub- strategy. vert ihe peace process, the loyalists Republicans failed to capitalise on now openlv threaten to abandon it. the advantage they had gained with Bicentenary This latest piece of sabre-rattling has the ceasefire. They seemed to have no all the hallmarks of 1974 when the other policy other than saying the Protestant majority were facing the 'next move' was up to the British. This prospect of power-sharing with their effectively handed the initiative over Catholic neighbours." (Roy Oreenslade to the British government, and in Tilt' Guardian 7.1.98. writing about allowed them to start throwing span- government and media response to ners in the works. The British policy eonliniitrif; loyalist violence.) was to grind the peace process - and I "It is not possible to produce an absolute victory for one community or The spectacle of another community, or indeed for any ol the parties to the conflict. It is Dublin and the SDLP possible... to achieve an accommoda- tion which will produce an evolving coming to terms situation which will salislv, in large incasiiK. mam ol the legitimate with the republicans aspirvillous ol Irish nationalists and lay down the prospect ot an evolution filled the British towards some form of new Ireland and with horror j secure the legitimate rights, protect the aspirations and recognise the insecurities of unionists." (Founder of the march of Irish democracy which it | the I'd it limpluymem Trust, Oliver represented - to a halt. Kearney, The Observer 11.1.98.) Despite all the British cant about the 'evils of terrorism', the policy ofl "Undoubtedly there will be days of Major's government was to restore| huffing and puffing. There will be 'terrorism'. The moderate element! things laid on the table that are anath- within the republican leadershi ema to one side or the other. which were struggling to lead th The Straggle Nevertheless, we have to go through movement away from violence weri this pain to explore the opportunity The building blocks ofundermined . for Irish Freedoi for the future." (Progressive Unionist Because this policy was transpai Party leader David Frvine speaking at a ently underhand, the British found n loyalist rally in Belfast on 12.10.97.) supporters for it in the world commi nity. The US government played a si] "The rabble-rousers, the self-styled national democracy nificant role in rejecting all tl guardians of super-loyalism, will con- As the Irish peace talks move into another critical phase, the Dublin-based journalist 'advice' of the British regarding tinue to incite those prepared to listen peace process. to their fossilised rhetoric. All too Owen Bennett outlines some of the kejuthemes dealt with in his latest contribution The Election of the Blair govei often... have foot soldiers been used as on British government attitudes and the significance of the Irish peace process ment ensured a second ceasefire.' cannon-fodder inflamed by firebrand ever criticisms can be levelled at 'Ni speeches, forgotten by super-Prods, ne of the greatest canards sur- mess which the British had made of Ireland in general. The war in the Labour', they do not share the brui then denounced as common crimi- rounding the peace process is their country. The role of the British North - which the British had done a imperialist outlook of their predi nals." (Statement issued in October 1997 the notion that it was a joint was to wade in and try to make a mess great deal to provoke - ensured that sors, and appear to be genuinely coi by Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Anglo-Irish initiative. The of the peace process as well. the forces of Irish democracy would be mitted to peace in Ireland. The Commando prisoners in the Maze.) British media, and in particu- Documents now in the public weak and divided. The Dublin gov- process is now a genuine joint effort b; lar television, were almost uni- domain show that the much-lauded ernment, and the SDLR inevitably British and Irish democracies. QUESTION: What have you got in your hand? need for a "cordial union" of the people, so the abnormal, artificially created entity of the six act any unwanted encouragement of" republican "The lies about concessions, which if versally uncritical of the role of the 'Downing Street Declaration' would O However, at present there is still ANSWER: A green bough. ascendancy tyrants recognised their need to counties. sentiments". any had been given would be rights, British government, and promoted an not have seen the light of day had it political quagmire. The most recem QUESTION: Where did it first grow? inflame sectarian hatred. Before, during and for In this bicentenary year, the issues raised by With the guilty-conscience reversal of reality not concessions, have encouraged image of John Major, brow furrowed not been for the doggedness of the What is missing proposals from the British and Iris! ANSWER: In America. years after the rebellion, the English rulers from the 1798 rebellion are still very much alive - both that is characteristic of Unionism, the old canard extreme loyalists to believe their own with concern, doing his best in the Irish side. The British made several governments may fall short of whal QUESTION: Where did it bud? Dublin fomented, encouraged and promoted sec- for those who admire the United Irishmen and is again being promoted that the 1798 rebellion rights are threatened. The result is the face of an intractable Irish problem. attempts to subvert it. from the present republicans want. But is this not par- ANSWER: In France. tarianism with diligent determination. for those who would denegrate them. The right- was in itself "sectarian", rather than the opposite! old, old story. 1997 has been no differ- However, this media image reflect- The British were hostile to the tially the result of the republicans QUESTION: Where are you going to plant it? So that today, probably the most malevolent wing English press, unionist politicians who Rather than accord the United Irish leaders ent from 1966, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1986. ed most of the problem. It implied that entire peace process because it sug- situation is a clear leaving things up to the two govern- ANSWER: In the crown of Great Britain. result of the defeat of the rebellion still distorts thrive on sectarianism and some of their servitors with high or idealistic motivation, a psychologi- In each of those years governments of John Major, and the British in general, gested a different solution to the Irish ments and doing nothing themselves - from the United Irish catechism the politics and poisons the atmosphere in the in academic circles are making noises to counter- cal, or pathological, "hatred of the English" is one kind or another began to address anti-imperialist had no hand in the conflict in conflict than the one they favoured. What is missing from the presen attributed to them, despite all evidence to the nationalist grievances. Whenever that Northern Ireland. Their perceived They wished to continue the war programme situation is a clear anti-imperialist The United Irishmen and the great rebellion of contrary. Hatred of English rule is being translat- happens unionist leaders start to bleat role was a 'civilising one' - in line with against the IRA. This meant that they programme. A United Ireland will not! 1798 are not mere history - something that hap- Union Creed ed, tabloid style, into hatred of "the English" - an about reforms and as night follows day traditional imperialist vanities. had to wage war against the peace come out of the blue simply by pened in the dim and distant past. "I believe in the IRISH UNION, in the supreme I believe that old age, pregnant women, and attitude of mind that was never prevalent in the murder gangs start to kill Catholics. The reality was quite different. The process itself with its notion of com- found themselves on the side of the demanding it in the negotiating cham- The dramatic events of those times, in which majesty of the people, in the equality labour should be honoured. Irish nationalist or republican movements. (Brian Feeney, Irish News, 7.1.98.) peace process was an exclusively Irish promise. British against the IRA. ber. What is required is a concrete more than 30,000 people were slaughtered in one of man, in the lawfulness of insurrection, and I believe that TREASON is the crime In 1798 the Dublin Society of United initiative. Objectively it was an The peace process also interfaced The spectacle of Dublin and the political programme which will make short summer, made an impact on Irish political of resistance to oppression. of betraying the people. Irishmen proudly announced: "We have "My fear is that, desperate to do any- attempt by the Irish to sort out the with traditional British policy towards SDLP coming to terms with the that goal a reality. There can be no affairs that has endured ever since. The uprising I believe in a revolution founded I believe religious distinctions addressed the friends of the people in England, thing that might please loyalists, the republicans filled the British with hor- short cuts. was drowned in blood, but the defeat and disper- on the rights of man, in the are only protected by tyrants. and have received their concurrence, their British government will make the ror. The peace process really repre- A first step would be to reach out to sal of the United Irish movement left Ireland natural and impriscriptable I believe applying the lands thanks and their congratulations." From those awful, cowardly decision to sacrifice sented the Irish body politic moving the many moderate unionists in the with unfinished business - with the need still to right of all the Irish of the church to relieve days onwards, there has always been liaison Rot'sin (McAliskey). What better way away from the British agenda. If any- six counties to establish what could be obtain its objectives. citizens to all the land. old age, to give education between the revolutionary democrats of Ireland to prove how tough the Government is thing, the peace process was between described as 'progressive regional pol- Two great concepts inspired both the leader- I believe the soil, or any and protection to and their counterparts in Britain. than to show that it doesn't care the two strands of Irish nationalism - ities'. This would undermine the pre- ship and and the rank-and-file in their heroic part of it, cannot be infancy, will be The liaison continued right through the whether people are innocent or not." constitutional and republican. sent reactionary leadership of the en&avor, and these were integral elements in transferred without the more acceptable to a Chartist and Fenian periods. Today the best ele- (Jeremy Hardy writing in The Guardian, The ceasefire of August 1994 creat- unionist parties, and create'democ- their programme. One was a democratic, political consent of the people, united people, ments in the British labour movement still i.1.98.) ed a virtual revolution in the Irish ratic majority* within the six counties objective - attaining what modern political lan- or their representatives, than maintaining remain sympathetic to the cause of Irish inde- political landscape overnight. which would be progressive and anti- guage would term national self-determination convened and lazy hypocrites and pendence. "The other political loser is John Do you want a Republicans became respectable and sectarian. and sovereignty. The other was social. To obtain authorized, by the votes ravenous In recent times, the Connolly Association and Bruton... He pursued the allegations respected - much to the horror of pro- Labour government This would not bring Irish unity that independence, it was necessary to unite all of every man having tithe-gatherers. the Irish Democrat played a signficant role in pro- that Prof. McAleese was sympathetic fessional reactionaries who now found about straight away. But, the erosion of the people, cast off the mind-forged manacles of arrived at the age In this faith I mean to moting friendly relationships and good under- to Sinn Fein with single -minded that delivers? themselves isolated. Irish democracy sectarianism within the six counties religious sectarianism, and "abolish the memory of twenty-one years. live, or bravely die." standing between the most advanced political determination, but the evidence sug- So do we. LIB I* a magazine produced by and for aocialtst activists In the Labour took a major step forward. will inevitably lead to the erosion of of past dissensions". I believe the land, or any tendencies in both countries. gests that he only succeeded in harm- Party and trade unions with regular columns from Alan Simpson MP, Geoff Martin, It was thus no wonder that the the six-county statelet, since partition That was unquestionably a noble ideal which pan of it, cannot Introduction to The Union With this special commemorative edition of ing his own candidate, Mary Banotti. Michael Hlndley MEP and Sinn F4in. British and the unionists (north and is sustained by no other force than sec- no honest person dare mock. Because of the become the property of any Doctrine or Poor Man's the Irish Democrat to celebrate the bicenteniary of The voters saw Fine Gael as hostile to Make sure of your copy before we sell out. Subscribe today. south) worked so diligently to reverse tarianism and its illusions. defeat of the rebellion, that ideal was never nuw, buftfttlrtchase, Catechism which according to the the rebellion of 1798, readers will find an objec- the Northern candidate and, by exten- all this. Every reactionary in Ireland realised. Instead, in north-east Ireland we still or as rewards jfofr forwarding and loyalist historian Sir Richard Musgrave tive and instructive account of many aspects of sion, to nationalist aspirations." (Mary and Britain put his money on the col- The Road to National Democracy: inherit that surviving anachronism of Orange preserving the public liberty. was 'published and circulated since the those shattering events. And they may judge for Holland writing on the election of Mary lapse of the ceajtefire, urging the the story of the Irish Peace Process bigotry - an anti-Catholic hatred which mani- I believe oar present connection with rebellion was put down, for the purpose of themselves the relevance of the beliefs and ideals McAleese in the Irish Times 2.11.97.) British to make noConcessions - a pol- by Owen Bennett is published by the fests itself with a blind, murderous savagery. England must be speedily dissolved. keeping the flame ofitalme'. of the United Irishmen for the tortured politics icy which would of course guarantee Connolly Association and is available Just as the United Irishmen recognised the of a divided Ireland today. "Kill 'em all - let God son 'em out." tol LLB, PO Bex 337a, its collapse. from the Four Provinces Bookshop (.Banner in loyalist cell in Long Kesh) But there was another element in priced £2.SO (including p&p). Page 8 Irish Democrat February/March 1998 Irish Democrat February/March 1998 Page 9 1798 Bicentenary 1798 Bicentenary United Irishmen as

