Sandy Boyer telling us about Radio Free Eireann's Saturday show.

Radio Free Eireann will interview Ed Moloney about the arrest of former IRA Chief of Staff Ivor Bell and Margaretta D'Arcy about her three month prison sentence for protesting against US warplanes at Shannon on Saturday March 29 starting at 1 pm New York time.

Radio Free Eireann Discuss Ivor Bell & Margaretta D'Arcy

Derry rights activist and blogger Pauline Mellon with a piece from The Diary of a Derry Mother which featured on 27 March 2014.


North Korea's Fashionista
I have just read a BBC news article on how men in North Korea are required to get a haircut similar to that of their leader Kim Jong-un. Until recently people in North Korea had to choose their hair-style from a choice of eighteen styles for women and ten for men, but now they have to do what they are told, with no mechanism for appeal. This is the same North Korea that the United States Government says has 'draconian internal control mechanisms' and that the 'regime’s greatest security concern is opposition from within'.


The State of this Place

The former mayor of Derry, Sinn Fein councillor Kevin Campbell, has labelled the Boston College oral history archive a 'touting programme.' The former H Block blanket man has remained an enthusiastic supporter of MI5 determined British policing methods in the North despite the force having conducted a Twelfth of July raid on his home in a blatant act of political/sectarian vindictiveness. All the while he tries to wax curiously oblivious to the fact that the PSNI whom he supports is carrying on the work of the RUC in seeking to jail republicans who he fought alongside during the IRA’s failed war against the British state.

Former Derry Mayor Labels Boston College Archive a Touting Programme


Launch of the Anne Devlin Society

A relative of a innocent man shot dead by the British Army during the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre has been subjected to verbal abuse by a Sinn Fein councillor in the city.

Kate Nash reported on her Facebook page that:

Nasty experience at front door with SF canvasser Patricia Logue. My sister explained to young man that we wouldn't be voting for them because they had tried to stop the Bloody Sunday March, he left quietly but she rushed up to door calling sis a liar, I went to door and told her that the dogs in the street knew this, she continued shouting going up the street.


Bloody Sunday Family Abused by Sinn Fein in Derry

Given the endless gibberish of Sinn Fein councillor Michael McIvor, posting as Michaelhenry, the proposal from a commenter that a dedicated page be set aside for his gibberish - and seconded by another commenter - has been adopted.

It is not the TPQ inclination to ban him.



Michael McIvor
SF Councillor Michael McIvor.

Councillor Michael McIvor Gibberish Page

Tonight TPQ reprints an essay written in 1902 that is still relevant and fitting for our time, over 100 years later. With thanks to The Art of Manliness.

“The Power of Truth”
From The Power of Truth: Individual Problems and Possibilities, 1902
By William George Jordan

TRUTH is the rock foundation of every great character. It is loyalty to the right as we see it; it is courageous living of our lives in harmony with our ideals; it is always—power.

“The Power of Truth” (1902)

TPQ features a Radio Free Eireann interview with Ciaran Mulholland on the political imprisonment of Ivor Bell.

John McDonagh (JM) and Sandy Boyer (SB) interview via telephone from Belfast Ciarán Mulholland (CM) an intended independent Republican candidate from the Black Mountain ward to run for Belfast City Council.

Arrest of Ivor Bell: Radio Free Eireann Interviews Ciaran Muholland


Protest For Ivor Bell

Sandy Boyer outlining Saturday's Radio Free Eireann coverage.


Radio Free Eireann will cover the arrest of former IRA Chief of Staff Ivor Bell when we broadcast on Saturday March 22 from 1-2 pm New York time. We will interview Ciaran Mulholland, the organizer of a demonstration for Bell in Belfast on Saturday. Ivor Bell was planning on acting as Mulholland's campaign manager in the upcoming election for the Belfast City Council.

Radio Free Eireann on Arrest of Ivor Bell

Guest writer Ciaran Mulholland, Independent Candidate for Black Mountain Ward, with a piece on political policing.






Political Policing Preventing Democracy in Forthcoming Elections

Pauline Mellon with a piece that initially featured in The Diary of a Derry Mother on15 March 2014.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine rang me deeply distressed about a letter she received in respect of her domestic rates bill. The letter instructed her to attend a court hearing regarding her non-payment of rates. Rates are a type of property tax which provide funding for public services. Rate payments are levied between district councils and central government. I should mention that this girl in particular missed payments which totalled just over £200 due to unforeseen circumstances. My friend's dilemma led me to seek information through Freedom of Information Legislation on the level of rate arrears across the Derry City Council area.

