IFC NewsList  -  November 2004

<<<DECEMBER 2004 HOME OCTOBER 2004 >>>

SEARCH ARCHIVES

11 28 04
11 26 04
11 17 04
11 14 04
11 08 04
11 06 04
11 05 04
11 04 04
11 02 04

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: PIRA rift set to derail power sharing 
Date: Nov. 28, 2004

A statement released to the media indicates that Provos in Tyrone, South Down and Antrim will defect over the continued decommissioning of weapons, to be destroyed in exchange for Gerry Adam's political aims. While the latest decommissioning act addressed in the provo statement is merely one in a series of already-completed acts of weapons destruction and handover to the Brits, it is a welcomed statement and shows that the provo grassroots is finally fighting back after being spoon-fed Adams' lies for too long.

************************************************
PIRA rift set to derail power sharing 

Henry McDonald, Ireland editor 
Sunday November 28, 2004 
The Observer 

The PIRA is facing a fresh split as it prepares to disarm a huge arsenal to boost the chances of power-sharing in Northern Ireland. 

A group of dissenters issued a statement to The Observer this weekend, criticising PIRA and Sinn Fein leaders over their willingness to destroy the arms and explosives. 

The disgruntled Provisionals - who claim to be from East Tyrone, South Down and Co Antrim - have also demanded publication of minutes from a 1997 IRA army convention that ended in division and the creation of the breakaway Real IRA. They claim these show that republican leaders promised PIRA members there would never be any decommissioning. 

The emergence of fresh dissent comes amid growing hopes of a historic deal between Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) that could result in the restoration of devolution. Critical to that deal are IRA moves to disarm huge amounts of arms and explosives, which will be independently verified by churchmen and photographed. 

Ian Paisley's DUP is considering a joint Anglo-Irish government plan this weekend that would lead to IRA disarmament in return for the main unionist party joining an executive with Sinn Fein. One senior DUP member told The Observer that the party was '95 per cent of the way' to a comprehensive deal. Paisley's party will hold talks early this week with the Canadian general overseeing the disarmament of paramilitary weapons, John de Chastelain - a move welcomed by Sinn Fein's chairman MitchelMcLaughlin. 

However, in a statement, the PIRA rebels claimed republican leaders, including senior Sinn Fein figures, 'stood before countless IRA army council meetings, executive meetings, conventions and even low-level meetings with grass-roots, and told volunteers that the IRA would never surrender its weapons'. 

The statement adds: 'Never in the centuries-old history of Irish Republicanism have IRA soldiers contemplated the humiliation of defeat or surrender by destroying its weapons at the behest of our enemy, the British.' 

Referring to rifles, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns, ammunition and explosives, it reads: 'During the Eighties huge amounts of weapons were smuggled into Ireland for the purpose of intensifying the war in the six counties, mainland UK and in Europe but, unknown to the army's rank-and-file, some of our trusted leaders were secretly conducting negotiations with British officials without army authorisation. 

'At no time did the Irish government make the surrender of weapons a condition for the establishment of all-party peace talks. The Libyan weapons are the ones republicans and Irish security sources believe will be put beyond use if the DUP-Sinn Fein deal is secured.' 

However, serious doubts remain within the republican rank-and-file over such a move. The dissenters' statement included a demand for the publication of the 1997 Army Convention minutes. 

'Full and accurate accounts of all Sinn Fein and IRA meetings will be disclosed in the near future for people to come to their own conclusions. The army [IRA] was deeply divided in the aftermath of the notorious 1997 convention, which resulted in the resignation of key military personnel. Today we stand on the brink of another serious split. Decommissioning is the surrender of modern-day IRA and we oppose it.' 

The Observer has learnt that the opponents of decommissioning have held discussions with the founders of the Real IRA, who also control minutes from the 1997 convention. It is likely the dissident republican terror group will hand over the notes. 

It is unclear exactly how much support the new group has. Crucially, the Belfast, Derry and South Armagh Brigades of the IRA are said to be solidly behind the leadership of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. It is not clear if any of the dissenters hold senior IRA positions, although one of those behind the statement claims to belong to the 'army executive', the second tier of leadership that runs the movement's day-to-day operations.


************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Gerry Adams -- "A Provisional Pushover"
Date: Nov. 26, 2004

Excellent commentary from The Blanket on Adams' continued and ridiculous denials regarding his past associations with the IRA.