"Och, Paddies, my hearties, have done wid your became an Irish 'patriot' party. become convinced that the time had come for associates, in June, 1791. The draft of the designs and as all the other branches of the society were the first glorious manifesto of humanity, of eign auxiliaries. parties, From time to time many weird and fanciful more comprehensive and drastic measures than of the revolutionary association known to history founded upon this original, it will repay to study union, and of peace. In return we pray to God "For the attainment then of this great and Let mm of all creeds and professions agree, theories have been evolved to account for the that Committee could possibly initiate, even as the Society of United Irishmen: the sentiments here expressed. that peace may rest in their land, and that it important object— the removal of absurd and If Orange and Green, min, no longer were seen, transformation of English settlers of one genera- were it willing to do so. "It is by wandering from the few plain and may never be in the power of royalty, nobility, or ruinous distinctions— and for promoting a com- min, tion into Irish patriots in the next. We have been The French Revolution operated alike upon simple principles of Political Faith that our poli- Colonel Sherman, President. a priesthood to disturb the harmony of a good plete coalition of the people, a club has been Och, naboclis, how aisy ould Ireland we'd free." told it was the air, or the language, or the religion, the minds of the Catholic and Protestant democ- tics, like our religion, has become preaching not "Neither on marble, nor brass, can the rights and people." formed composed of all religious persuasions who Jamie Hope, 1798. or the hospitality, or the lovableness of Ireland; racies to demonstrate this fact and prepare them practice; words not works. A society such as this duties of men be so durably registered as on their series of meetings of the Dublin have adopted for their name The Society of and all the time the naked economic fact, the for the reception of it. The Protestant workers will disclaim those party appellations which memories and on their hearts. We therefore meet Volunteer Corps were held in United Irishmen of Dublin, and have taken as ative Irish civilisation disap- material reason, was as plain as the alleged reason saw in it a revolution of a great Catholic nation, seem to pale the human hearts with petty com- this day to commemorate the French Revolution, October of the same year, ostensi- their declaration that of a similar society in peared for all practical purposes was mythical and spurious... Yet the fact remains and hence wavered in the belief so insidiously partments, and parcel out into sects and sections that the remembrance of this great event may bly to denounce a government Belfast, which is as follows: with the defeat of the that since English confiscations of Irish land instilled into them that Catholics were willing common sense, common honesty, and common sink deeply into our hearts, warmed not merely proclamation offering a reward "In the present great era of reform when Insurrection of 1641 and the ceased no Irish landlord body has become patri- slaves of despotism; and the Catholics saw in it a weal. It will not be an aristocracy, affecting the with the fellow feeling of townsmen, but with a for the apprehension of Catholics unjust governments are falling in every quarter of break-up of the Kilkenny otic or rebellious, and since English repressive great manifestation of popular power - a revolu- language of patriotism, the rival of despotism for sympathy which binds us to the human race in a under arms, but in reality to discuss the political Europe, when religious persecution is compelled Confederation. This great legislation against Irish manufacturers ceased, tion of the people against the aristocracy, and, its own sake, not its irreconcilable enemy for the brotherhood of interest, of duty and affection. situation..A. In the same month Wolfe Tone went to abjure her tyranny over conscience; When the insurrection marked the last appearance of the Irish capitalists have remained valuable assets in therefore, ceased to believe that aristocratic lead- sake of us all. It will not, by views merely retro- "Here then we take our stand, and if we be to Belfast on the invitation of one of the advanced Rights of Man are ascertained in Theory and that Irish clan system, founded upon common prop- the scheme of English rule in Ireland. ership was necessary for their salvation. spective, stop the march of mankind or force asked what the French Revolution is to us, we Volunteer Clubs, and formed the first club of Theory substantiated by Practice-, when antiquity Nerty and a democratic social organisation, as a With the development of this 'patriotic' policy Seizing this propitious moment, Tone and his them back into the lanes and alleys of our ances- answer, much... It is good for human nature that United Irishmen. Returning to Dublin he organ- can no longer defend absurd and oppressive rival to the politico-social order of capitalist feu- amongst the Irish manufacturing class there had associates proposed the formation of a society of tors. This society is likely to be a means the most the grass grows where the Bastille stood. We do ised another. forms against the common sense and common dalism founded upon the political despotism of also developed a more intense and aggressive men of every creed for the purpose of securing an powerful for the promotion of a great end. What rejoice at an event that means the breaking up of From the minutes of the inauguration meet- interests of mankind; when all government is the proprietors, and the political and social slav- policy amongst the humbler class of Protestants equal representation of all the people in parlia- end? The Rights of Man in Ireland. The greatest civil and religious bondage, when we behold this ing of this first Dublin Society of United acknowledged to originate from the people, and ery of the actual producers. in town and country. In fact, in Ireland at that ment.This was, as Tone's later words and works happiness of the greatest numbers in this island, misshapen pile of abuses, cemented merely by Irishmen, held at the Eagle Inn, Eustace Street, to be so far only obligatory as it protects their In the course of this insurrection the Anglo- time, there were not only two nations divided amply prove, intended solely as a means of unity; the inherent and indefeasible claims of every free custom, and raised upon the ignorance of a pros- 9th November, 1791, the following extracts, speak rights and promotes their welfare; we think it our Irish noblemen who held Irish tribelands as their into Catholics and non-Catholics, but each of knowing well the nature of the times and the nation to rest in this nation - the will and the trate people, tottering to its base, to the very level for the principles of the original members of duty as Irishmen to come forward and state what private property under the English feudal system those two nations in turn was divided into other political oligarchy in power, he realised that such power to be happy to pursue the common weal as of equal liberty and commonwealth. We do really those two parent clubs of a society we feel to be our heavy grievance, and what we did indeed throw in their lot with the native Irish As part of our special four page two, the rich and the poor. a demand would be resisted with all the power of an individual pursues his private welfare, and to rejoice in this resurrection of human nature, destined in a short time to know to be its effectual remedy. tribesmen, but the union was never a cordial one, stand in insulated independence, an imperatorial ^ cover all Ireland, and to tribute to mark the bicentenary The development of industry had drawn large government; but he wisely calculated that such and we congratulate our brother man "We have no national Government; we are and their presence in the councils of the insur- numbers of the Protestant poor from agricultural resistance to a popular demand would tend to people. coming forth from the vaults of set in motion the ruled by Englishmen and the servants of gents was at all times a fruitful source of dissen- of the United Irish rebellion of pursuits into industrial occupations, and the sup- make closer and more enduring the union of the "The greatest happiness of the greatest num- ingenious torture and from of two for- Englishmen, whose object is the interest of sion, treachery and incapacity. Professing to fight pression of those latter in the interest of English democracy, irrespective of religion. ber. On the rock of this principle let this society the cave of death. We do another country; whose instrument is corrup- for Catholicity, they in reality sought only to con- 1798 we are reprinting an edited manufacturers left them both landless and work- hus Tone built up his hopes upon rest; by this let it judge and determine every congratulate the tion; whose strength is the weakness of Ireland; serve their right to the lands they held as a result version of the second of James less. This condition reduced the labourers in a successful prosecution of a class political question, and whatever is necessary for Christian world that and these men have the whole of the power and of previous confiscations from the very men, or town and country to the position of serfs. Fierce war, although those who pretend this end let it not be accounted hazardous, but there is in it one great patronage of the country as means to seduce and the immediate ancestors of the men, by whose Connolly's two essays on the competition for farms and for jobs enabled the to imitate him today raise up rather our interest, our duty, our glory and our nation which has subdue the honesty and the spirit of her repre- side they were fighting. master class to bend both Protestant and their hands in holy horror at the common religion. The Rights of Man are the renounced all sentatives in the legislature. In the vacillation and treachery arising out of United Irishmen included in his Catholic to its will... The Protestant workman mere mention of the phrase. The Rights of God, and to vindicate the one is to ideas of con- Such an extrinsic power, acting with uniform this state of mind can be found the only explana- classic work Labour in Irish History, and tenant was learning that the Pope of Rome Tpolitical wisdom of using a demand for equal rep- maintain the other. quest, and has force in a direction too frequently opposite to the tion for the defeat of this magnificent movement was a very unreal and shadowy danger compared resentation as a rallying cry for the democracy of "The external business of this society will be published in true line of our obvious interests, can be resisted of the Irish clans... The fact that it had enrolled which was first published in 1910 th the social power of his employer or land- Ireland is evidenced by a study of the state of the - first, publication, in order to propagate their with effect solely by unanimity, decision, and under its banner the representatives of two dif- ISF >, and the Catholic tenant was awakened to a suffrage at that time. In An Address from the principles and effectuate their ends. Second, spirit in the people, qualities which may be exert- ferent social systems contained the germs of its perception of the fact that under the new social United Irishmen of Dublin to the English Society of communications with the different towns to be ed most legally, constitutionally and efficaciously undoing. Had it been all feudal it would have order the Catholic landlord represented the Mass the Friends of the People, dated Dublin, October assiduously kept up and every exertion used to by that great measure essential to the prosperity succeeded in creating an independent Ireland, less than the rent roll. 26,1792, we find the following description of the accomplish a National Convention of the People and freedom of Ireland - an equal representation albeit with a serf population like that of England The times were propitious for a union of the state of representation: of Ireland... Third, communications with simi- of all the people in parliament... We have gone to at the time; had it been all composed of the two democracies of Ireland. They