Silence of the Unmarked Grave

Yesterday as my wife and I left Leinster House we bumped into my former IRA chief of staff Gerry Adams. He was entering the doorway we were exiting through so it was a tight space. He grunted ‘maith thú’ only for us to blank him. It hardly annoyed him, he has faced worse disdain than being ignored. Whether through chance or something else he appeared to be in the company of Pat Rabbitte. That sight triggered alive the last lines of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as I looked from Provo to Stick, from Stick to Provo and back again, realising that it was no longer possible to tell any difference.

It was in the same building a week earlier that Adams took to the floor in his ever floundering bid to float the lie that he had no role in the IRA. It never flies but doesn’t stop him trying. The Minister for the Disappeared seems to have misheard the old motivational saying ‘god loves a trier’ somehow thinking it was ‘god loves a liar.’

It is onerous enough having to frustrate the desires of victims even where that is a by product of action but not intent. It is something else to watch laughing and sneering in parliament when the case of a victim is raised. It must be even more galling to the families of the victim when the representative, leering hyena-like, is the person the family suspect of being behind the death of their loved one.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin with no scarcity of aplomb made his points in respect of the Boston College tapes. Both he and Taoiseach Enda Kenny might have been criticised for their contributions on the day in an otherwise excellent article in the Irish Examiner, but Harold Shipman would never have been be allowed to enter the chamber and insist on no discussion of his patients. And if he did it would be derelict of both the leader of the government and the leader of the opposition to acquiesce in the demand for the silence of the unmarked grave.

Adams did himself few favours. His response at one point was to guffaw. For the old caudillo the victim here is not Jean McConville but himself: he is the victim of Micheal Martin seeking to sabotage his chances at office. With such a level of narcissism on display it is small wonder that the victims are galvanised into pursuing their case and their quarry come hell or high water.

For long enough Mr Adams championed a culture of violence, once promising to leave Sinn Fein were it to disown armed struggle.  Much mitigation can be offered. But time has moved on and that culture has been usurped by a culture of rights. As Sinn Fein’s power to rewrite history diminishes the ability of the victims to have it more thoroughly examined grows. Rather than the laughter of our children being emblematic of our victory as envisaged by Bobby Sands, it is the wails of our victims reaching a crescendo that has come to symbolise both our defeat and our moral bankruptcy. 

18 comments:

  1. It just amuses at this stage the bull-crap Gerry spouts. But you do wonder where the hell will it all end up. He seems just about out of wriggle room and has long since lost any credibility on the issue. As in economics in 2007 bless him.

    Really hope that he stays president for life. It seems that as the IRA became the noose around his/SF political ambitions in the north, he is now the noose around SF ambitions in the south. FF must be loving him.

    The Belfast mafia didn't understand southern republicanism. Still don't methinks.

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  2. Was Brendan's thinking not that the war was over? This man has no shame bad-mouthing the likes of Brendan Hughes - a man who's integrity is above reproach, even from the slime that sits atop the leadership of what was the republican movement. History will tell a tale and it won't be to the liking of messrs Adams and McGuinness, our very own Sadlier and Keough

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  3. A habitual liar doe's not know if he/she is speaking the truth , but yet , when lying they really believe it is the truth they are speaking.

    They have a face for every lie, so I gave up counting, especially The top echelon of SF.

    To name call Brendan and Dolours is a crime in itself.

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  4. The quisling $inn Feind president for life was not a bit slow in pushing himself forward to carry the Darks coffin, I agree with Larry here ,his past is a millstone around Q$£,s electoral ambitions in the south, he has dug himself into a hole he cant get out of and he is desperately trying to tough it out, knowing rightly the damage he is doing to his party,but also sure in the knowledge that were he to relinquish his vice like grip on the reins of power in that party,his fall will be faster than Irish Robinsons knickers in a kindergarten,
    Seeing both the ex revolutionaries together i.e, Rabbite and the bearded one must indeed have giving Anthony a good laugh how the fuck as you rightly say a cara could anyone tell them apart.
    I cant watch babe station until late at night but I can turn on RTE,s politic and watch those cunts all day...

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  5. Anthony:

    I know this is off thread.

    Orange men trying it on with the people of Ardoyne. seems they are adamant to get there way.

    Orange Order applies for new parade past Ardoyne shops

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  6. Anthony, I suspect cos of where you live you'll know this but, in working class Dublin, Monaghan, Donegal and other parts of the free-state the people love the Shinner's, regardless of who their mealy mouth leader is.
    This, in part, is the appeal of their effective opposition in Dail Éireann and the uselessness of the main opposition party and their role in the economic collapse in that part of our country. Gerry and his side kick Mary Lou McMiddleclass and a very good finance spokesman Pearse Doherty appeal to folk whose wanes are emigrating while they face household and water charges heaped on top of health/pension levies and the USC. At the same time their wages are being reduced (whether work or social assistance) and genuinely I can see why they would support the alternative who talk the talk but!
    At no time do they see the impact of hypocrisy of SF tax rises in the six counties while opposing similar taxes just yards away in the 26.
    Micheal Martin can be rebutted by the Shinners with the line they're responsible for the mess and people should look to the 'national socialist' alternative, I expect they will.
    On the point of you meeting Gerry and the Minister for Communications seems you just bumped into two stickies.

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  7. Menace,

    I am not sure how much people love them. Their much hyped foray into the presidential election yielded a poor result. By election performance has not brought the result. Their Dail performance is lacklustre. Pearse and Mary Lou stand out but a molehill on a flat surface can look big. SF is more effective against Labour than it is against FF. At this stage FF should not be the leading opposition party but is.