The Irish Freedom Committee® 

************************************************
The Blanket

A Provisional Pushover
Tom Luby • 26 November 2004 

They are two of the most intriguing questions swirling around Gerry Adams. Why does he keep on denying that he was and is in the Provisional IRA, something that the proverbial dogs in the street, from Ballymurphy to Ballyholme, know full well? And why does he keep attacking those in the media with the temerity to say so? 

The first of those questions is the more difficult to answer for it requires a journey deep into a mind that not every investigator would wish to explore, an expedition not for the faint-hearted! 

It can’t be because of fear of self-incrimination, for those days have gone forever. Indeed it would not be stretching credulity too far to suggest that if tomorrow the British or Irish governments were to stumble upon a filing cabinet stuffed with signed confessions of IRA membership, the Great Bearded One would never have to stand in front of a judge and the filing cabinet would be disappeared as quickly and completely as.......well, Jean McConville. 

The reason the GBO denies any connection to the IRA, that he disavows responsibility and deeds that other comrades are obliged, and occasionally happy to admit, can only be speculated upon but there can be little doubt that he does so because it suits his interests. 

It enables him to lie during negotiations with Unionists and the British about his influence over issues like decommissioning and to take refuge in the fiction that he must "go to the IRA” to get approval for every concession. 

As important, it creates a public relations-friendly image of a peaceful political activist who intervened to escort misguided colleagues out of the cul-de-sac of violence, an image that goes down well with the “useful idiots” who fawn over him in places like Hollywood. Would Martin Sheen and Fionnuala Flanagan be so eager to host cocktail parties for the GBO in their Beverly Hills homes if they thought this is the man under whose leadership the Belfast IRA developed and perfected the car bomb now used by Jihadists around the world? Or that this is the man who was disappearing people when General Pinochet was only a faint glint in Henry Kissinger’s eye? 

And it sets the stage for that day, perhaps in seven years or so, when he makes his bid to become tenant of that mansion in Phoenix Park currently occupied by Mary McAleese. To win the presidency of Ireland, to take his place alongside Dev as the modern giant of peace, the GBO must by then have completely bleached his image of any association with Jean McConville or the devices that wrought such carnage in Donegall Street or on Bloody Friday. 

That’s where the second question comes in, the reason why he bullies the media every time one of its number raises the issue of his links with the Provisional IRA. He does this, quite simply, because bullying the media per se in these days of the peace process works. It works because the Irish media are terrified of being labelled “unhelpful” to the process, terrified of being accused of aiding dissidents or weakening the Provisionals’ peace camp by asking awkward questions. 

A startling example of the GBO’s growing ability to bend the Irish media to his will has come in a dispute between Gerry Adams and the Irish Times’ Northern Editor, Gerry Moriarty over that journalist’s use of the tag “Provisional” when writing about Sinn Fein and/or the IRA. 

Last July 20th, Adams sent an angry letter to the paper’s editor, Geraldine Kennedy, protesting Moriarty and the paper’s practice. He wrote: “My position is straightforward and consistent. A paper of record should be just that. There is no such organisation as Provisional Sinn Fein. Gerry Kelly is not a Provisional Republican. He is a republican, full stop. He is also a North Belfast MLA. A paper of record should reflect that.” 

Leaving aside the fact that if the Irish Times were truly a paper of record it would also report that Adams sits on the Provisional IRA's Army Council and that Gerry Kelly is a very recent Adjutant-General of that body, it is clear that Adams’ admonition of the paper and its Northern Editor had a quite remarkable effect. 

The evidence is there in a simple Lexis-Nexis search of the Irish Times before and after Adams’ wrote his ill-tempered missive. 

In the three months before Adams’ letter, that is between April 20th and July 20th 2004, Moriarty, either by himself or in a joint byline, wrote 56 articles about Sinn Fein and/or the IRA of which 9 used the term “Provisional” or “Provisionals” - that is 16 per cent of the time. 

Now the dispassionate observer might wonder what Adams was making all this fuss about, after all using the “P” word in sixteen out of every hundred articles is not exactly excessive. 

But nonetheless the Irish Times reacted as if it had been accused of advocating the planting of firebombs in Clery’s department store in O’Connell Street. In the three months following the receipt of Adams’ letter Moriarty, either by himself or in a joint byline, wrote 55 pieces about Sinn Fein and/or the IRA - about the same as in the three months prior - and guess how many times the “P” word was used? 