had travelled "The state of Protestant representation is as lar societies abroad—as the Jacobin Club of Paris, what we conceive to be the root of the evil; we ancient septs it would have crushed the English from widely different points through the valleys follows: Seventeen boroughs have no resident the Revolutionary Society in England, the have stated what we conceive to be the remedy - power and erected a really free Ireland, but as it of disillusion and disappointment to meet at last elector; sixteen have but one; ninety have thir- Committee for Reform in Scotland. Let the nations with a Parliament thus reformed everything is was but a hybrid composed of both, it had all the by the unifying waters of a common suffering. teen electors each; ninety persons return for 106 go abreast. Let the interchange of sentiments easy; without it nothing can be done." faults of both and the strength of neither, and To accomplish this union and make it a living rural boroughs - that is 212 members out of 300 among mankind concerning the Rights of Man Here we have a plan of campaign indicated on hence went down in disaster. force in the life of the nation, there was required - the whole number; fifty-four members are be as immediate as possible. the fines of those afterwards followed so success- Out of these circumstances certain conditions the activity of a revolutionist with statesmanship returned by five noblemen and four bishops; and "When the aristocracy come forward, the peo- fully by the socialists of Europe - a revolutionary arose worthy of the study of every student who mer. The latter used the fanaticism of the former enough to find a common point upon which the borough influence has given landlords such ple fall backward; when the people come for- party openly declaring their revolutionary would understand modern Irish history. in order to disarm, subjugate and rob the com- two elements could unite, and some great event power in the counties as make them boroughs ward, the aristocracy, fearful of being left behind, sympathies but limiting their first demand to a One was that the disappearance of the clan as mon Catholic enemy, and having done so, estab- dramatic enough in its character to arrest the also... With regard to the Catholics, the follow- insinuate themselves into our ranks and rise into popular measure such as would enfranchise the a rallying point for rebellions and possible base of lished themselves as a ruling, landed and com- attention of all and fire them with a common ing is the simple and sorrowful fact: Three mil- timid leaders or treacherous auxiliaries. They masses upon whose support their ultimate freedom made it impossible thereafter to localise mercial class, leaving the Protestant soldier to his feeling. The first, the man, revolutionist and lions, every one of whom has an interest in the mean to make us their instruments; let us rather success must rest. an insurrectionary effort, or to give it a smaller or fate as a tenant or artisan. statesman, was found in the person of Theobald state, and collectively give it its value, are taxed make them our instruments. One of the two must No one can read the manifesto without more circumscribed aim than that of the Irish By the outbreak of the Williamite war, the Wolfe Tone, and the second, the event, in the without being represented, and bound by laws to happen. The people must serve the party, or the realising that these men aimed at nothing less nation. When, before the iron hand of Cromwell, industries of the North of Ireland had so far French Revolution. Wolfe Tone had, although a which they have not given consent." party must emerge in the mightiness of the than a social and political revolution such as had the Irish clans went down into the tomb of a developed that the 'Prentice Boys' of Derry were Protestant, been secretary for the Catholic The above Address, which is signed by people... On the 14th of July, the day which shall been accomplished in France, or even greater, common subjection, the only possible reappear- the dominating factor in determining the atti- Committee for some time... but eventually had Thomas Wright as secretary, contains one sen ever commemorate the French Revolution, let because the French Revolution did not enfran- ance of the Irish idea henceforth lay through the tude of that city towards the contending English tence which certain socialists and others in this society pour out their first libation to chise all the people, but made a distinction gateway of a national resurrection. From that day kings, and with the close of that war industries Ireland and England might well study to advan- European liberty, eventually the liberty of the between active and passive citizens, taxpayers forward the idea of common property was des- developed so quickly in the country as to become tage: "As to any union between the two islands, world, and with their hands joined in each other, and non-taxpayers. tined to recede into the background as an avowed a menace to the capitalists of England, who believe us when we assert that our union rests upon and their eyes raised to Heaven, in His presence, Nothing less would have succeeded in causing principle of action, whilst the energies of the accordgnlgly petitioned the King of England to our mutual independence. We shall love each other if who breathed into them an ever-living soul, let Protestant and Catholic masses to shake hands nation were engaged in a slow and painful restrict and fetter their growth. we be left to ourselves. It is the union of mind them swear to maintain the rights and preroga- over the bloody chasm of religious hatreds, noth- process of assimilating the social system of the With the passing of this restrictive legislation which ought to bind these nations together." tives of Ireland as an independent people." ing less will accomplish the same result in our conqueror, of absorbing the principles of that against Irish industries, Irish capitalism became This, then, was the situation in which the It would be hard to find in modern socialist day among the Irish workers. political society based upon ownership. discontented and disloyal without, as a whole, Society of United Irishmen was born. That literature anything more broadly international in Few moments in history have been more Another condition ensuing upon the total dis- the power or courage to be revolutionary. It society was initiated and conducted by men its scope and aims, more definitely of a class consistently misrepresented by open enemies and appearance of the Irish social order was the was a re-staging of the ever-recurring drama who realised the importance of all those prin- character in its methods, or more avowedly professed admirers than that of the United growth and accentuation of cla^s distinction of English invasion and Anglo-Irish disaffec- ciples of action upon which latter day Irish democratic in its nature than this manifesto. luy^ Irishmen. The suggestto false and the amongst the conquerors. The ownership of what tion, with the usual economic background. revolutionaries have turned their backs. The above quoted manifesto was circulated in HE suppressio vert have been remorselessly industries remained in Ireland was left in the Each generation of English adventurers set- Consequently, it was as effective in uniting June, 1791, and in July of the same year the Hl used. The middle class "patriotic" hands of the Protestant element is not to be tling upon the soil as owners resented the the democracy of Ireland as the 'patriots' of townspeople and volunteer societies of Belfast HL historians, orators, and journalists explained as sophistical anti-Irish historians coming of the next generation, and that their our day have been in keeping it separated met to celebrate the anniversary of the Fall of By of Ireland have ever vied with have striven to, by asserting that it arose from the so-called Irish patriotism was simply into warring religious factions. the Bastille, a celebration recommended by one another in enthusiastic greater enterprise of Protestants as against inspired by the fear that they should be dis- It understood that the aristocracy was nec- the framer of the manifesto as a means of f; descriptions of their military Catholics; in reality it was due to the state of possessed in their turn as they had dispos- essarily hostile to the principle and practice of educating and uniting the real people of exploits on land and sea, their social and political outlawry in which the sessed others. freedom; it understood that the Irish fight for Ireland - the producers. From the Dublin hairbreadth escapes and heroic Catholics were henceforth placed by the law of What applies to the land owning 'patriots' liberty was but a part of the world-wide upward Chronicle of the time we quote the follow- martyrdom, but have resolutely the land... Thus as the landed property of the applies also to the manufacturers. The Protestant march of the human race, and hence allied itself ing passages from the "Declaration of suppressed or distorted their Catholic passed into the ownership of the capitalists, with the help of the English, Dutch, with the revolutionists of Great Britain as well as the Volunteers and Inhabitants at writings, songs and manifestoes. Protestant adventurers, so also the manufactur- and other adventurers dispossessed the native with those of France, and it said little about Large of the town and neighbourhood We have striven to reverse the ing business of the nation fell out of the stricken Catholics and became prosperous; as their com- ancient glories, and much about modern misery. of Belfast on the subject of the French process, to give publicity to grasp of the hunted and proscribed enemies. merce grew it became a serious rival to that of The Report of the Secret Committee of the House of Revolution". As Belfast was then the their literature, believing that Amongst these latter there were two elements - this literature reveals the Hng'tnd, and accordingly the English capitalists Lords reprinted in full the Secret Manifesto to the hotbed of revolutionary ideas in the fanatical Protestant, and the mere adventurer t men better than any partisan compelled legislation against it, and immediately Thomas Paine, author of "The Rights of Man" Friends of Freedom in Ireland, circulated Ireland, and became the seat of the , trading on the religious enthusiasm of the for- biographer can do. the erstwhile 'English Garrison in Ireland' a key Influence for Irish repubNcars like Tone throughout the country by Wolfe Tone and his first society of United Irishmen, J Page 10 Irish Democrat February/March 1998

Irish Democrat February/March 1998 Page 11 light of more recent historical research findings. The Casement Diaries In his preface Pakenham says that he relies pri- marily on the extensive papers left by people on the Government side, but "On the rebel side, lack of sources make it impossible to do justice to the Not everything in 'Black and White' makes sense movement.' It is the victors who are first into print after the crushing of rebellions. Propagandist accounts The publication of two recent books analysing the 'Black and White' diaries of Roger Casement, executed for treason in the wake of the Easter in support of the loyalist version of events were published within a couple of years of the rising. Rising, highlights the continuing debate over the life and contribution of one of Ireland's most revered, and at times reviled, patriots But since Pakenham wrote his book much new Casement's role in the struggle for Irish freedom, and his work as a human-rights apparently contradictory evidence of material has been discovered which shows the activist, have frequently been overshadowed by disputes over his sexuality, Casement's deteriorating eye condi- fuelled by the existence, forged or otherwise, of what have become known as the Edited by Dane Keogh and Nicholas Furlong, rebel side in a more sympathetic light. tion in the two diaries. Casement Black Diaries. While there is some evidence to suggest that the Black Diaries, or Jim Smyth, Daniel Gahan, Kevin Whelan and records thai his failing eyesight forces Four Courts Press, £9.95 pbk at least parts of them, were forged by British intelligence, what is absolutely clear process in the county which Whelan traces from reports and popular ballads jostle against Acts of a host of younger Irish historians have estab- him into using pencil in the public is that the full story of Casement's trial and execution has yet to be told. The Mighty Wave brings together a collection of the 1790s, though the importance of the Orange Parliament and private letters. The generous lished that the rank-and-file rebels were far more journal on 4 September, but on 11 What is certain, is that parts of the so-called Black Diaries containing sexually papers from the inaugural Comoradh '98 confer- lodges associated with Hunter Gowan is perhaps extracts from Wolfe Tone's diary are a delight. ideologically sophisticated than Pakenham gives October, when his sight was at iis explicit passages were deliberately circulated by British sources during his trial, ence in Wexford in 1995 and the Byrne-Perry over-emphasised On reaching 1798 the tempo speeds up. them credit for. It is no longer possible, for worst, the journal is written wholly in itself arguably the most contrived in a long line of pernicious acts of revenge car- Summer School in Gorey in the same year. Other chapters deal with the many aspect of Reports fly back and forth as the rebellion takes instance, for historians to dismiss the rising in pencil, while (he private diary starts in ried out by the British after the Easter Rising, in a deliberate attempt