At least Dick Turpin wore a mask!

Investigative journalist Lyra McKee has been researching the events of politician Robert Bradford's last few weeks of life and is ready to put it into book form. To be able to do so, she is crowdfunding to meet costs.
 

What does that mean? It means this is a work funded by us, the public, the reader. TPQ admires and supports DIY ethos and asks our readers to pledge funds to help Lyra meet her goal.

Crowdfund Appeal: The Last Story of Robert Bradford

Guest wtiter Mark Hayes reviews the recent Thomas Hennessy book on the H Block hunger strikes.


Tom Hennessey’s latest book deals with the incredibly emotive issue of the Hunger Strikes in Ireland (1980-81). Historian Hennessey has assiduously trawled the government archives to produce what the publishers have described as 'the definitive account of one of the seminal events in modern Irish history.' I am not certain that even Professor Hennessey himself would be comfortable with that particular piece of promotional hyperbole, and (as we will see) there are some very good reasons why such high praise should be treated with considerable circumspection.

Of course, the story and significance of the Hunger Strikes is familiar to anyone with a cursory knowledge of contemporary Irish history, and accounting for the removal of Special Category Status from Republican prisoners, and the momentous events which followed, is unquestionably a task of the utmost importance. The issue precipitating the Hunger Strikes was, in essence, relatively simple and straightforward - whilst the British government claimed that Republicans were criminally motivated, the prisoners themselves insisted that their incarceration was a consequence of their engagement in a political struggle.

Hennessy And the Hunger Strike: Doubting Thomas

Lisa Marklund has been around the Scandinavian crime fiction scene for quite some time. Like many writers in that sphere her work has been the beneficiary of a renaissance, hoisted aloft on the rising tide generated by the success of Stieg Larrson. Thirty million books sold in 30 languages, she is no literary hanger on.

Unlike many other Scandinavian novels that I have read Exposed is set in the blistering heat of a Swedish summer. I love those novelists who can write in such a way that the temperature they describe seems to radiate out from the pages. The heat here was as palpable as anything from one of Walter Mosley’s LA based Easy Rawlins novels.

Exposed

Guest writer Sean Bresnahan with a piece on Rosemary Nelson fifteen years after her death.

15 years ago today human rights solicitor and mother of three Rosemary Nelson was brutally murdered by an under-car booby-trap device outside her Lurgan home in an attack bearing the full imprimatur of the British state and its intelligence apparatus. Their fingerprints and those of RUC Special Branch were all over her death despite subsequent denials and the cover-up of the truth. The idea that the paramilitary group styling itself the Red Hand Defenders had the capacity to carry out this type of attack without state direction and assistance beggars belief and carries little to no weight in the nationalist community.

Collusion is no Illusion

Guest writer, Helen McClafferty with a piece on Sinn Fein's support for PSNI participation in the Patrick's Day parade in New York.



Well friends, here are the public "tweets" (voices) of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness on the subject: I am sure it will come as a shock to some:

Tweets that Don't Fly

Sandy Boyer on what tomorrow's Radio Free Eireann will bring.

The Druids, Irish Rebel Band, will perform live at Rocky Sullivan's of Red Hook, 34 Van Dyke Street in Brooklyn, from 1-2 pm New York time on Saturday March 15.

Radio Free Eireann Broadcasting The Druids

Mick Hall with a an obituary on the late trade union leader, Bob Crowe. It initially featured in Organized Rage on 11 March 2014.

The death of Bob Crowe is not only a personally tragedy to his family and friends but a major setback for the Labour movement. It was not for nothing Bob was hated by the ruling classes and especially the neo liberal elite. For he epitomised all they hate and fear, a class conscious worker who had enough confidence to understand there is a better way.

As a trade union militant he was at the top of of the tree. He understood perfectly there is a time to negotiate and a time to shake the tree. The trick he perfected was when shaking it you do not have to bring it crashing to the ground, unsettling its roots is often enough. Time and again he won wages and working conditions for his members which were denied other workers due to their union leaders timidity.

