Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution basic premise is that all animals adopt to their environment to ensure the survival of their species and those that adapt best will prevail. Put another way ‘the survival of the fittest’ or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. I have long thought that the theory can be applied to virtually all walks of human life including politics. It certainly is informative when tracing the trajectory of the Provisional republican movement.
When the Provisional IRA-Sinn Fein movement was formed in 1969/70 it adopted the militant republicanism tradition that had existed in Ireland for many years, it totally rejected democratic means. As Brendan Hughes remembered:
The only objective I ever heard in the early days was to get the Brits out of Ireland… I recall Billy McKee saying this is what we wanted, open confrontation with the army.They drew their lineage back as far as Wolfe Tone and also to Padraig Pearse and the men of 1916. Their militarist stance was to last for nearly thirty years. It is arguable that they were a creature of their time strengthened by mistakes such as internment and Bloody Sunday.
The species adapted well to its environment
Inherent in the evolutionary process is the fact that the animals which are adapting best become protective of their species or if you like an elite is created. The Provisional Movement was no exception to the rule. To flourish they needed to be the dominant force in their environment; initially in the republican community and eventually the nationalist community as a whole. This is a fact that other republicans from the OIRA and the INLA can surely bear witness to as they were constantly derided by the Provisionals as either ‘rusty guns’ or ‘mad erps’.
Most people in Northern Ireland today agree with the Provisionals condemnation of contemporary militant republicans. However traces of their determination to be the vanguard of Irish republicanism are also evident in this condemnation especially in their use of language, ‘traitors to the island of Ireland’. In their mindset they are the only contemporary republicans who chose the right time to use violence and the right time to take the democratic path. Nevertheless their stance produces another problem for the Provisionals. They face the same quandary over the justification of their position that their fellow constitutional republicans of Fianna Fail and Fianna Gael faced in relation to the Provisional campaign. How can they condemn militant republicanism whilst at the same time justifying the campaign that their movement conducted?
Of course the Provisionals totally reject the elitist accusation. Not that long ago I remember having a conversation with a leading member of the movement over a few pints of Guinness when I happened to ask, Do you not think that the history of your movement has been tainted with elitism? Immediately he left the table with sentiments to the effect ‘I’m not going to sit here and listen to this shit, I get that all of the time in Belfast.’
Despite the Provisionals dismissal of these accusations evidence of their elitism also surfaces in the recent controversies over the disappeared and Gerry’s brother Liam. Would Liam Adams have been made an example of by the Provisionals, for abusing his daughter, if he had not been Gerry’s brother? Almost certainly . Would Jean McConville have been made an example of, for helping an injured soldier, if she had been related to Gerry Kelly? Almost certainly not. Would Charlie Armstrong have been made an example of, for seeing something he shouldn’t have, had he been related to Martin McGuiness? No.
Coincidently I happened to have recently read Christopher Browning’s deeply disturbing book Ordinary Men which tells the story of Reserve Police Battalion 101s involvement in the holocaust. Their preferred method of execution, as members of perhaps the most elitist political movement in modern history, was a shot to the cervical vertebrae at the base of the neck, uncannily similar to the fate that befell some of the disappeared.
Pressure on the Provisionals to change came in many shapes and forms Direct Rule, Suningdale, Electoral Success in 1981, Anglo-Irish Agreement. Their determination to preserve their position within the nationalist community led to the decision to gradually move towards the democratic path especially as the desire to continue the conflict in their support environment waned. The truth is that the nationalist/republican community had become war weary and the Provisionals realising this had to change tactics to maintain their hegemony. They had to move towards becoming constitutional republicans and in this process many former comrades were discarded.
Adopt and adapt. Preservation of the species.
Growing discontent with the conflict, global influences, British/Irish governmental pressure resulted in ceasefire, Good Friday Agreement, participation in Stormont, acceptance of the PSNI. The reality that now faces the Provisionals is that to advance their elitist position within the nationalist community they have to make further political concessions. This may eventually involve an admission that in hindsight much of their campaign was unnecessary. In their submission to the Haas talks they call for an ‘effective independent, international truth recovery mechanism’ which will not only involve the other side giving up its secrets but as the Provisional Movement is quite aware it will mean a full and truthful account from themselves.
In the war between the ballot box and armalite, the ballot box was the unequivocal winner but now it is demanding reparations. A process that history has shown us may bring with it its own inherent dangers. A step too far? Unlikely, remember adopt and adapt to survive. Of course this analogy with the ‘survival of the fittest’ can be made in relation to virtually all dominant political parties.