It appeared exactly once - that is 1.8 per cent of the time. Adams’ angry letter had produced a near ninefold decrease in the paper’s use of the term which had so offended the president of Provisional Sinn Fein. 

The story doesn’t end there. The sole occasion on which the word “Provisional” was employed was in a piece on the life of the recently deceased former Chief of Staff and Belfast Commander, Joe Cahill. Now, it would be pretty difficult not to use the "P" word in a credible account of Cahill’s IRA career. I mean how would you describe what Cahill did at the time of the 1969 split in a way that would not offend Gerry Adams? Like this, perhaps: “When the IRA and Sinn Fein split into the IRA and Sinn Fein, Joe Cahill went with the IRA and Sinn Fein”? I think not. What that article demonstrates is that if Cahill had not died the word “Provisional” would have been totally erased from the Irish Times’ lexicon. 

A sad chapter for the Irish Times (perhaps the paper should tell us whether such a decision has indeed been made and if so where, in Belfast or Dublin?) but a significant feather in the cap for Gerry Adams. Anyone willing to put money on the chances that by the time the Provisional Sinn Fein and Provisional IRA leader is running for the Park not a journalist in Ireland will dare breathe a word about you know what? 


************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/
-----------------------------
Subject: RAFFLE DRAWING for IFC CHICAGO POW EVENT – SUNDAY NOV. 28th
Date: Friday November 26, 2004

**********
It's not too late to purchase chances on the raffle drawing for the hand-painted hankie made by POWs at Maghaberry Gaol, to be raffled off this SUNDAY. Please email us at info-at-irishfreedomcommittee.net (copy and substitute @) if you'd like to enter the drawing.
*********

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Now joined by the outstanding music and entertainment of STEVE FITZGERALD and FRIENDS
*********

60th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION and POW SUPPORT EVENT

Don't miss this opportunity to hear Veteran Republican FRANK O'NEILL (81) speak on his memories of Charlie Kerins, who was Officer Commanding Oglaigh na hEireann at the time of his hanging by pro-British Free State forces on December 1, 1944.

More here: EVENT FLIER 

RAFFLE TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE - PIC of 1st PRIZE HERE: Click

Email us to purchase raffle tickets or for more info: Info-at-irishfreedomcommittee.net (copy and substitute @) 

ALL PROCEEDS DIRECT TO NEEDY FAMILIES OF IRISH REPUBLICAN POWS.

Hope to see you there!

The Irish Freedom Committee®
************************************************
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 04, 2004

CONTACT: 
Irish Freedom Committee/ Cumann na Saoirse
P.O. Box 11714, Chicago IL 60611
Ph. (312) 560-9311


60th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION OF THE EXECUTION OF CHARLIE KERINS

“All I ask is that the ideals and principles for which I am about to die  will be kept alive until the Irish Republic is finally enthroned.”
- Charlie Kerins, December 1, 1944

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 28, 2004
NOON – 4 PM
THE ABBEY PUB
3420 W. GRACE, CHICAGO

SPEAKER: FRANK O’NEILL
“A Personal Remembrance of Charlie Kerins”

Also:
RAFFLE PRIZES 
Handmade Artwork by Irish Republican POWs
CHRISTMAS CARD SIGNING
For Irish Republican POWs

ALL PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY TO FAMILIES OF IRISH REPUBLICAN POWS

HOSTED BY CHARLIE KERINS UNIT, IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE
More Information: (312) 560-9311

DIRECTIONS:

TAKE THE EL: Take the blue line to the Addison stop. Walk east to 
Elston and head north to Grace. 
TAKE THE KENNEDY EXPRESSWAY: 
Northbound: Exit KIMBALL and go 61/2 blocks NORTH to Elston, go LEFT 1 
block to Grace.
Southbound: Exit ADDISON and go EAST 5 blocks to Kimball, go LEFT 2 
blocks to Elston, go LEFT 1 blocks to Grace.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT US ON THE WEB: 
http://www..irishfreedomcommittee.net

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Garda tells trial of 'sensitive' surveillance operation
Date: November 17, 2004 

In this case "sensitive" denoting that the Senior Garda does not have to explain his methods or evidence; merely give his word that he "believes" these men are guilty. Even Britain requires more evidence to convict on Membership that the Irish Free State -- where the single word of a sole Senior police officer is enough to result in a 5-Year conviction for Membership in a proscribed organization.