to under- The opening paper's first paragraph is per- the rebellion in Wexford including sectarianism hold. Rebels are rounded up and executions fol- the south-east as 'the Wexford sectarian blood- pencil and then resumes in ink - mine sympathy for Casement and secure his execution. haps one of the most succinct statements on 1798 and key battles and the military planning that low. Cornwallis, the reluctant but conscientious bath' , a phrase that for a long time summed up impossible if it had been written ai the that one will read over the course of this bicente- underpinned the rebellion. Tommy Graham pro- Lord-Lieutenant, protests repeatedly against the the standard 'revisionist' attitude. We asked former Irish Democrat editors with differing views on the diaries, same tune, as Mitchell points out. It nary year. Kevin Whelan in his essay, vides a seminal contribution on the role of barbarity and cruelty of his own side. General Neither was British policy, and that of Prime Martin Moriarty, and Gerard Curran, to look at the new books and examine probably wasn't. Reinterpreting the 1798 Rebellion in County Dublin in the planned insurrection, unravelling Humbert reports to the French Directory from Minister Pitt in particular, as innocent as whether they shed any new light on Casement's life and the forgery controversy. The private diary's pencil entry Wexford, states: the apparent confusion and chaos surrounding Castlebar. At this point the book has something Pakenham makes out. It is now clear that Pitt concludes with the words: "I am lar "The 1790s is arguably the pivotal decade in the rising which has confused historians for so of the flavour of an eighteenth-century epistolary had a union in mind for years before the rising. looks through the window and sees from well. My left eve very bad." li is the evolution of modern Ireland. It witnessed the long. novel in its pace and immediacy, and in the way He was delighted to be able to step in with the Cajamarca. This not a young man but quite possible thai there Casement emergence of popular Republicanism and The Mighty Wave is an essential contribution the action is thrown at the reader from different solution of 'direct rule' from London after his a mountain. The problem is that it is rested, and caught tip at a later date, in I.oyalism, of separatism, of the Orange Order to our understanding of the rebellion and its viewpoints. minions in Dublin Castle had discredited them- 420 miles from Iquitos and not visible pen this time, as he certainly did .1: and Maynooth College, and culminated in the spectacular successes in Wexford. It exudes a The book is dotted throughout with contem- selves. from there. The higher peaks of the other places on Friday 21 October 1798 rebellion and the Act of Union of 1800, sense of excitement which is complemented by porary illustrations. The student will find it a Eddie and Ruth Frow show that in the 1790s, Andes are in between. (private diary) he savs he's writing up which defined subsequent relation between the wealth of new material presented and useful collection of primary sources, and the gen- as before and since, Irish nationalism had politi- There is also the problem of the "my diary" since Monday 17 October. Ireland and Britain. The decade also presents the deserves to be on the bookshelf of anybody eral reader will be transported back in time to the cal allies among the English radicals. In their lunar rainbow. Casement saw it on a The more considerable difficulty dynamic interplay between Irish and interna- remotely interested in the formative influences beginning of the Irish republican movement as it contribution for the 1798 Bicentenary the Frows Sunday. Being superstitious Casement tor Mitchell is that in order to prove tional forces, when what happened on the island underlying contemporary Irish politics. actually happened. tell of the United Englishmen who were estab- thought it was a good omen and called the private diary a fake, he also has to was inseparable from a wider global setting. The lished in Manchester in 1797, their interaction a number of people to share the view. show there's not a whiff of same-sex 1798 Rebellion linked Ireland in very specific with the United Irish delegate to the French The Black Diary has got the lunar rain- desire in the Putumayo journal - not Sally Richardson reviews The Decade of tile Anthony Coughlan reviews The Year of Liberty ways with America, France and Australia in par- directory, Father James O'Coigley, who was bow a day later. The forger realises his an easy task. He claims there's only ticular, making a permanent and indelible con- United Irishmen: contemporary accounts by Thomas Pakenham, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, arrested and executed by the Government, and mistake and corrects it. one passage - Casement's first descrip the continuity of Manchester radical support for Another problem is the reference to tribution to the evolution of the Irish Diaspora." 1791-1801, John Killen (ed.), Blackstaff Press, £15.95 hbk, and Essays In Insurrection tion of Amerio, one of the native boys Whelan also alerts us to the fact that the suc- the Irish national cause up to the Chartists of the Swithin's Day. This is Casement's he took home with him - that could £12.99 pbk by Edmund and Ruth Frow, Working Class cess of the rebellion in Wexford was not only a 1840s. quotation in the Amazon Journal. possibly be construed as "homosexu- Movement Library, £3.50 pbk military but a political one, highlighting that the John Killen's varied selection of documents There is a remarkable story here which the "Macedo says if it does not rain on al" - and only because the existence of Wexford Republic, which through the shows how contemporary material can come off Thomas Packenham's Year of Liberty, first pub- Frows outline and which it is a challenge to mod- November 2nd, it will not rain for 6 the private diary prompts such specu- Committee of Public Safety, succeeded in keep- the page with a power sometimes denied lished in 1969, is a detailed and readable account ern English historians to fill in the details of in weeks. A local St. Swithin's evidently." lation. But it's the very texture of the ing the peace in the town for over three weeks, rehashed history. As the book begins, the United of the events of 1798. Even so, it is not the final this bicentenary year of a radical movement that The reference to St. Swithin's in Hopefully, when the peace process He richly deserves his life." description itself that suggests erotic Roger Casement's Diaries, 1910: under difficult circumstances. This success was Irishmen organize and issue statements while the authoritative account of the Year of Liberty. It is stirred the best, as well as the most reactionary, The Black Diary goes like this: "Very and reconciliation have reached a It's a poignant allegory for the engagement: "a handsome face and The Black and the White, edited by no small measure due to the radicalisation authorities froth with indignation. Newspaper a pity he did not revise his earlier work in the political forces in the two islands. little rain today, but still it passed St. more evolved stage it will not be so beginning of a journey into a heart of shapely body" are not sexually neutral Roger Sawyer Pimlico, £10 pbk Swithin's." The forger has not realised easy to pressurisepeople into support- darkness at the heart of the turn of the words. And there are several other pas- that Casement was making a joke and ing the traditional .British position on century rubber boom. And it's unmis- sages whose romantic or erotic charge ecause I have followed the the real Swithin's which only in the Black Diaries. Then we can per- takable Casement, a mixture of admi- is difficult to deny. Casement saga over many England is on 25 July. haps look without distraction at ration of the animal's spirit, sympathy Angus Mitchell has done the litera- years I have read several of the I was puzzled about The White Casement's work -for Irish national for its fate and the authentic reflex to ture of the anti-slavery movement sensationalist biographies. Diary and Mr. Sawyer is not helpful. I freedom and on behalf of Indians of rescue him. It also precisely matches some service by publishing the White The other day I was looking tried to visualise Casement in the Paraguay and the African natives in his emotional response to the native Diary in full: it allows general readers through. B.L. Reid's Lives of atmosphere of fear, suspicion and the Congo. Gerard Curran Indians he was to encounter later. to grasp the full scope of Casement's RogerB Casement. I dipped into the hatred, where native Indians were The problem for the nouveau sophisticated engagement with an eco- chapters on the Congo. At first it being murdered and ill treated, sitting forgery theorist Angus Mitchell is that nomic system founded on murder and seemed very interesting and well writ- down to write 3000 words a day in his the incident is recorded only in brutal exploitation for the first time. ten. Then I thought: 'there is some- journal. Then writing in his White Casement's private ('black') diary for But it's regrettable that he does the thing wrong here. He's using the Diary' and finally writing the same 1910, which he is, of course, deter- man such a grave disservice by sur- material from the 1903 diary without material in his Black Diary plus the mined to prove a fake. But such shin- rounding his writing with such a par- answering the arguments of those who exciting bits about his sexual encoun- The ingly symbolic animals do not trouble tial and flawed critical apparatus. say the diaries were forged to prevent ters. All this happened, while he was his distinctly less poetic analysis. He Martin Moriarty Casement's reprieve and to get the US in close proximity of his enemies, and Amazon relies instead on a series of compar- New books to mark the bi-centenary of the 1798 Rebellion from into the War'. the members of the commission inves- lo unial isons between the two texts that seem Reid's handling of the case of Sir tigating the treatment of company to him to furnish triumphantly con- Goldsmiths College, Hector MacDonald is revealing. employees' conditions of work, were vincing evidence of a forger's hand but University of London MacDonald, a much decorated Scots always near at hand. prove distinctly less overwhelming on Four Courts Press* Dublin officer, had been recalled to London I found the answer in the material Roger closer inspection. from Ceylon after being exposed as a sent to me by the authors of an impor- First, Mitchell argues the two The Trials of homosexual. Ordered back to face a tant, recent publication, The (iascmcnt diaries cannot have the same author (Sir) Roger Casement The Women of 1798 Rebellion in Wicklow Rebellion in Kildare, 1790-1803 court martial, MacDonald took his Vindication of Roger Casement. because Casement is lucid and direct in the Putumayo journal, while the DAIRE KEOGH & NICHOLAS FURI.ONG, EDS. The Life and Times LI AM CHAMBERS own life in Paris. (O'Maille, Ui Callanan & Payne, One day colloquium of the Rebel General Joseph Holt In the diary Casement refers to this Roger Casement Foundation, 1995). private diary is mysterious and confus- Saturday 28 February 1998 A companion to The Mighty Wave, it recalls PETER O SHAUGHNESSY I76pp pbk £9.95 March 1998 as "a most distressing case and one The White Diary was rediscovered in ing (to him). This seems a straightfor- Start 10.00am the role played by such women as Matilda that should awaken the national mind the fifties in Dublin and had not been ward category error. Any formal The diary of this enigmatic rebel, who was account and intimate diary written by Venue Tone, Mary Leadbetter, Croppy Biddy Dolan, to saner methods of curing a 'terrible in England since Casement's trial. The Amazon Journal of Roger Casement, instrumental in the rebellion of 1798. The Uniforms of 1798 disease' than by criminal legislation." The Dublin White Diary and a Angus Mitchell (ed.), is published by the same person are unlikely to he The former Deptford Town Hall Mary Ann McCracken, Louisa Conolly, Mary GLEN THOMPSON 184pp paperback £9.95 April 1998 Reid comments "It is the relative Casement's letter to The Nation news- Anaconda Editions, £17.98 pbk identical in tone. And ten years after Goldsmiths College Le More and also includes an essay by This major new book details the dress and arms impersonality of the statement paper have been used to compare the death of Oscar Wilde, it is the very Lewisham Way, New Cross . , .. j (,> f 1 ..... «. Maureen Murphy on 'The Noggin of Milk': an (Casement's) that surprises, lenowing, styles with the 1903, 1910 and 1911 teaming up the Putumayo contrast between Casement's public London SE14 6NW United Irishmen, United States of the Insurgents, the French, the Regulars, the or suspecting, what one does about London diaries, using computer river on his way to investigate and private life which is paradoxically Old Testament legend and the battle of Participants (preliminary details) DAVID WILSON Casement's sexual habits. "Knowing analysis (See The Vindication of reported genocide by the cap- the very guarantee of their authentici- Yeomanry, Militia, Fencibles, Artillery, etc. Each Andrew Gray (Oxford), Ballinamuck. or suspecting" shows the author is not Casement). This computer study shows tains of the Amazon rubber ty: queer Edwardians had little alter- A new and exciting account concentrating on drawing is accompanied by a commentary detail- Bill McCormack (Goldsmiths) sure the diary is authentic. that the three London diaries were industry in September 1910, native to the double life of the closet. the movement in the United States. Lucy McDiarmid (Philadelphia) 208pp paperback £9.95 March 1998 ing the origins of the uniforms and where each He was right to be uncertain. After written by the same person.