From Sandy Boyer
ReplyDeleteToday, Saturday November 23, on Radio Free Eireann Suzanne Breen of The
Belfast Telegraph will explain the background to Marian Price's guilty plea to buying a cell phone that was used to claim the attack that killed two British soldiers.
Derek Warfield of the Wolfe Tones will recount the history of the
Manchester Martyrs who were hung for attempting to free Fenian prisoners,
Radio Free Eireann broadcasts at 1pm New York time on WBAI 99.5FM and
wbai.org. We are live from Rocky Sullivan's of Red Hook, 34 Van Dyke Street in Brooklyn.
Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfe Tones will perform at 8pm on Saturday at Rocky Sullivan's together with the Lost Tribe of Donegal.
Dr Martin-
ReplyDelete" I am not going to sit here and listen to this shit "
Nothing like a quiet pint and a chat about the local GAA and whats the crack-its politics most of the time-I don't like talking about it in bars either-
" Made a example of had he been related to Gerry Adams "
Gerry's brother was kneecapped-
" Made a example of had he been related to Martin McGuiness "
Martin's nephew was kneecapped a while back-
Sandy-
" Suzanne Breen will explain the
background to Marian Price's guilty plea "-
This should be good if its anything like the telegraph's piece-ach-Suzanne has lost her wee
hero-but she is still trying to milk her-
From Amac
ReplyDeleteThe MRF’s activities are part of a long standing policy of calculated organised murder and framing of Republicans. Aside from the nefarious intrigues of British Intelligence’s so-called Cairo and Igoe gangs, a few notorious examples during the Tan War were the murders of Cork city Mayor Tomás Mac Curtain in 1920; followed by Limerick’s Mayor George Clancy, his predecessor Michael O’Callaghan, and Joseph O’Donoghue the following year. All the victims, whilst active Volunteers (and widely considered moderates), were unarmed, and the gunmen involved believed to have either been members of the Royal Irish Constabulary or their mercenary Auxiliary Division.
In each case concerted propaganda was disseminated suggesting Republicans were responsible.
Cases exist of course where there was no attempt at all to pin a shooting on Republicans, such as shootings supposedly whilst attempting to escape custody; or claims of opening fire in self-defence as occurred with the suspicious death of John Lynch in Dublin’s Royal Exchange Hotel.
Neither is vehicle cruising and opening fire on the unarmed and innocent an MRF invention as the Dublin and Tipperary spectator crowds at Croke Park discovered when the revolver, rifle and machine guns opened up; and the Paras SLR fire unleashed into NICRA marchers in the Bogside.
As many are well aware, the MRF was one state-sponsored gang of many following the ‘shoot-up stitch up’ policy, preceded by others, and continued by others after its disbandment.
I thought this was a great article and hope to see more from the author.
ReplyDeleteGerry Adams's brother was kneecapped, maybe Gerry was on one of his frequent trips to the Moon or Mars or to the outer reaches of the Universe, and he didn't know what was happening. Martin McGuinness's nephew was kneecapped, yes, by people SF call "dissidents".
ReplyDeleteMartin, I noted the part where you said that, "comrades were discarded", those comrades were discarded because they had woken up to the fact that a sell-out was underway. Those comrades were also threatened with all sorts of violence, including death, if they so much have had the temerity to stick their heads above the parapet and tell people the real truth about what was happening.
Too many people were knee capped , Battered with lump hammers etc, because they spoke out as to what was actually happening and SF roll of going into Stormont, something they always denied , Born Manipulative Liars.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering what shite Adams will be spouting out after the Death of Fr Reid with reference to Liam and other matters, Now that The late Fr Reid can't reply.
That low life Adams would stop at nothing to gain points from anyone who died.
I only hope that Father Reid has left plenty of documents for his family to Read and publish , maybe truth will prevail which would be believed , but Adams would have the gaul to say, His auld memory was drifting away!.
There is no doubt that elitism existed and it is now exacerbated off the scale.
ReplyDeleteIt has exacerbated to the extent,that Sinn Fein now believe they are accountable to no one, not even the people who put them where they are today.
Tony O Hara was right, Sinn Fein had to dictate all and nothing moved or formed without their say so.
Unbelievably it has gotten worse
and the reason it has gotten worse is the fear they are being exposed.