************************************************
IrelandOnline
17/11/2004 - 14:59:23
Garda tells trial of 'sensitive' surveillance operation



The head of the Garda National Surveillance Unit told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today he was involved "in a sensitive operation" during his observation of two men accused of membership of an illegal organisation.

Detective Inspector Kevin Lynch said he was on duty in Dundalk in June last year and he went on to describe seeing each of the accused on different occasions in the Co Louth area.

Detective Inspector Lynch was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of two men who have each denied membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on June 13 last year.

They are Paul Kelly, aged 40, of Cedarwood Park, Dundalk, Co Louth and Eamonn Matthews, aged 25, of Dublin Road, Killeen, Newry, Co Down. Last 
week Matthews was cleared of having explosives with intent to endanger life in Co Louth on June 13, 2003.

Detective Inspector Lynch was among a number of members of the National Surveillance Unit who gave evidence today.

He said he saw the accused Matthews driving a jeep in Dundalk on the evening of June 12 and he followed the jeep to Inniskeen village where he saw it turning into a premises used as a workshop by Joe Fee, who last week was convicted of having explosives.

He saw the same jeep later that evening on the Castleblayney road and he followed it and a Nissan Almera car driven by the second accused, Paul Kelly, as they drove in convoy to Fee’s house.

Cross examined by Kelly’s counsel Ms Aileen Donnelly SC, Detective Inspector Lynch said he did not have a camera with him and he added: "This was a very sensitive operation."

He denied a suggestion by Ms Donnelly that he was mistaken in identifying Kelly as the man he saw driving the Nissan Almera on the evening of June 
12.

The trial is continuing.


************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/
-----------------------------
Subject: IFC BOSTON - POW EVENT THIS SATURDAY
Date: Wednesday November 17, 2004

RAFFLE TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE -- Please email JOE or PATRICK at the addresses provided below. ALL PROCEEDS DIRECT TO FAMILIES of IRISH REPUBLICAN POWs.

The Irish Freedom Committee®
************************************************
The Boston Chapter of the Irish Freedom Committee extends a
WELCOME! FAILTE! To: 

“A Connemara Night”

Featuring
THE EXCELLENT MUSIC AND SONGS OF
DAN HALLISEY

Also Featuring: 
=RAFFLE=
1st Prize – Cape Cod Irish Village for Two
2nd Prize – Full-size Charcoal Grill
Many More Prizes!

Saturday November 20, 2004
8:00 PM to Midnight

Teachers Union Hall Lounge
Columbia Circle
Dorchester MA

ALL PROCEEDS TO DIRECTLY BENEFIT NEEDY FAMILIES of IRISH POLITICAL 

PRISONERS IN IRELAND AND ENGLAND

For more information please contact 
JOE wtonejoe1-at-juno.com (substitute @)
Or 
PATRICK doctor977-at-verizon.net (substitute @)

DIRECTIONS:
From the “T” take Redline to JFK/Umass Station
From SE Expressway, Exit 15 (JFK/Umass Exit)
Proceed toward Carson Beach – Just beyond State
Police HQ on Right, turn onto Driveway marked:
“Bayside Expo” Northern Entrance

(Wheelchair accessible)

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/
-----------------------------
Subject: IFC CHICAGO POW EVENT – SUNDAY NOV. 28th
Date: Wednesday November 17, 2004

Don't miss this opportunity to hear Veteran Republican FRANK O'NEILL (81) speak on his memories of Charlie Kerins, who was Officer Commanding Oglaigh na hEireann at the time of his hanging by pro-British Free State forces on December 1, 1944.

More here: EVENT FLIER 

RAFFLE TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE - PIC of 1st PRIZE HERE: Click

Email us to purchase raffle tickets or for more info: Info-at-irishfreedomcommittee.net (copy and substitute @) 


ALL PROCEEDS DIRECT TO NEEDY FAMILIES OF IRISH REPUBLICAN POWS.