(not British consul Roger Secondly, Mitchell seizes on » Angus Mitchell (Brazil) 256pp paper £19.95 May 1998 respected regiment/company was stationed in the publication of Reid's book it was Casement), and we know the Dublin Casement spots a determined animal Casement statement about his marital David Rose (Dublin) discovered that the entry in the 1903 diary, and the letter to The Nation, battling through the waters: "8.30am a status made in passing in the The Mighty Wave battle. Full colour illustrations throughout! Roger Sawyer (Isle of Wight) For more information contact: diary referring to the unionist Captain which have the same style, were writ- deer swimming down midstream at Putumayo journal - "my celibacy The 1798 Rebellion In Wexford 64pp large A4 format paperback £9.95 June 1998 tremendous rate. Lowered canoe & Stephen Wilson (Coimbra) Four Courts Press, Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8. Craig winning the North Fermanagh ten by Casement. makes me frugal of human life" - to DAIRE KEOGH & after chase* deer often turning suggest he had no sex life at all. This seat was premature as the election did It is interesting to look at the main ,i Cost: £20 (Concessions £12) NICHOLAS FURLONG, EDS. Tel: (00 353 1) 453 4668; Fax: (00 353 1) 453 4672 not take place until 1906! difference in the two styles. Casera«fcft qpstxeam & beating canoe, one man seems to be a misinterpretation. Now in its second printing! E-mail: [email protected]; Web: http://www.four-courts-press.ie Limited space means we can only uses 3127 keystrokes (characters) to jumping ove^ butbeing beaten holism Casement's point is rather more likely Further information from I88pp paperback £9.95 (1996) look at a small number of discrepan- make only fifteen sentences in the by the dees the poor little chap was to be that his disinclination to murder Maria Macdonald: These books will be available from all good British bookshops throughout 1998. Dublin 1910;diary. In the London L;capght,by Ute hjiid legs, after many is formed by not having brought new • cies, in the publication under review. Tel 0171 919 7436 In The Black Diary, on Saturday, 3 1911 diary the writer uses 3596 key- failures & dragged into canoe, tied by life into the world himself through Fax 0171 919 7453 December, 1910, Casement gets up in strokes to make 62 sentences. This is a legs and hoisted on board I should marriage and childbirth. email m.macdonaldfo gold.ac.uk the morning, in Iquitos, Paraguay, significant difference in style. like to save him & take him to Ireland. Thirdly Mitchell clutches at the Irish Democrat February/March 1998 Page 13 Book Reviews Book Reviews The key to separating Shallow vision REFLECTIONS ON ( It \ HI Is DICKSON" Romantic view Northern Eddie Mulligan reviews A QUIET REBEL I HI WLXIOIU) RISING rebels fact from fiction Reflections on a Quiet Rebel of Tone & co. IN I79K Martin Flannery reviews Orangeism: Myth and Reality by Cal McCrystal, Michael Jack Bennett reviews Eddie Mulligan reviews by Peter Berresford Ellis, Connolly Association, £1.25 Joseph, £15.99 hbk Rebels and Informers: The Summer Soldiers: the 1798 rebellion in Antrim Described in the blurb as an attempt stirrings of Irish independence of the Order from its beginning in to gain and impart understanding of a February 1796 to the present day, by Oliver Knox, and Down by A.T.Q. conflict driven by base communal Irish nation Orangeism pointing out that: "Today we are asked hatreds, the book promises to shed John Murray, £20 hbk Stewart, Blackstaff Press, to believe that the Orange Order has light upon the Irish, who, for all their now changed into some folkloric insti- virtues, willingly and persistently tear Powerful. Compelling. Riveting. in revolt £12.99 pbk tution, content to bang drums, wear themselves apart. Engrossing. Ail the usual blurb words sashes, and uphold the traditions of It claims legitimacy because the can certainly be applied to this, yet- John Murphy reviews This is a very well-written, if some- Protestant culture." author is from Belfast and is the son of another, book on the United Irishmen. what dispassionate, account of the The Wexford Rising in 1798 Facts show that though the Order a well-respected member of its work- But... 1798 rebellion in the northern coun- is different it is still essentially the ing class. The book purports to be the Well, yes... but. It's a pitv such a and Revolt in the North, ties of Down and Antrim. Myth and Realty by Peter Berresford Ellis same. All unionist parties support it Written like a good novel, The story of the author's father, Charles point. At no stage does he implicate well-constructed and dramatic narra- to kill the political significance of the and it struggles to preserve unity Antrim and Down in 1798 Summer Soldiers puts the momentous McCrystal, and his life-long pursuit of the British in promoting these 'base tive of the adventure of some of the bi-centenary with kindness? among them with great success. Its Blue-shirted he had not acted differently and struck events of the short-lived uprising into working-class unity. communal hatreds' for its own ends. leading actors of 1798 should prove Central to the doctrine of the by Charles Dickson, members are in a position of power in at Britain through Ireland, at a time an easily readable format and is The father comes across as a fine He describes how he tried to per- faulty in its political approach. United Irishmen was the idea of unit- every unionist group or party. It was friends Constable, £15.95 each, when most of its people v ould have packed full of detail, drawing upon the human being who saw the true reason suade a group of visiting American Too much psychological specula- ing the 'sects' in order to get rid of impossible to climb up the political joined him. Instead, lui^d by his diaries and letters of many of the main for the conflict in the North - parti- diplomats of the hopelessness of the tion to 'explain' why the 'rebels' English rule. One of the most practical and economic ladder without being a hbk characters to bring them alive and pre- of fascism tion. Charles McCrystal was an hon- peace process because Ulster unionists objected to English rule. Too many and successful efforts in effecting this ambition to emulate the conquests of A Connolly Association Broadsheel member. est, self-taught, working-class, Gaelic- would never consent to changes sentences beginning with "One won- "union of the sects" was the linking up These are classics works, first written Alexander the Great in the east, lack- sent them as real people with human Enda Finlay reviews The By the mid 1960s the Orange Order speaking intellectual. A socialist who removing their privileges. He ignores ders..." their organisation with the agrarian in the 1950s, on the two main centres ing full command of the sea and never flaws. Peter Berresford Ellis's able and boasted a membership of 200,000 in loved poetry and literature he was the the enormous changes, including the That Wolfe Tone had an astute Defenders. of the '98 Rising, during the dramatic fully convinced the adequacy of the This period in Irish history Blueshirts and Irish Politics deeply researched contribution makes the North. Terence O'Neill (Prime font of wisdom and knowledge who prospect of an African-American run- understanding of political affairs, and Knox expresses the view in three summer months of that critical year. revolutionary preparations in Ireland, demonstrates how the world-wide rev- a considerable addition to our knowl- Minister of the statelet) was a member by Mike Cronin, Four encouraged these qualities in others. ning for the US presidency, which was a penetrating observer of them, places that this link-up was contrary to They are full of incident and informa- he set sail for Egypt at the head of olutionary mood of the time nearly edge of the Orange Order. It is more and turned out, sash and all, as did Sir The author admits to being con- have occurred in the 30 years since the need not be argued. 'One wonders' if the notion of uniting the sects. How tion and are an essential part of any 40,000 men on May 19th 1798. This resulted in the overthrow of English Courts Press, £19.95 hbk necessary now than ever, due to the James Craig, James Molyneaux, and fused by his father's politics and falls US civil rights era. Oliver Knox thinks so. strange! basic book collection on the rising. was just at the time when those parts rule in Ireland. Neilson and Russell, large number of people brought into David Trimble. All but two unionist Although calling an opponent of Ireland where some kind of prepa- like Tone were inspired by the into the middle-class liberal trap of This is a shallow and superficial Much of Tone's actions appear here The same skewed perspective is The volume on the North contains Irish events throughout the UK in the MPs are members as is virtually every Blueshirt' has endured since the 1930s providing a 'balanced' view. He uses work which lacks political analysis as fortuitous, and not as a result of a revealed in a comment on Fitzgerald's useful biographies of all the main ration had been made were already American and French revolutions and last 25 years. member of important unionist power as an insult in Irish political life, very the mythical notion of British 'fair and is sadly typical of the contribution conscious determination to pursue his playful antics with the child of a northern United Irish leaders. That fully committed and just four days the concepts put forward by Thomas Berresford Ellis reminds us: groups, including the Police and few detailed studies of the movement play' to present the unionist view- of British journalism. woman with whom he stayed while on on Wexford contains a useful analysis before the United Irishmen of Payne in The Rights of Man which political convictions. "When we talk about the Orange industrialists. Many clergy , both have been undertaken. Mike Cronin's of previous histories of the rising. Kildare, Carlow and Wicklow actually transcended the religious differences The jiuthor is clearly in sympathy the run. For a prank, they conceived Order we are not speaking of a move- Anglican and Presbyterian, are also recently published book is the first During his last years in exile on far- took the field. which they knew were an obstacle to with the rebels. A sort of sentimental the notion of rooting up a bed of ment whose philosophies have been members. It appears that the only peo- major study in over 25 years. In it, the MW«6»;*M iMSJ tBt'rn&f mil C&llEUIQM away St Helena island, the Emperor In those terrible months some Irish freedom and independence. sympathy - as seen in a recent biogra- orange lilies in her garden. Knox asks: cast in stone from the moment of its ple connected with unionism who are author argues, purposefully and Napoleon is said to have regretted that 30,000 Irish people - mostly peasants The author shows how the fate, Famine history phy of Lord Edward Fitzgerald. "Was this a horticultural repudiation creation... Initially it was an exclusive not are the women! persuasively, that the Blueshirts were of the unity of the sects?" armed with pikes and pitch forks, treachery and confusion conspired to Perhaps we have a programme here Anglican organisation, firstly an anti- The pamphlet took me back to my not, strictly speaking, a fascist move- The Revision of Famine He clearly does not understand. defenceless women and children, were transcend their aims and led to defeat. unionist movement, and only subse- copy of Tommy Jackson's great book ment analogous to those led by Hitler Can he have read the testimony of the cut down or blown like chaff as they The book also demonstrates how History by Maire Mac quently a pro-unionist force.. Ireland Her Own and a quote on the or Mussolini, concluding that the contemporary 'rebel', the Presbyterian charged up to the mouth of cannon. tenuous military victories can be. THE LI LLI PUT PRESS In other words, the Order was a back cover: "The conquest of Ireland economic war was one of the most Suibhine, Litho Press, Jamie Hope about the Orange rapscal- Dickson reminds us that as early as Although the rebels were defeated 61 61 Sitric Road, Arbour Hill, political, sectarian organisation dedi- was the first step taken by England important factors ^jattra^ting the lions? 