At a high profile Republican funeral last year Sinn Fein or the IRA Army council, left strict instructions that when the coffin went into a Republican Remembrance Garden not one word was to be uttered but a prayer.
A similar thing happened when a former Volunteer challenged Adams about his attendance in the 'Dark's' garden. His door was rapped that evening by a senior IRA man to deliver a threat.
It was the same senior Sinn Fein/ Army council member on both occasions.
Michael Henry is right Liam Adams was shot, a flesh wound to the leg.
Many, many people believed he got a by ball and the punishment did not fit the crime.
Was Jean Mc Conville's crime assisting an injured soldier?
It doesn't fit with so many people's accounts, nor does the theory she was singled out as a Protestant.
I know so many people who assisted dying and injured soldiers and I don't ever remember
anything happening to them?
At the same time, it is hard to envisage a widow woman with ten children knowing anything of any significance.
I disagree with Martin, that the IRA turned to peace because there was no longer a flavour for war.
We now know that the military campaign was being run down and undermined for years but as he rightly points out, many amongst them are too elitist and too busy talking shit to want to hear any thing else.
Elitism, be it ideological, political, cultural, racial or gender based, is a common feature of dominant groups in society. Even the school yard bully and his followers exhibit elitist traits. That the PRM was elitist is indisputable. The smaller republican organizations can attest to this fact. For example, INLA prisoners were treated as second class by the the PIRA prisoners.
ReplyDeleteElitism is an expression of the desire to be dominant.
"Too many people were knee capped , Battered with lump hammers etc, because they spoke out as to what was actually happening and SF roll of going into Stormont"
ReplyDeleteI have to be honest and say I've never heard of anyone being kneecapped or battered with lump hammers for speaking out. The republican movement was never a democratic movement the elitism was manufactured and controlled by certain elements within the leadership as a means of control, a means of buying people and a means of distraction. It was not an individual thing it was always controlled and directed by those who craved power and those we called ball lickers in jail carried threw the snowballs that others rolled we all know who we're talking about. The same people do the same thing today its just a tactic not a personal opinion.
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is a flawed anology when comparing the natural progression of a species and a political entity. Even Darwin admitted that balthough he could get from B to C through a process of what is called evoloution, he could not get from A to B which was how the secies got there in the first place, he could not give us the prime mover, the first cause, the creator. A species has to adapt to its environment to survive its an unpredictable process controlled by nature. Not so with politics.
When it comes to politics and the evolotion of a political party, its idealogy or the preferred mindset if you like to be indoctrinated into the masses, its the global elite who are the controlling force, they are nature, they have the ability to change the landscape both environmentally and politically they are those hidden power brokers. Those who pull the strings of the David Camerons, Tony Blairs, Barack Obama's of this world is. It is they who dictate the evoloutionary sucess of a political party and its idealogy.
No-one can deny outside influence directed the provisional movement to the stage of where it is today but I dont think that its natural progression or survival of the fittest, its simply politics being controled by puppet masters who pull the strings of the politicians who then float the illusion that whats best for the country is best for the people.
How can Ireland ever be free from outside influence when we have politicians who are sleep walking Ireland into a Federal Europe or supporting the idea of "the pooling of sovereignty"
How can Ireland be in control of its own destiny when others decide our laws, when others control our currency, when Ireland and its people do not even own the currency we use. Irish people, even British people actually pay private investors a tiny percentage on every Euro and Sterling, for the privilege of using their currency.
Johnny Lately some stuff
ReplyDeleteI dont doubt any of that Mackers and I know the same people have murdered and threatened other republicans they viewed as a threat. Iv'e just never heard of anyone being kneecapped or beat with lump hammers for speaking out. Thats not saying it didn't happen im just wondering when.
ReplyDeleteI think Mickey Donnelly was; Kevin Perry as well. But it is a long time since those cases. I think I came close to it during the O'Connor fall out if the locals are to be believed.
ReplyDeleteHowever much a thorn in their side you were at that time Mackers you were also the rubicon they could not cross. They no doubt had many opportunities but for whatever reason never took them. Although they did I hear give Kieran Nuggent a punishment beating one time when he was at his lowest and sadly addicted to the drink so nothing would surprise me.