He also understood working class people will never achieve the true benefits of their labour without a socialist political party which fights for their best interests in the same tenacious way the Tories represent the ruling classes. He believed the LP was long past its sell by date, and having been filleted by the Blairites of its socialist roots and democratic structures it was beyond repair. For the trade unions to continue to finance the LP was having the opposite of what is intended.

Bob Crowe: The Finest Trade Union Leader of his Generation; a Working Class Hero is Something to be



This short piece with my memories of tunnel digging in Magilligan  initially featured in Magilligan POW Memories.

In the spring of 1975 the decision was taken to tunnel out of Cage F Magilligan. As one of those ‘cleared’ volunteers I was asked to help in the dig. The mouth of the tunnel was in the half hut. I was apprehensive about entering such a confined space. It was bad enough to be in jail without volunteering to be squeezed into an even tighter space. Yet when I got down it there was a sense of freedom.

A Hammered Tunnel






Ancient Order of Hibernians

Bronx County, Division 5, Woodlawn & Wakefield

PO Box 225, Woodlawn Station

Bronx, NY 10470

aohbronxdiv5woodlawn@gmail.com

The Druids - Ireland's top rebel band - at Rory Dolan's on March 14th.


Woodlawn-Wakefield Division 5, Bronx County, of the Ancient Order of Hibernians is proud to present, direct from Ireland the “DRUIDS”, Ireland’s great Rebel Music band at Rory Dolan’s, 890 McLean Avenue Yonkers on Friday night, March 14th starting at 10pm.The event will also mark the American premier of ‘FREEDOM’, the “DRUIDS” just released CD featuring a number of newly composed original ballads.

The Druids are fast becoming one of the top bands in Ireland and their unique blend of music, ballads, and stories behind the songs promises a great night of entertainment to kick-off the St. Patrick’s Day weekend” said AOH Division 5 President Martin Galvin. “The DRUIDS burst on the Irish music scene only five years ago and now play to packed houses in Ireland having already won the Leinster Entertainment Award and had their ‘STARRY PLOUGH’ album named the album of the year at several international festivals. They have had triumphal tours in Scotland, across Europe and played the World CELTIC FOOTBALL CLUB Supporters Convention in Spain. This is an opportunity to see them at Rory Dolan’s in the heart of Woodlawn on a night that will benefit America’s oldest and largest Irish-American organization and its efforts to fight for fair Immigration Laws, freedom for all Ireland, promoting Irish history and ideals and preserving the Irish character of Woodlawn.

Tickets at $15 dollars are now on sale. For tickets or information call 914-512-7056914-512-7056914-512-7056914-512-7056 or 718-324-8726718-324-8726718-324-8726718-324-8726.


This event will mark a week of activities around St. Patrick’s Day that will see Division 5, now the fastest growing Division in Bronx County, marching with Bronx County on the 17th and of course marching up McLean Avenue on the 22nd as well as joining in the special St.Patrick’s Day Mass at St. Barnabas.




Druids at Rory Dolan's

TPQ features a Press Release from Carlin Solicitors, the legal team representing former republican political prisoner Gerry McGeough.




Aiden Carlin Solicitor has confirmed that his client Gerry McGeough is to make representations to the judge-led inquiry in relation to On The Runs.

On Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron announced a senior judicial figure will head the inquiry into the operation and extent of the administrative scheme for OTRs. The person conducting the review will have full access to all government papers about the operation of the scheme. They will be free to interview key individuals in the civil service and the police, and any others where those individuals are willing.

Commenting on the announcement, Aiden Carlin said:

Despite the fact half a dozen High Court Judges have already heard evidence on this subject via my client’s case, the significant disclosures made in John Downey's case were never previously made at Gerry McGeough’s trial, Appeal or in other related proceedings. Instead the NIO would appear to have sat quietly on this material while my client spent 2 years in prison. My client will want to know what letters were sent to Sinn Fein regarding him and whether those letters contained errors. My client has always maintained his innocence and also intends to make a complaint to the Police Ombudsman in light of the revelations in John Downey’s case.

Solicitor Aiden Carlin concluded:

We have already written to the Secretary of State and the Police Ombudsman and shall be factoring recent developments into our client's pending Supreme Court application.