1792 English Prime Minister Pitt and militarily, their courageous efforts Dublin 7, Ireland cated to preserve unity among towards empire, and the methods rank and file recruits. ' £7.95 pbk have inspired generations of Irish men III. 01671164/ FAX. 01 671125} For Knox, unity of the sects was a the Irish viceroy Westmoreland had whichever sections of the community the English rulers learned in Ireland One of the key points that Cronin Maire Mac Suibhine's revised edition http://indigo.ie/~lilliput "will-o-the-wisp" - a judgement very agreed on the desirability of a union of and women ever since. were prepared to defend British rule in provided the blueprints for their makes in this book is that the of the Great Hunger in Muskerry, Co. E-MAIL: [email protected] much "after the event". Had the out- the two islands on the grounds that This is an important book and a Ireland. every subsequent act of conquest or Blueshirts, whilst adopting the trap- Cork profiles the 16 parishes of the come been different, the 'will-o-the- 'admission of Catholics to a share of timely reminder of the role of Irish Yet, "events over-took the Order. suppression. pings of fascism - including the raised mid Cork Poor Law Union of LIFE OF THEOBALD wisp' could very well have become a suffrage would not then be dangerous. Protestants in the quest for indepen- WOLFE TONE The United Irish uprising took place. Ireland was indeed the testing arm greeting 'Hoch O'Duffy' - ordi- Macroom and provides graphic reality. The Protestant interest, in point of dence, however its main fault is an I 1)1 I I I) HI rilOMAS BAKU I I T Its suppression was bloody. However, ground for all those policies of British nary members of the Blueshirts were descriptions of the impact of the Great So the political message is: Don't power, property and church establish- overconcentration on religous divi- To coincide with the bicentenary of the near success caused alarm in imperialism. At the same time there motivated more by anti-communism Hunger in the region. pursue it any more. Whoop it up for ment would be secure, because the sions at the expense of the revolution- the I79X rebellion this riveting England. A hostile independent has been fought in Ireland, the longest and anti-republicanism than by the ary objectives of the United Irishmen. This local study also has a wider autobiography is republished in full bigotry. decided majority of the supreme Ireland would threaten the very core and most persevering of all struggles theories of the corporate and voc- appeal, covering such topics as prose- for the first time since 1X26. An The man must have read all the legislature would necessarily be of Empire.. .The Anglican Ascendancy for national liberation." ational state. lytising and the clergy's role during indispensable source for the history of wrong books by politically motivated Protestant.' The source for this the 1790s, the blend of candid diary realised the need for a far wider base ro A united Ireland would be not only In one of the least satisfactory parts the famine. The publication, illustrat- authors like Richard Musgrave and useful clarification of what British f entries and racy comment ensure its Dublin in prevent the majority of Catholics from an advance for Ireland herself - and of the book, the author suggests that Government policy was at the time is Photo delights ed by the Cork artist James Barry, also appeal to a wider audience. Marianne Elliot. A pity. obtaining pplitical power in Ireland." far beyond! It seems so obvious. The the Blueshirts can be regarded as features maps, graphs and pho- Publication: April 1998 Nevertheless, this book is a gallop- the Westmoreland correspondence in Berresford Ellis traces the growth Orange Order will be the last to see it! 'potential para-fascists' arguing that Enda Finlay reviews tographs of the famine commemora- 1056 pp 1 901X66 OS x £40 cloth ing good read. the Irish National Archives. 1798 1 901X66 04 1 £20 pbk the rank and file of the movement Irish Londoners: tions in Macroom in May 1996, would view genuine fascism as a threat which.were attended by the US and react accordingly. At the same photographs from the BELMONT CASTLE that they could only rely on them- In defence of ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith. JS OR. SUFFERING SENSIBILITY Three Illustrated 'Walks time he comments that some of the selves and their yeomanry - an atti- I 111 OHA1 1) WOt I I I ONI The invasion that never was' leaders and thinkers of the movement Paddy Fahey collection, & DIVERS HANDS tude which was common on the out- the realm % certainly did embrace fascism, and by Finbarr Whooley, I 1)1 I I I) HY MARION 1)1 ANi break of the rebellion in 1798. looked to it so stabilise the Ireland of I his fascinating mman-j-elef sati /.es Frank Keoghan reviews The French are in the Bay, Secrecy and Power in the Revolutionary organisation was the 1930s, an emerging nation. the glittering social round of dances, Sutton publishing SUNDAY J.A. Murphy (editor), Mercier Press, £8.99 pbk however very weak in South Munster LV^ dandies, rapturous swains and British State: A history of According to Cronin, 'The mem- Based on a series of lectures given at sequent events. in 17% and David Dickson speculates Limited, £9.99 pbk blushing belles. Unpublished since bers were personally motivated. The 1790, the novel constitutes one of the Bantry Bay Summer School in Tom Bartlett points to the inability in his examination of the political and the Official Secrets Act by " ,w. J issues which concerned them were Like most families in Ireland, I had the literary 'finds' of 1998. 1996, this book is as much a celebra- of the Royal Navy to protect the economic situation in the region that Ann Rogers, Pluto Press, issues close to home. Theses included lots of relatives in England, in London Publication: April I99X tion of Bantry and the West Cork Ascendency, which coupled with the it may have been due to a cultural gap 128 pp 1 901866 06 8 £7.99 pbk the question of free speech, the effect and the other major cities during the region as it is of what historian Tom uninspired performance of the British between the literate, and largely £10.99 pbk of the economic war and agricultural 1950s and 1960s, working at various Bartlett calls 'the invasion that never generals led that faction to believe that Anglophone enthusiasts for democra- Don't be deterred by the publisher's reforms, and the threats posed by jobs. They described a city with a very V 7 THE '98 READER cy and the Irish speakers whose was' - a French landing in support of the de Velera government. They had AN ANTHOLOGY OF SONG, PROSE THE I skimping (poor index, cramped print established social network. London or the United Irish insurrection. consumption of the print media was AND POETRY h-- J style) or by the price. This book is no time for Quadragesimo Anno, certain parts of it, were often referred * f I 1)1 I I I) ll> I'ADKAK O'l ARRI I 1 Although a series of misfortunes FRENCH ARE limited. -paeMd witH stimulating information. Mussolini, the Corporate state or the to as the 33rd county. prevented the French from landing, a IN THE BAY The contribution which pulls all This wide-ranging gathering.of the The author's slightly stilted introduc- ideas of the intellectuals'. The photographs in this unique poetry, songs and prose of the f^X jittery government had however initi- these strands together is Kevin tion, and references to Michel This well researched and written collection are a record of the social and rebellion is a delightful companion to ated troop deployments which were to Whelan's examination of the wider JUSTICE the bicentenary commemorations. Foucault, don't endure. book about the Blueshirts is a very cultural life of the Irish in London have a profound effect on the planning context of events. Whelan concludes /.v?;/' i/f { nurd ''t\* «n>, titri tiw •t 'r urtf Publication: March I99X Particular cases are explained well welcome one. Not only does it shed during the 1950s and 1960s, experi- and execution of the subsequent '98 that the United Irishmen were the 144 pp I 901X66 01 1 £5.99 pbk as are the class-biased proceedings and invented; illegal operations (burglary, light on the Blueshirts themselves by enced by both newly arrived and long- rebellion. crucial bridge between Jacobitism and judgments. In the process, Dr. Rogers telephone taps, threats, tampering considering the movement from the established emigrants. The collection THE UNITED IRISHMEN Hugh Gough presents a good factu- Jacobinism and that it was this novel describes British government with mail) were, and still are routine. point of view of the ordinary mem- is appropriately divided into eight Bloody Sunday: a miscarriage of REPUBLICANISM, RADICALISM al account of the events which is com- sensibility which faced the sectarian Visitors to Dublin in this bicente- chicanery and exposes its accomplices, Yet, British secret services were most bers, it also tells us a lot about the sections dealing with the different justice is a new and informative AND REBELLION plemented by an intriguing recon- state as rebellion approached. Bantry nary year of the United Irishmen 11)11 El) BY DAVID DICKSON. those defenders of democracy and effective at fighting each others while political situation that existed in aspects of Irish life in the capital. Thus pamphlet published by the Bloody struction of the weather patterns by Bay can therefore be seen as a rebellion could do worse than pick DAIRE kl (Mil I Jk kl VIN Will i AN purveyors pf the 'truth', the news spectacularly inept at hunting spies Ireland in the 1930s. we have photographs of the various Sunday Justice Campaign. Copies of John Tyrrell who includes isobaric watershed event, realigning and up a copy of this handy pocket-sized Twenty-two distinguished international media - Duncan Campbell emerges as who had to surrender voluntarily or- <1/ Thankfully, the Blueshirts only activities of the county association, the pamphlet priced £3, and details historians offer fresh interpretations charts. Not for the first time was bisecting the trajectories of both the publication detailing three city a shining exception. wait to be betrayed. existed for two yearf Before eventually Irish children dancing, Big Tom of the campaign, are available of the period that culminated in the Britain saved by a fair wind! Though revolutionary and counter-revolution- walks with strong connections with collapsing casting an extremely long, sweating in the Galtymore and IRA 1798 rebellion, giving a fascinating Secrecy and power are related; the This is a sad saga of intrigue, which from: BSJC, 1 Westend Park, Deny other decisions were made which pro- ary movements. the rebels. Dublin in 1798: Three dSttbw over Fme Gael, and the party composite portrait of 1790s Ireland. establishment have actually increased would be amusing, were it not for the veterans marching down Whitehall on BT48 9JF (tel. 01504 268 846). Copies foundly affected the development of This collection provides new Illustrated Walks by Denis Carroll 192 pp illus. 1 874675 19 8 £15 pbk both since World War H Where ene- lives blighted and the damage done to info which most of its membership the 60th anniversary of the Easter are also available from the Four events, the weather was the key factor insights and is therefore invaluable in with illustrations by Orla Davin is (available now) mies could not be detected, they were society. ROD were subsumed. Rising A gem of a book. Provinces Bookshop. at every stage of the expedition, the forming an understanding of the published by South Hill Communi- I aftermath of which was to colour sub- background to the 1798 rebellion. cations, priced £2.95 Irish Democrat February/March 1998 Irish Democrat February/March 1998 Page 15 Reviews e ry's miisi impossibly voluble kidnap O mociucvictims - seems wholly trustworthy, On the Bridge of Toome today. Iwsh Telling memoir All ye good men who listen, just think of the fate either. Up the narrow street he stepped of the brave men who died in the year Ninety Democracy for And that's the trouble with story- Gerard Curran reviews Smiling and proud and young; Eight. Songs of 1798 About the hemp-rope on his neck tellers: you're never quite sure if Are You Somebody? For poor old Ireland would be free long ago they're making it all up - or withhold- The golden ringlets clung. If her sons were all rebels like Henry Munroe. slow learners ing vital information. And just to keep The Life and Times of The following songs all deal with events and person- There's never a tear in the blue, blue eyes Secret agenda - "Following numerous you guessing, Breathnach makes it alities of he United Irishmen's rebellion of 1798. Both glad and bright are they; Nuala O'Faolain, conversations with David Trimble, clear he's doing a bit of both by using Readers with access to the internet may also like to As Roddy MacCorley goes to die Boolavogue Mr. Blair would seem to have drawn a series of Brechtian-style chapter Sceptre, £6.99 pbk visit the following website which contains many On the Bridge of Toome today. up his own constitutional blueprint titles thai seem to be both giving the more examples of the songs of "98, some of which Father John Murphy of Boolavogue led his pansioneers in instead of leaving it to the Northern Ah! when he last stepped up that street narrative game away and somehow Nuala O'Faolain could not have writ- will be featured in the Democrat later in the year: routing the Camolin Cavalry cm May 26, 1798. The Ireland Office or to Dublin. The loyal- His shining pike in hand, never quite dissipating the film's care- ten this memoir before the deaths of http://homepages.ioUe/~fagann/1798/uidexJitml Wexford insurgents were eventually defeated at Vinegar ist paramilitaries will have got wind of Behind him marched in grim array fully-maintained tensions, either. her parents. Hill on June 21. The words are by P.J. McCall and are the proposal. Hence their decision to A stalwart earnest band! I Went Dcnvn, which snaffled up Before its publication she was well sung to the air of EochailL stay in the all-party talks, and main- For Antrim town! for Antrim town! three awards at the San Sebastian Film known as a writer for the Irish Times, as Tone is coming back again tain their official ceasefire." (Daily He led them to the fray - Festival in Spain in the autumn, is a a producer and writer for Irish 5 O M K R O n V This song to a traditional air, has been popular in Ulster Telegraph editorial) And Roddy MacCorley goes to die At Boolavogue as the sun was setting, very fine film. Conor McPherson's Television and for her work at the since days of the United Irishmen. On the Bridge of Toome today. O'er the bright May meadows of Shelmalier, witty script is drenched in references BBC, mainly on the Open University Nil ALA O'FAOLAIN A rebel hand set the heather blazing, From the horse's mouth - "Security