ReplyDeleteAM,
ReplyDeleteTo comment briefly on the article you shared on the comments "From AMAC" in regards to the historical continuity of British murder gangs in Ireland ... This really piqued my interest because it offers what I see as a counter to the Free State Loyalist Revisionism of Republican history to personify the Easter Rebellion and Tan War/Civil War to reflect their issues with The Troubles violence. It puts the latest British acts of Dirty War in Ireland into a firm historical perspective. I was wondering what the original source is and if you or they would mind it being shared with Republican groups and Easter Centenary Historical groups in America? It reminds me of the way the one contributer Larry Hughes contextualizes British massacres in Derry, Ballymurphy, Newlodge, etc with British colonial actions in Malaysia, Oman/Aden, Kenya, etc. As usual for the blog this was a thought-provoking article and the comment threads are as informative as the source material.
Johnny Lately,
ReplyDeleteI don't think Kiernan was beaten but I know he was totally ignored.
They painted his images all over walls but they never lifted a finger to help him.
Johnny Lately,
ReplyDeleteHere's two soloution how Irish people can at least start to take control again. 1, Next election on both sides of the border everyone vote out the current residents on the hill, Leinster House and vote in A.N. OTHER..It would be a wake up call to a lot of people. 2, Next elections anywhere on the island, no one vote. Belgium got along ok with out a goverment in the not to distant past. They didn't implode. People still were able to buy milk, bread, get paid on time etc with out any real fuss.
As for 'the hidden power brokers' you mentioned controlling how people think, vote etc. I read somewhere it's being implemented by a policy called 'common purpose'. It is meant to be happening world wide only in different languages. The end result is the same. The choosen few stay at the top and decide who lives or dies. And banks get richer.
As long as people keep voting the same people & parties in, then they only have themselves to blame.
Tonight and next Monday on TV3 there are two 1hr documentaies called Sinn Fein: Who Are They?
ReplyDeleteThe first of two programmes providing an insight into Sinn Fein, the party that has made the transition from armed struggle to mainstream politics. In the second of two programmes providing an insight into the party, Martin Ferris discusses his IRA past and Pearse Doherty talks candidly about his leadership ambitions
Sinn Fein lining up Mary Lou McDonald to follow Gerry Adams as president
But others are scathing. When Anthony McIntyre, who served 18 years in prison, was asked about Mr Adams association with the IRA, he said: "Charlie Haughey could say he was never in Fianna Fail ... Ian Paisley could say he was never in the Free Presbyterian Church, that securocrats made it up to discredit him. No serious historian or journalist believes it. Can you name me one historian or journalist who has corroborated it? I know of none."
Should be an intresting show....
For a start Frankie I dont believe any Irish person should even consider registering to vote in a British controlled election where the outcome of that election is a British controlled admistration that enforces British law and any such administration would be subservient to the Queen of England.
ReplyDeleteRefusing to recognise Britains right to have the power that allows an Irishman the opportunity to take part in the democratic process on the island of Ireland is just as valid and as impacting as either spoiling your vote or joining in the charade and pretending you can make a difference.
No government can govern legitimately if a slim majority or a minority of the population takes part in the democratic process. Voting in A N Other is simply rearranging the deck chairs, all politicians are ultimately liars and careerists there are very few who remain true to their principles.
To refuse to participate in the electoral process and the refusal to be part of a process that allows foriegn governments the authority and the right to decide the destiny of the people and the Island of Ireland is far more legitimate and morally right than allowing ourselves to be fooled into believing we can change the outcome by taking part in an already corrupt process that creates opportunities for corrupt people to become wealthy old men who do nothing for the people of Ireland except inflict on them debt slavery and more foriegn control.
Nuala,
ReplyDeleteI had heard that he was beaten. Don't know how true it was but there were some harsh comments at his funeral from mourners about those who supposedly did it
AM – many thanks for posting my above comment regarding the MRF.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Conley Jr – thank you for your reply and I’m glad you found my comment of interest. It was first published here on The Pensive Quill as it appears above. My name’s Antaine Mac Coscair. I’m a researcher/writer on Irish Republican history, particularly 1914-1924. Assuming AM has no objections I’m happy for the comment to be shared stating the source.
Antaine,
ReplyDeletefeel free. Thanks for contributing here
Mackers,
ReplyDeleteI didnt know. Albert would have seen him quite often as they would have sat drinking quite close to his work.
Tragic and so unfair.
Appreciate it, Antaine. I'm sharing it with a group I'm with that is organizing a centenary commemoration of the 1916 Rising.
ReplyDelete