The Irish Freedom Committee®
************************************************
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 04, 2004

CONTACT: 
Irish Freedom Committee/ Cumann na Saoirse
P.O. Box 11714, Chicago IL 60611
Ph. (312) 560-9311


60th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION
OF THE EXECUTION OF
CHARLIE KERINS

“All I ask is that the ideals and principles for which I am about to die 
will be kept alive until the Irish Republic is finally enthroned.”
- Charlie Kerins, December 1, 1944

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 28, 2004
NOON – 4 PM
THE ABBEY PUB
3420 W. GRACE, CHICAGO

SPEAKER: FRANK O’NEILL
“A Personal Remembrance of Charlie Kerins”

Also:
RAFFLE PRIZES 
Handmade Artwork by Irish Republican POWs
CHRISTMAS CARD SIGNING
For Irish Republican POWs

ALL PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY TO FAMILIES OF IRISH REPUBLICAN POWS

HOSTED BY CHARLIE KERINS UNIT, IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE
More Information: (312) 560-9311

DIRECTIONS:

TAKE THE EL: Take the blue line to the Addison stop. Walk east to 
Elston and head north to Grace. 
TAKE THE KENNEDY EXPRESSWAY: 
Northbound: Exit KIMBALL and go 61/2 blocks NORTH to Elston, go LEFT 1 
block to Grace.
Southbound: Exit ADDISON and go EAST 5 blocks to Kimball, go LEFT 2 
blocks to Elston, go LEFT 1 blocks to Grace.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT US ON THE WEB: 
http://www..irishfreedomcommittee.net

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Provos to use arms against republicans
Date: Sun Nov. 14, 2004

While negotiations continue in Stormont and Westminster for the permanent destruction of thousands of tonnes of weapons belonging to the republican movement and the people of Ireland, Gerry Adams and co. have negotiated a stipend of "around 15 per cent" of the weaponry --- to be used against republicans still seeking to rid Ireland of a British military presence. In 1922 these quislings and turncoats were called BROY HARRIERS. Today they are STORMONT TROOPERS -- GFA ENFORCERS doing the will of the British government for British sterling and a seat in Stormont.

The Irish Freedom Committee® 
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net

************************************************
Sunday Independent
Sun Nov 14, 2004

Provos will be allowed to keep 'defensive' guns
ALAN MURRAY

THE IRA would retain around 15 per cent of its weaponry after decommissioning to "deter attacks" from rival anti-Agreement republicans, loyalists claim to
have been told.

The indications are understood to have been given to loyalist representatives during joint negotiations with Northern Ireland Office officials over the last
month.

Neither the precise volume of weapons which would be retained by the IRA after two major acts of decommissioning, nor the type, was mentioned but it is 
anticipated that the majority would be hand guns and small rapid-firing sub-machine guns suitable for close quarter anti-personnel attacks.

But it is understood that the bulk of the IRA's formidable weaponry, including tonnes of Semtex explosives, heavy machine guns and AK47 assault
rifles, would be destroyed during the acts of decommissioning.

The manner of destruction and how it will be verified remain sticking points which will not be resolved until the British and Irish Governments decipher the
considered responses from the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein to new political proposals which will be revealed on Wednesday.


************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Irish still get raw deal in North
Date: November 8, 2004 

"Catholics are twice as likely to be unemployed as Protestants, a figure which has remained virtually unchanged for three decades and the latest official statistics show Catholics are still suffering considerable economic disadvantage".

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE GFA??

The Irish Freedom Committee® 

************************************************
November 8, 2004 
Catholics still get raw deal in North

(by Suzanne Breen, the Village) 

A member of the North's Equality Commission has accused the British government of failing Catholics who still experience substantially higher unemployment and poverty rates than Protestants. 

Una Gillespie was speaking in advance of a major conference on Tuesday to discuss 30 years of fair employment legislation in the North. She said that while advances had been made, Catholics still experienced significant inequality and discrimination. She called for more economic investment in nationalist areas. 

Catholics are twice as likely to be unemployed as Protestants, a figure which has remained virtually unchanged for three decades and the latest official statistics show Catholics are still suffering considerable economic disadvantage, Ms Gillespie said. 

Sixteen per cent of adult Catholics live in households where no-one works, compared to 11% of Protestants, according to the figures published by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister last month. 

More than half of Protestants live in households where everyone works, compared to just over a third of Catholics. Almost six per cent of Catholics of working age are unemployed, compared to three per cent of Protestants. 

Although there has been a slight improvement in Catholic male unemployment rates vis-à-vis the Protestant equivalent, this has been negated by a widening gap between Catholic and Protestant female unemployment rates. 

Ms Gillespie, a former Sinn Féin councillor, is co-ordinator of the West Belfast Economic Forum. In September, she was appointed to the Equality Commission which is charged with tackling discrimination in the North. 