to specific films (intriguing echoes of programmes. She was especially Cheer up, brave hearts, tomorrow's dawn The grey coat and its sash of green And brought the neighbours from far and near; sources said yesterday that the killers Some Like Ii Hot, right down to the remembered for giving older women a will see us march again Were brave and stainless then; Then Father Murphy, from old Kilcormick, at Cliftonville may well have been, or closing image) and film genres (the voice on RTE. Previously the feeling husband had acquired a mistress. Beneath old Erin's flag of green A banner flashed beneath the sun Spurred up the rocks with a warning cry; were at least assisted by, more main- road movie is crossed with the mythic and experience of this section of the Nuala never forgave her father for that ne'er has known a stain. Over the marching men - Arm! Arm!' he cried, for I've come to lead you, stream loyalist paramilitaries - these quest to bring together two separate population was ignored. neglecting the younger children in the And ere our hands the sword shall yield The coat hath many a rent this noon For Ireland's freedom we live or die.' whose political leaders sit around the family. Brendan Gleeson as Bunny Kelly, an plates of a dollar printing set as useless Her father was a well known or furled that banner be - The sash is torn away, Stormont table. Those leaders did not Going down, older criminal with bad attitude who without each other as Git and Bunny Dublin journalist. The family would O'Faolain is very honest about her We swear to make our native land And Roddy MacCorley goes to die He led us on against the coming soldiers, deny it. This is an alarming develop- makes an unpleasant discovery are). be described as middle class and she many love affairs. In the old Ireland of from the tyrant's thraldom free! On the Bridge of Toome today. And the cowardly yeomen were put to flight; ment; it means that the much-tested However, the biggest influence on shows how different Irish life has the thirties this would have been 'Twas at the Barrow the boys of Wexford, loyalist ceasefire is now either dead or Irish style be regaled with throughout the movie: the film as a whole is probably the become since the thirties and forties. frowned upon. Instead of attacks for Chorus: Oh! how his pike flashed to the sun! Showed Bookey's regiment how men could fight; dying." (Guardian editorial) Martin Moriarty reviews his girlfriend has started going out Coen Brothers, a pair of equally In her early teens she was whisked being promiscuous Nuala got For Tone is coming back again Then found a foeman's heart! Look out for hirelings, King George of England, with his best mate Anto while he's untrustworthy story-tellers who off to girls only secondary college in hundreds of letters for supporting her with legions o'er the wave, Through furious fight, and heavy odds Search every kingdom where breathes a slave, Changing times! - "The mishandling I Went Down (Paddy been inside. Now she needs him to tell opened their most recent film Fargo Monaghan because of an obsession right to tell her story. Her observa- The scions of Lord Clare's Brigade, He bore a true man's part; For Father Murphy of County Wexford, by Britain of Ulster's constitution this with the deceitful claim that the with boys. In the days when only men tions about the many prominent Breathnach 1997 Ireland). Anto that he doesn't mind about the the dear old land to save, And many a red-coat bit the dust Sweeps o'er the land like a mighty wave. year celebrates its 30th birthday. In new arrangement. events described actually happened in took to drink Nuala's mother began to media people she knew are witty and For Tone is coming back again Before his keen pike-play - 1968 the Royal Ulster Constabulary On selected release But when he finally gets out a cou- 1987. Not to be missed. frequent the local pub because her shrewd. with legions o'er the wave But Roddy MacCorley goes to die We took Camolin and Enniscorthy, beat up Gerry Fitt MP and 400 Roman ple of months later, he doesn't quite The dear old land, the loved old land, On the Bridge of Toome today. And Wexford storming drove out our foes; Catholics in Londonderry for Paddy Breathnach opens his second get round to speaking to Anto - the brave old land to save! 'Twas at Slieve Coillte our plans were reeking, demanding housing from a gerryman- film, the award-winning / Went Down, although he does save him from a cou- Dramatist and Because he loved the motherland, With the crimson stream of the beaten Yoes. dered Protestant city council. After with an epigraph apparently from ple of low-rent gangsters intent on Though crouching minions preach to us Because he loved the Green, At Thbberneering and Bellyellis, five years of half-heartedly trying to Plato: "I went down to the Piraeus to punishing him for not paying his dissident o be the Saxon's slave, He goes to meet the martyr's fate Full many a Hessian lay in his gore; reform local government, the British see Glaucon..." There, you see: you debts, and in the process ends up We'll teach them all; what pikes can do With proud and joyous mien, Ah father Murphy had aid come over, gave up, took the old imperial option imagined he was quoting someone owing Dublin mobster boss Tom A Traitor's Kiss: The life of when hearts are true and brave. True to the last, true to the last, The Green floated from shore to shore. and ran the province (sic) like a who'd fetched up in jail, or even boast- French (Tony Doyle, a good deal less Fling freedom's banner to the breeze, He treads the upward way- colony." (Simon Jenkins, The rimes) ing of their sexual activities, and now charming than he is in Ballykissangel). Richard Brinsley Sheridan let it float o'er land and sea n Young Roddy MacCorley goes to die At Vinegar Hill, o'er the pleasant Slaney, On the Bridge of Toome today. it turns out he's lifted his title from the French wants him to track down an by Fintan O'Toole, We swear to make our native land Our Heroes stood vainly back to back; - "Unionists founder of Western philosophy. How old associate in Cork and teams him from the tyrant's thraldom free! And the Yoes at Tullow took Father Murphy and their supporters are genuinely wrong can you be. And then the first up with Bunny (Brendan Gleason), Granta, £20 hbk And burned his body upon the rack. jumpy. They would rather drag this shot reveals... the exterior of a prison. who may be an older hand at this sort Chorus General Munroe God grant you glory, brave Father Murphy, bloody war on forever than concede Oh. So he did mean what you first of thing but certainly doesn't seem Harrow-educated Protestant, Sheridan Andopen Heaven to all your men; that the game is up. All sorts of people thought. Didn't he? especially wiser. And when they do 1798: a musical celebration was a man of the theatre, politician, Young Dwyer 'mong the heath-clad hills General Henry Munroe led the County Down insurgents, The cause that called you may call to-morrow, must be nervous about the possibility Cut to prison interior, where Git find the elusive Frank Grogan (Peter Eddie Mulligan reviews Who Fears to Speak: the official duellist and revolutionary (or traitor, of Wicklow leads his men; who were victorious at Saintfield, but were defeated at In another fight for the Green again. of a settlement. Unionist politicians Hynes (Peter McDonald, excellently Caffrey), it turns out they haven't been depending on your point of view). And Russell's voice stirs kindred hearts Ballinahinch on 13th. June, 1798. He was betrayed and would be pretty much exposed as taciturn in his first film) is being told told the whole truth by French. Not 1798 bicentenary commemorative album, Above all he was an Irishman and a in many an Ulster glen; hanged in front of his own home in Lisburn, County right-wing businessmen and religious the first of the unhappy stories he's to that Grogan - one of celluloid histo- Enigma Productions/RTE CD 209 (also cassette) democrat. Fintan O'Toole covers all Brave Father Murphy's men march on Antrim on 16th June. fundamentalists. Britain would lose its this in his new biography, which is from the Barrow to the sea - testing laboratory for repressive legis- Many of the songs on Who Fears to performed by the orchestra and chorus entertaining and well-written. He is We swear to make our native land My name is George Campbell at the age of eighteen lation, surveillance technology and Speak will be familiar to most Irish and sets a high standard for the rest of shown to be a generous and principled from the tyrant's thraldom free! I joined the United Men to strive for the green; foua provinces riot control equipment." (Jeremy Subscribe to Ireland^ people although not necessarily in this the album. They also give a rousing man whose commitment to Ireland And many a battle I did undergo Hardy, The Guardian) format. rendition of The Men of the West and and democracy remained paramount. Chorus With the hero commander, brave General Munroe. Bookshop There are nineteen excellent tracks complete the album with The Boys of Sheridan played a perilous political Consent - "The Irish conflict has long Illustrated History Magazine by various artists accompanied by the Wexford. game. Although his talents gave him Too long we've borne with smouldering wrath Have you heard of the Battle of Ballinahinch For books, music tapes and cds, Irish language been bedevilled by two fundamental Irish Philharmonic Orchestra and Richard Stevens, Deidre Masterson entry to the Whig establishment, he the cursed alien laws, Where the people oppressed rose up in defence? materials, Celtic art cards and much more misapprehensions. The first is that the chorus. They range from the gentle and Aine Uf Cheallaigh all make fine remained a dangerous outsider. His That wreck our shrines and burn our homes When Munroe left the mountains his men took the characterisation of it as a sectarian SUBSCRIPTION RATES renditions of The Croppy Boy and vocal contributions to this wonderful involvement with the United and crush our country's cause; field, struggle, which has enabled 1 including post & packing) Aghadoe by Liam Clancy to the stir- compilation, whose lavish production Irishmen and radical English work- But now the day has come at last; And they fought for twelve hours and never did Westminster to escape the responsibil- I YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR History ring Henry Joy by Len Graham. The and beautiful songs are a fitting musi- ing-class elements came close to being revenge our watchword be! yield. ity of finding a political setdement. IRELAND £14 £28 £42 title track The Memory of the Dead cal tribute to the '98 uprising, which seen as treason. We swear to make our native land The second is the notion that democ- UK £14 £28 £42 IRELAND (Who Fears to Speak of Ninety-Eight) is I'm sure will sell very well. O'Toole has frequently attacked the from the tyrant's thraldom free! Munroe, being tired and in want of sleep, racy is nothing more than dictatorship EUROPE £20 £40 £60 Easter Rising and present-day republi- Gave a woman ten guineas his secret to keep; by the majority, a perspective which USA & REST canism, yet in this book he shows that Chorus But when she got the money the devil temjpted her so fails to recognise the imperative that OF WORLD US$35 US$70 US$105 he understands the principles of non- That she sent for the soldiers and surrendered minorities also need to consent to be Favourite sectarianism, equality and indepen- Munroe. governed. It was the withholding of SUBSCRIPTION FOR 1 year (4 issues) [ J dence from Britain that lay behind the including: that consent by Sands and his com- 2 years(8 issues ) • 3 years(12 issues) • Roddy MacCorley rades which made the Maze ungovern- tunes United Irish movement. These same The army they came and surrounded the place, Decade of the United Irishmen This song is by, Ethna Carbety, - the pen name of Anna able; likewise the nationalist commu- principles motivate present-day And they took him to Lisburn and lodged in jail; John Killen (td.), Blackstaff £12.99 Cheques/postal orders payable to Eddie Mulligan reviews republicanism. Could he perhaps be MacManus, tide Johnston, who was born in Ballymena, And his father and mother in passing that way nity retains the capacity to render the History Ireland and send to : The Life and Times of Mary Ann McCracken province (sic) ungovernable" (David Brcndjn Bradshaw Interview Paddy in the Smoke: brought to realize this? SR County Antrim in 1866. She and AUce Milligan founded Heard the very last words their dear son did say! the paper called The Northern Patriot and afterwards McNeill, Blackstaff £9.99 Beresford writing in The Observer) Tommy Graham Ah in Jackson on Larne Gunrunners Dept. of Modern History Irish dance music from another called The Shan Van Vocht She was married to "Oh, I die for my country as I fought for her cause, Kevin Whclan on Hurling The 1798 Rebellion Trinity College Dublin the Donegal writer and folkorist, Stomas MacManus, And I don't fear your soldiers nor yet heed your Last Word The Crosshill Railway Murders Kenny, National Museum of Ireland £4.99 Ireland a London pub, A Traitor's Kiss. and died in 1902.' Jaws^ - • • * ££We are often told that the poor are i he Lift of Richard Briiuley Sh. ildan Phone: 01-4535730 Fax: 01-4533234 Topic Records TSCD603 And let every man who hates Ireland's foe Journals A Memoirs of Thomas Russell grateful for charity. Some of them are, Ho! see the fleetfoot hosts of men, Fight bravely for freedom like Henry Munroe." Woods (ed.), Irish Academic Press £9.95 no doubt, but the best amongst the Njnie poor are never grateful. They are Paddy in the Smoke is a compilation of Who speed with faces wan, The Tree of Liberty traditional dance music recorded at a fifties and sixties. These men and From farmstead and from fisher's cot, And 'twas early one morning when the sun was still ungrateful, discontented, disobedient, Address Whelan, Cork Uiniversity Press £14.95 London Pub, The Favourite, during women brought their own rich musi- Upon the banks of the Bann. low, and rebellious. They are quite right to be so. Charity they feel to be a ridicu- the 1960s by Bill Leader of Topic cal culture with them and, at a time They come with vengeance in their eyes. They murdered our hero, brave General Munroe, Also available: Records. Originally released as a long when it was rather more risky than it Too late, too late are they. And high over the courthouse, stuck his head on a lously inadequate mode of partial Phone No playing record in 1968, it has been is today to be Irish, gathered in the few For Roddy MacCorley goes to die spear, Who Fears to Speak: restitution, or a sentimental dole, usu- PLEASE CHARGE TO MY CRE0IT CARD ACCOUNT: pubs they were allowed to carry on On the Bridge of Toome today. For to make the United men tremble and fear. the official I ally accompanied by some imperti- Fur gift subscription remastered and reissued with addi- Master Card I Access I Visa I American Express / Diners Club I Eurocard their tradition. Liam Clancy et al £13.99 cd, £9.99 cassette: nent attempt on the part of the senti- fill out the inline nitr) tional material. - Oh Ireland, Mother Ireland, mentalist to tyrannise over their pri- TOTAL sum of My card number is: acWre.hi of recipient on New sleeve notes by Reg Hall give ;? A ' There is no way of knowing how Then up came Munrroe's sister, 'she was all dressed You love them still the best; vate lives. Why should they be grateful a .