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  8. I'm not sure I agree on their Dail performance being 'lackluster', it's maybe just the people I speak to, they come from all over Ireland and largely from middle class background but the message I'm getting is they will vote SF rather than ILP or FF again.
    Michael Colereavy in Sligo has a good connection with people and comes across well on the media, Dessie Ellis seems to be getting the message out on the ground and even thon gobshite in Monaghan is on top of things while Pat McLaughlin too is good on the media and gets the message out, they're regularly on the ground at local meetings they're connecting through GAA and shcools and non-nationals are getting assistance and will vote for them as they suffer the cutbacks as well.
    Granted the Presidential bid was poorly performed but the candidate was the wrong one as McGuinness has too many questions hanging over him and I think lost a lot of support over Gallaghergate.
    It's maybe just I'm speaking to disillusioned ex FF-ILP voters but I can see them doing better especially in their support of pro-choice, while again telling the people in the six they're pro-life.

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  9. Weasel words from Micheál Martin Scroll down until the 3rd article.


    Those who make accusations against me, apart from those in the Dáil, are implacable opponents of the peace process. They say there should not be a peace process and the war should have continued, and they attack me as a means of undermining that.

    It is also my view that those who brought together this Belfast project have a similar view. These two individuals who misled are not supporters of the peace process. They have since acknowledged that they could not and should not have given the commitments which they gave that these would not be revealed until these individuals were dead.


    And here's me thinking that part of raison d'etre was so former combatants could tell their version of the conflict as they seen it. So hopefully future generations wouldn't make the same mistakes and to help to explain WTF actually happened. Basically because some people are afraid to tell the truth and have no real intention of setting up a T&R process. Even if they do manage to set one up. On who's terms...?

    Someone correct me..I've never heard or read anywhere an Irish republican say they are against peace. I've read where they say they are opposed to the GFA. Not really the same ball park in my opinion.

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  10. mackers

    'At this stage FF should not be the leading opposition party but is'.

    Nails it!

    Civil war politics in the south will not be penetrated effectively by nordy SF interests. People down here are 'cute hoors' and have as much if not more loyalty to 'their' respective gangs than Adams and Marty Mc command in their wee gang. The Belfast mafia will be little more than a temporary protest vote or fleeting distraction.

    I for one can't wait to see what Adams has to endure next election.

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  11. Menace I stated earlier that you can fool some of the people all of the time ,the love affair you speak of re the people in the republic have with quisling $inn £eind is in my opinion nothing to do with policies or capabilities of a few individual members of that bunch of carpetbaggers but more of a public disgust at the old establishment,quisling $inn £eind have been gifted a golden opportunity to capitalise on the corruption of the state by the established parties and their cronies in banking and property,they are well placed with adequate finance to reap the dissention in the republic, however they dont appear to be reaping the whirlwind and thats because they are incapable of convincing the people in the numbers you seem to think that they have , if you take a dander around Belfast and talk to republicans,you will get your head filled with disgust at the laughing stock these well paid community workers have become,this disgust can be found in Derry and elsewhere.quisling $inn £eind is a very wealthy political party and under the wing of the brit establishment,they have become super sticks and they will head the way that bunch of wasters went,the people of the republic will wise up sooner or later.

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  12. Marty, I'm not disagreeing with you, and I do my best to persuade folk in Dublin, Sligo, Wexford, Monaghan and elsewhere that voting for the hypocrits will benefit them not one jot, unfortunately there's not much by way of alternative and, as above, on the media, if your well qualified youngsters are emigrating, your taxes being raised, services cut and your pay too you will look for a credible alternative, them I'm speaking to all over Ireland, outside of the six, are difficult to convince, it won't stop me trying though.

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  13. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams feeling heat over evidence that won't disappear

    Gerry you once said "They haven't gone away you know"..Bad news Gerry, this story isn't going away.

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  14. Sinn Fein Lord Mayor criticises IRA tactics

    www.newsletter.co.uk

    Belfast’s Sinn Fein Lord Mayor has told how his parents’ home was attacked by republicans and criticised IRA tactics during the Troubles.

    In an interview where he stressed that he wanted to respect unionist culture and acknowledged that the removal of the Union Flag from Belfast City Hall caused great hurt, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir recalled how his mother’s friend, Martha Crawford, was killed in crossfire by the IRA.

    Speaking to The Irish Catholic, the publisher of the Andersonstown News recalled how his parents had been implacably opposed to violence and started a peace movement which the IRA squashed and “republicans put our windows in”.

    The Sinn Fein Lord Mayor said that his parents were “absolutely right” to oppose violence: “How could any parent support guerrilla warfare in an urban area?

    “We knew so many people who ended up dead.”

    However, he added that as a young person “in my gut” he supported “those who fought back” and “identified with the IRA”.

    In answer to a question he said: “No, I wouldn’t say the campaign was wrong.”

    But he later cited with apparent approval the Welsh language movement who “didn’t use fire because once you use fire innocents will perish, you have no control over it”.

    http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/sinn-fein-lord-mayor-criticises-ira-tactics-1-5300923

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  15. Dixie:

    Ó Muilleoir also stated that he is leaving the signed photographs of royal family in mayoral parlour with a 1916 proclamation , he has stated he will meet anyone from royal family and is in talks with British legion so he can take part in armistice day celebrations, He said his title is "LORD MAYOR" . Oh my Lord , from hence what district did you come from , or have you forgotten.

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  16. Its justmackers a cara Martybroy O Millionaire is the quisling $inn £eind rep for the affluent Balmoral area of Belfast, his motto is that of the social climber upwards forever upwards even though that may mean travelling through the arses of other wasters like Gerry Itwasnt me .thats what makes him the shit that he is .

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