The Commission should be given increased powers and resources, she said: "Religious inequality in the workforce isn't a thing of the past. Legislative changes might mean the blatant discrimination of previous years has decreased but we are still a long way short of equality. 

"The British government is not delivering on the equality agenda it promised in the Good Friday Agreement. It is failing all working-class people but it is disproportionately failing Catholics and women." 

Catholics, particularly males, remain under-represented in the private sector generally, district councils, and security-related jobs. Protestants are increasingly under-represented in the health and education segments of the public sector. 


************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: IFC Condolences to POW Sean Maurice Gileece 
Date: Nov. 6, 2004

The Irish Freedom Committee sends our deepest sympathies to POW Sean Maurice Gillece on the sudden and tragic deaths of his father and sister yesterday in a car crash. We ask that friends and supporters keep Sean and his family in your thoughts and prayers as his mother is still in serious condition in hospital. 

Please send sympathy cards to 

Sean Maurice Gillece 
Roe 3+4
Maghaberry Prison
Upper Ballinderry Road
Lisburn, Co. Antrim BT 28 2PT
North of Ireland 



************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Ongoing Special Brach harassment of republicans
Date: Nov. 5, 2004


************************************************
Derry Journal
Friday 5th November 2004

'Special Branch Offered Me The World'


A 37-year-old man has claimed that PSNI Special Branch offered to pay him £500 a month to spy on suspected dissident republicans in the Strabane area.

The man, who does not want to be identified, claimed he was approached by two Special Branch officers who called at his home in Sion Mills.

He said that despite efforts made on his doorstep to persuade him to become a police informant, or risk going to jail, he refused the offer.

The man told the 'Journal' that he was asked to provide information on three local republicans, one of whom was his "mate."

Detailing the encounter which took place outside his home near Sion Mills Police Station at around 10 a.m. last Wednesday, he said: "They came to my house wearing uniforms but weren't wearing any name badges.

"They said, 'We're Special Branch. This is the way it is, either you're with us, or against us. I said 'what do you mean by that'? and they said, 'You know the
craic with DNA, you can find DNA anywhere.'" 

He claimed he took this remark as a veiled threat as police had previously arrested him and removed items during a raid on his home following an incident in Strabane approximately six months ago. He was later released without charge.

"They said 'we want you to become an agent for us.' I said 'in other words you want me to become an informer and they said, 'if that's the way you want to put it.' I said 'I don't want to be one of them, I don't want to end up with a bullet in the head.'"

The Sion Mills man, who works in Strabane, claimed that one of the police officers who called himself 'Declan' did all the talking, but wanted to give him a
new handler's name "because too many people know about Declan." "He turned round and said, 'You'll be getting £500 a month.' I joked 'is that all you're giving me to risk getting a bullet in the head?' His next retort was, 'no, the money does go up if you stay where you are and give us the information we want.

"As far as they are concerned I am involved; I said I'm not involved in anything," he insisted.

The man continued: "They wanted to come into the house but I didn't let them. I said I didn't want to do it and if I was involved, should they not be trying to
get me away from it? They said 'no, we want you to stay where you are.'

When he told them he would be going public to highlight the incident, "they shrugged it off," he said.

The man continued: "I told them, 'I don't want any money from you or anything to do with you.' They said 'all we want is five minutes of your time and we'll
persuade you. They said 'we can meet you at a rendezvous place.' After that they asked me a few questions about people I know and they also questioned
me about incidents in the town.

"I said I have to go now and they asked me for my phone number. I said 'I haven't got a phone and I haven't got a car either.' They said 'don't worry about phones and cars.' They were offering me near enough a car; they were offering me the world.

"It came to the point where they said 'we don't want you running about thinking you are getting away scot free. You only have to look at the examples of [naming two well-known Strabane republicans currently in prison].

The man went on: "Once I wouldn't give them my telephone number they said 'how can we get in contact with you?' They said 'we know where you work, what if we give you a wee shout there?' They said it wouldn't be suspicious if they came into my place of work. They said 'you live up in Sion, you're safe,' as if to say if I touted I would be all right up there.

"That is where it ended, I just shut the door and that was it but they said they were going to get in contact again. They said they were going to crack down on known republicans or just anybody who disagrees with them.

"They even mentioned that I had papers belonging to the 32-County Sovereignty Committee in the house; they were basically saying if you don't give us what we want you're going to jail," he claimed.