•epurate picce of a comprehensive background to the important their contribution to the in green, For further details contact: for thd crumbs that fall from the rich paper musicians and the tunes and the modern music scene in Britain has The fearless brave who fighting fall, With a sword by her side that was well sharped and Upon your hapless breast; mans table? They should be seated on album is a fitting tribute to the Irish been. This is a fine album but be keen. 244 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR Fintan O'Toole But never a one of all your dead the board, and are beginning to know CARD EXPIRY DATE Signature people who were forced by economics warned, this is hard core fiddle music Giving three hearty cheers, away did she go, Telephone 0171 833 3022 it. J J Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man to try their luck in London during the and not for the faint-hearted. More bravely fell in fray, Saying,.Til have my revenge for my brother Than he who marches to his fate Munroc." Under Socialism. (1891) Imsli Oemoauc Anonn Is Anall: The Peter Berresford Ellis Column

answered Cameron's call. They included a caval- ry regiment. The United Scotsmen and The United Scotsmen had initial success. They captured Castle Menzies and forced Sir John Menzies to declare against the Militia Act. the insurrection of 1798 They marched on Blair Castle where the Duke of Atholl was forced to surrender. Then a detach- As we start to commemorate the momentous events which occurred ment went to Taymouth Castle, near Kenmore, residence of the Earls of Breadalbane. This was in Ireland in 1798, Irish Democrat columnist, Peter Berresford Ellis, also a military headquarters and the United Scotsmen were able to seize its armoury. reminds us that it is highly appropriate for us to examine parrallel Thousands of English troops poured into the developments in Scottish republicanism at this time country. These line regiments were used because the commander in Scotland was afraid of sending n January, 1798, the London government's along with hundreds of Bretons. It was from Scottish troops against their fellow countrymen. agents there uncovered plans for a general Brittany that the French Revolution had actually Faced with superior forces, Cameron proved a uprising in Scotland and the establishment been given its kick-start. good commander. His army' simply melted back of a Scottish republic. Scottish republicans La Fayette had made an impassioned plea for into the population. He and Menzies were never were in close contact with the United the continuance of the Breton parliament when caught and eventually settled in America. Irishmen. Nine prominent Scotsmen, the French decided to abolish it. Armand On July 17, 1797, an Act of Parliament includinI g progressive members ol the London Kersaint, another Breton republican, made an declared the United Scotsmen illegal and any parliament and several Scottish peers, were interesting address to the French National member liable to an immediate seven years trans- named as members of the 'Provisional Assembly, reported in Le Moniteur, January 3, portation. In November, 1797, trials for sedition Government of the Scottish Republic'. The pres- 1790: The English people, like all conquerors, started and George Mealmaker, a Dundee weaver, ident of this government was a young Scottish have long oppressed Scotland and Ireland; but it was sentenced to fourteen years, while other lawyer named Thomas Muir. Muir had already should be noted that these two nations, always members received various terms of transporta- been sentenced to fourteen years transportation restive, and secretly in revolt against the injus- tion and imprisonment. Two prominent organis- to the penal colony at Botany Bay but had made tices of the dominating race, have acquired at dif- ers, Archibald Gray and a man named Dyer, were a daring escape in an American warship and ferent epochs concessions which have engen- able to escape from prison and make their way to made his way to Prance where he had been hon- dered the hope of ultimately regaining their Hamburg in Germany. oured as the first non-Frenchman to be made a entire independence... Muir had already been The exact aims of the rising were discovered citizen of the republic. Since the Union, Scotland has been represent- in papers found by government agents in The Scottish republican movement had start- ed in Parliament, but out of such proportion to sentenced to fourteen January, 1798. A special House of Commons ed its life about the same time as the Irish move- its wealth, its extent and its population, that it Committee was sent up to investigate matters. ment in the aftermath of the American War of does not conceal the fact that it is nothing but a years transportation to Over the next four years, many Scotsmen were Independence and the French Revolution. A dependent colony of the English Government. the penal colony at to be tried for treason and sedition as members of movement called The Friends of the People had Yet the Scots know their rights and their the United Scotsmen. been formed to sever the Union of 1707 and strength; the principles developed by the French Botany Bay but had made Men like Robert Jaffrey, David Black and establish an independent Scottish republic. nation have found zealous defenders who have James Paterson in September, 1798, who, from The president of its convention in 1793, Basil been the first to merit the honour of being perse- a daring escape in the dock, applauded the United Irishmen upris- William Hamilton, Lord Daer - heir to the Earl cuted by the British Government; but these per- ing. There was a former militia sergeant William of Selkirk, declared: 'Scotland has long groaned secutions have made proselytes, and nowhere is an American warship and Maxwell who was tried on June 23, 1800, and under the chains of England and knows its con- more joy caused by your victories than in given seven years transportation having been nections there have been the cause of its greatest Scotland, the principal towns of which have been made his way to France found to be an organiser and circulator of United misfortunes... we have been the worse of every illuminated to honour them...' Scotsmen propaganda. connection with you. The Friends of Liberty in In July, 1793, Muir was arrested returning William Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, Colonel The last record of a United Scotsmen having Scotland have almost universally been enemies from Paris via Ireland. He had able defenders, Norman MacLeod, a Whig Member of been tried before the courts for the serious crime to the Union with England.' including the Irish playwright Richard Brindey Parliament for Inverness, the Earl of Buchan and of sedition was the trial in 1802 of Thomas Thomas Muir had been a prominent leader of Sheridan and the Earl of Stair and Earl of Sinclair Campbell of Glenorchy also served on Wilson, a Fife weaver, and a delegate to the this movement and during trips to Belfast, where Stanhope. Indeed, Muir had popular internation- the executive. Robert Fergusson was another National Convention. he was a friend of Napper Tandy, he had been al connections. American President George member and he was said to be the grandson of There were many other trials on less serious made an honorary member of the United Washington personally ordered the United States the Robert Ferguson of Aberdeen who had been charges. The most tragic blow to the United Irishmen. He even opened links with another warship, The Otter, commanded by Captain involved in the Presbyterian plot to assassinate Scotsman was, of course, the death in January, Celtic country, Brittany, where he was in touch Dawes, to rescue Muir from the penal colony in William of Orange. Another member was Sorley 1799, at the age of thirty-three of Thomas Muir at with the famous Marquis La Fayette who had New South Wales. Washington even offered Muir Bell (referred to in English reports as Chantilly. His death was caused by the wounds fought in the American War of Independence a position in Washington. Muir declined. 'Sorbelloni'). Angus Cameron, a tradesman received in the fight with the English man o' war. Having successfully reached Paris after many from Weem, Perth, was also a amazing adventures, including being badly member. wounded in a brush with an English warship in In 1797 affairs came to a head Robert Watt became the Cadiz Bay, arrived in Paris and was given a house in Scotland mainly due to the in Chantilly which became the intellectual centre Militia Act in which the gov- first Scottish of the Scottish republicans. Indeed, many Irish ernment had passed a law revolutionaries, like Napper Tandy, were visitors. conscripting able bodied republican to suffer Many leaders of the Friends of the People had, Scots males, between nine- the death sentence. however, been arrested and tried for crimes from teen and twenty-three years high treason to sedition. Robert Watt and David old, for military service. Riots After being hanged, Downie had been arrested with incriminating were breaking out in plans for an uprising in which Edinburgh Castle Kirkintilloch, Freuchie, his head was cut off was to be seized. Robert Watt became the first Strathaven, Galston, Dairy and Scottish republican to suffer the death sentence. throughout Aberdeen. The and thrown to the people After being hanged, his head was cut off and Government responded by sending thrown to the people. in troops. People were being killed and wounded. Among veterans of the Friends of the People The last of several Friends of the People lead- In January, 1797, the French had mistakenly and the United Scotsmen was James Wilson of ers to be sentenced to fourteen years transporta- sent troops to England. The plan was to land two Strathaven. He had become active in 1792. A lit- tion in 1794, Joseph Gerrald, had told the court armies, one at Bristol and one at Hull, appealing erate man, he was a weaver by profession and a that the English had deprived the Scottish people to English republicans to join them. The armies delegate to the National Convention. In 1820, of their rights from the time of the Union of were commanded by American and Irish officers. aged 63, then a grandfather, Wilson, true to his 1707. 'But if that Union has operated to rob us of By mistake the troops heading for Bristol landed principles, took up his gun and joined the our rights, it is our objective to regain them!' at Fishguard. It was a silly mistake. The situation younger men in answering the call in the 1820 With most of the leadership of the Friends of in England was different than in Ireland and insurrection in Scotland the People arrested, a new totally secret revolu- Scotland and the English with republican sym- In the aftermath of that insurrection he. was American President George tionary organisation had to be organised. It was pathies were English first and republican after- one of tS prisoners to be charged with High called the United Scotsmen, taking its name wards. The French had also tried to land in Treason. He was hanged*nd dies beheaded His Washington personally from the Irish model. By the Spring of 1797, the Bantry Bay in December, 1796, and this caused last words on the scaffold were 1 die a Due patri- United Scotsmen were active, based on local cells General Lake to start disarming the United ot for the cause of freedom for my poor country*. ordered the United States of not more than sixteen people sending a dele- Irishmen in Ulster. This year we will see many 1798 commemora- warship, the Otter, gate to committees at parochial, then county and Whether there was a disagreement among the tions. In Scotland, the 1820 it annually com- then national levc' The National Convention National Executive as to the time to strike is not memorated at the graves where its executed lead- commanded by Captain met every seven wee