Yours faithfully

_____________
Carlin Solicitors



Carlin Solicitors
Second Floor, Saint George’s House
99 / 101 High Street
Belfast, BT1 2AG
www.carlinsolicitors.co.uk
Tel: 028 90 434464028 90 434464 | Fax: 028 90 434282

Gerry McGeough - 2011 Conviction Unsafe

Hans Küng has for long been my favourite theologian, and I have read quite a few of them including some who were clearly religiously insane. Upon discovering during the prison protest era that he did not buy into the papal bull of papal infallibility, I was enamoured towards his healthy disrespect for authoritative nonsense. It was what drew me to his book Infallible? in 1982.

The Beginning of All Things

Sandy Boyer with his regular weekly update on what is being brought to listeners this Saturday from Radio Free Eireann.

Stephen Murney who was recently freed after spending 14 months in Northern Ireland's maximum security Maghaberry prison will be on Radio Free Eireann Saturday March 8th when the show broadcasts at 1 pm New York time. He was charged with "possession of materials of use to terrorists" because he photographed the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Radio Free Eireann Speaks to Former Political Prisoners

 

Police Accountability & Transparency in Policing Operations




This year's Annual Rosemary Nelson Memorial Lecture.





Annual Rosemary Nelson Memorial Lecture - 2014

Mick Hall with a piece on British ruling class myopia. It initially featured in Organized Rage on 24 February 2014.
The wilful blindness of members of the British ruling class never cease to amaze and disappoint me. Take David Hare, one of the UK's more progressive playwrights and screenwriters, who was interviewed by Decca Aitkenhead in last Saturday's Guardian, having just completed a trilogy of films to be broadcast shortly on BBC TV about a 'renegade' member of the British security services who is forced to flee the country.
David hare

At the beginning of her interview Aitkenhead points out to Hare:

Only hours before she arrived to do the interview, the high court ruled that David Miranda's detention last year had been perfectly lawful. To many, the judgement seemed inexplicable – how could the security services rightfully detain a journalist's partner under legislation designed to combat terrorism? – but the playwright could not look less surprised.

The wilful blindness of members of the British ruling class never cease to disappoint, take playwright David Hare?

Bloody Sunday: Politicians "using past for political advantage in present"
Brendan Cole interviews Anthony McIntyre
VOICE OF RUSSIA
3 March 2014

A convicted IRA murderer has said it would be wrong to prosecute paratroopers involved in the Bloody Sunday shootings, insisting it is time to draw a line in the sand. We spoke to Dr Anthony McIntyre, who was convicted of the 1976 shooting of a loyalist in Belfast. He says there are no grounds for legally pursuing the soldiers involved in the 1972 massacre of 14 unarmed civilians in Derry.

He told VoR he takes this line not because he has any sympathy with the paratroopers but because he believes it's the only way to go.

He says, "I am also fearful that any attempts to prosecute British soldiers for Bloody Sunday will result in no British soldiers being convicted of murder - the best would be manslaughter - and then the British government would proclaim throughout the world 'British not guilty of murder on Bloody Sunday'.

"I think the world assumes that the British were guilty of a terrible atrocity, a war cime on Bloody Sunday."

TRANSCRIPT: Bloody Sunday: Politicians "using past for political advantage in present"

I was in a Stockholm hotel with my wife when I read the final instalment in the Millennium trilogy. Each book improved on the one before it, no small feat given the heights scaled by the first. While reading it, snugly tucked away from the city’s cold streets I managed to infuse the experience with the natural ambience acquired from doing the Stieg Larsson tour of Stockholm. Great walkabout and exchange with the tour guide plus a few coffee stops along the way to alleviate the chill factor. Stockholm coffee shops are a bit different from those in Amsterdam. In the Dutch capital high tea is given a new meaning. Coffee is a big beverage in Sweden: apparently the Finns are the one nation that likes it more. 

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo introduced mysteries which The Girl Who Played with Fire probed but did not solve. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest unravels and lays bare the mystery at the heart of Lisbeth Salander, drawing the curtain on a literary performance that both charmed the world of crime fiction and saw Scandinavia perched at the zenith of the genre.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest

Guest writer Sean Bresnahan with his take on the controversy surrounding the construction of a new stadium at Casement Park.

Catching up on BBC's The View the other night on the Sky planner I came across an episode from a few weeks ago where Stormont Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Caral ni Chuilin, was interviewed by host Mark Carruthers in relation to objections from local residents to the Casement Park development in West Belfast. While the proposed stadium has been in the pipeline for quite some time it seems only now that residents are becoming aware of just ho imposing this new facility will be on the privacy of their homes and indeed the wider community for a variety of reasons.

Field of Dreams?