The man said that by highlighting his case, he also wanted to reassure other people who may receive similar approaches to "buy" their co-operation with
offers of money and other inducements.

"When I mentioned a person who was shot dead in Strabane for being an informer, they just laughed and said 'you'll be all right,'" he claimed.

A spokeswoman for the 32-County Sovereignty Committee condemned the incident and urged "all republicans to be vigilant." "This insinuation about placing DNA is extremely dangerous; Derry man Seamus Doherty is in jail over the head of peelers fitting him up," she claimed.

When contacted in relation to the matter, a PSNI spokesman said: "We cannot comment on individual cases. However, in common with all police services in Ireland, Great Britain and Europe, it is our duty to gather intelligence to help combat crime."

The spokesman added: "If any person feels they have been treated unfairly by the police they should contact the Ombudsman."


************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/
-----------------------------
Subject: CHICAGO POW EVENT – Sunday November 28, 2004
Date: Thursday, November 04, 2004

If you are in the Chicago area Nov. 28, please join us for a Commemoration and Christmas support event for Irish Republican POWs and their families. Sponsored by the Chicago Chapter of the IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE, Charlie Kerins Unit.

Go raibh maith agat;

The Irish Freedom Committee®
************************************************

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 04, 2004

CONTACT: 
Irish Freedom Committee/ Cumann na Saoirse
P.O. Box 11714, Chicago IL 60611
Ph. (312) 560-9311


60th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION
OF THE EXECUTION OF
CHARLIE KERINS

“All I ask is that the ideals and principles for which I am about to die 
will be kept alive until the Irish Republic is finally enthroned.”
- Charlie Kerins, December 1, 1944

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 28, 2004
NOON – 4 PM
THE ABBEY PUB
3420 W. GRACE, CHICAGO

SPEAKER: FRANK O’NEILL
“A Personal Remembrance of Charlie Kerins”

Also:
RAFFLE PRIZES 
Handmade Artwork by Irish Republican POWs
CHRISTMAS CARD SIGNING
For Irish Republican POWs

ALL PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY TO FAMILIES OF IRISH REPUBLICAN POWS

HOSTED BY CHARLIE KERINS UNIT, IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE
More Information: (312) 560-9311

DIRECTIONS:

TAKE THE EL: Take the blue line to the Addison stop. Walk east to Elston and head north to Grace. 
TAKE THE KENNEDY EXPRESSWAY: 
Northbound: Exit KIMBALL and go 61/2 blocks NORTH to Elston, go LEFT 1 block to Grace.
Southbound: Exit ADDISON and go EAST 5 blocks to Kimball, go LEFT 2 blocks to Elston, go LEFT 1 blocks to Grace.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT US: info-at-irishfreedomcommittee.net (substitute @)

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/
-----------------------------
Subject: BOSTON POW EVENT Saturday November 20th
Date: Thursday, November 04, 2004

If you are in the Boston area November 20th please attend and support this event, sponsored by The Boston MA Chapter of the Irish Freedom Committee.

Go raibh maith agat;

The Irish Freedom Committee®
************************************************
The Boston Chapter of the Irish Freedom Committee extends a
WELCOME! FAILTE! To: 

“A Connemara Night”

Featuring
THE EXCELLENT MUSIC AND SONGS OF
DAN HALLISEY

Also Featuring: 
=RAFFLE=
1st Prize – Cape Cod Irish Village for Two
2nd Prize – Full-size Charcoal Grill
Many More Prizes!

Saturday November 20, 2004
8:00 PM to Midnight

Teachers Union Hall Lounge
Columbia Circle
Dorchester MA

ALL PROCEEDS TO DIRECTLY BENEFIT NEEDY FAMILIES of IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS IN IRELAND AND ENGLAND

For more information please contact 
JOE wtonejoe1-at-juno.com  (Substitute @ for -at-)
Or 
PATRICK doctor977-at-verizon.net

DIRECTIONS:
From the “T” take Redline to JFK/Umass Station
From SE Expressway, Exit 15 (JFK/Umass Exit)
Proceed toward Carson Beach – Just beyond State
Police HQ on Right, turn onto Driveway marked:
“Bayside Expo” Northern Entrance

(Wheelchair accessible)

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Female prisoner launches court appeal over living conditions
Date: November 2, 2004 

At present there are no women republican POWs at Hydebank, however until they were released from Maghaberry recently, two female republican POWs were threatened with being transferred to this prison under great protest. It is clear that facilities for women prisoners at Hydebank are woefully inadequate and are presenting numerous violations of prisoners' basic human rights.

************************************************
UTV
TUESDAY 02/11/2004 13:15:32 

Female prisoner launches court appeal over living conditions

A woman prisoner has launched a High Court action amid claims that conditions in a new detention centre are worse than those at Maghaberry Prison, which led to a damning report by the Human Rights Commission.  The women were transferred from Maghaberry in June to a unit within a Young Offenders Centre at Hydebank Wood, Hospital Road, Belfast. They claim that they are subjected to frequent strip searches, have no in-cell sanitation and are harrassed and abused by young male offenders. One of the women, Karen Carson, has applied for a judicial review and she cleared the first hurdle when
a judge granted leave to proceed against the Prison Service.

Ms. Carson, from Ballymena, is serving 12 years of a life sentence for murdering her husband and was in Mourne House, Maghaberry, for seven years before being transferred. She said in a sworn affidavit: "The recent move has caused me and other female prisoners distress and annoyance. 

"I do not believe that the regime or facilities in Hydebank were prepared to accomodate female prisoners and that the Prison Service is not willing to accept
this for reasons of expedience." 

She said that in Maghaberry she had a toilet and wash basin in her cell, but has neither in Hydebank. 

"I feel that particular considerations apply to women which make it a breach of their Human Rights for them to be detained without in-cell sanitation," she said.

"That is why the purpose-built facility at Mourne House was, quite properly, fitted with such facilities These facilities are particularly important for life
sentence prisoners who, to a much larger extent than other prisoners, must view the prison as their home."

Ms Carson also complained that in Hydebank, unlike Maghaberry, she is subjected to a full strip search after every visit, whether professional or family.
She added: "I am completely naked so that prison officers can ascertain if anything is sellotaped or strapped to my person. The female prison officers do
not touch me; nevertheless this is an utterly humiliating experience." 

Ms Carson said young men detained in the centre shouted abuse of a lewd and sexual nature at women prisoners. "It can be very distressing and degrading and can cause us concern for our safety," she said.

"I believe the Prison Service has failed to take appropriate steps to protect me and other female prisoners from such intimidation and abuse, which is
in breach of my rights under the European Convention. Male life prisoners are not required to share accommodation with prisoners of the opposit sex."
Solicitor Paul Dougan, of John J Rice and Co., said: "This case touches upon issues which affect the 50 or so female prisoners detained at Hydepbank.

The matter is due to come before Mr Justice Girvan again on December 10."

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Prisoner's Group Allege 'Sustained Harassment'
Date: Nov. 2, 2004

For more on the ongoing harassment and threats against prisoners' welfare workers see
British Army/RUC police harassment of prisoners’ aid workers (IFC NewsList June 17, 2004)


************************************************
Derry Journal
Tuesday 2nd November 2004

Prisoner's Group Allege 'Sustained Harassment'

The Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association has accused the PSNI of mounting a campaign of ' sustained harassment' against their members after several of them were arrested and charged over recent months.

The group said: "Over recent times the RUC/PSNI has waged a campaign of sustained harassment against our members bringing them to court on trumped up charges in an attempt to stop them working for the republican prisoners being held.

"Over the past six months we have had no less than three members in court on various charges including assault an obstruction yet when these cases came to be heard they were dismissed by the magistrate."

The spokesperson went on: "From the start we knew these cases to be false but our members were forced to go through with all the inconvenience of going through the court system.

"When the evidence was heard it quickly became obvious that there was no case to answer.

"But this did not seem to bother the RUC/PSNI who seem determined to harass our members at all times.

"In one of these court cases one of our members was arrested after he was stopped and searched in the street.

"There was no problem until the RUC/PSNI tried to remove a baby from its pram and then our member was arrested with the baby being left in the street.

"When this came to court it was clear that there was no case to answer as our member was only behaving as any parent would and even the judge recognised this."

The prisoner's group continued: "If the RUC/PSNI think that they can silence us by this sort of harassment we have news for them.

"Irish republicans will not be silenced by harassment and intimidation. We will continue to campaign on the rights of republican prisoners and we will continue to highlight the plight of prisoners being held by the British authorities.

"Bogus charges, assaults and intimidation will not silence us. We would be interested to hear those who speak of human rights where they stand on this
campaign of sustained harassment against our members."

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

TOP

TOP

TOP

 

TOP