Issue 189, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (January, 2003)

              saoi irish freedom the voice of the republican movement uimh 189 eanair january 2003 http://saoirse.rr.nu 1 70p stg usa 30 p.a 1803 — 2003 robert emmet agus eiri amach limerick eight political trial the trial opens in the special non-jury court in green street dublin on january 13 of eight men arrested at a republican sinn fein meeting in limerick over a year ago in the 13 months since known pamphlet in the early these arrests it is the consen sus of irish republicans throughout the 32 counties and abroad and also of civil rights people that this is nothing short of a political trial the eight men ard chomhairle members des long limerick and matt conway kildare chairper son of comhairle na mumhan paddy kenneally ennis and limerick spokesperson joe lynch christy dunne pat o'shea ger brommell limerick and bobby mcnamara tipperary town all face ira membership charges based on the unsupported opin ion of a police chief super intendent it is tantamount to internment without trial under the infamous offences against the state act the men's trial will take place before a special court about which a former president of the 26-county state produced a well 1970s entitled the special criminal court and outlined the objections to this sen tencing tribunal the political purpose behind this state harassment is the attempted suppression of republican sinn fein's continued opposition to british rule in ireland the dublin and british adminis trations seek the mandatory acceptance of the stormont agreement and the handing over of all claims to the six counties to the british the bail conditions imposed on the men rein forced this with the unprece dented demand that they do not take part in any republican sinn fein activi ty which effectively pro hibited them from all politi cal activity this included campaigning against the nice ii referendum and the campaigning that the men were involved in on local issues on august 9 last one of the eight men christy dunne was abducte had his life threaten 26-county eru me and only escaped by ing into the river shai both christy duni joe lynch then had the revoked because the said they were seen to in a crowded pu limerick the 26-c police have been try prop up the notorious ion clause of the offences against the state act with flimsy and ridiculous cor roboration in joe lynch case the police submitted in evidence that he was selli saoirse in o'conne street limerick the 26-county state s demanding the partial dia ruption of republican sir fein through the bringing r political charges to a nor jury court what price now freedor of expression and the righr to communicate and receive political ideas • show your opposition to this political trial by sup porting the picket on the special court in green street dublin at 10.30am on january 13 feilire poblachtach republican resistance calendar 2003 4/£3stg each 5/£4stg including p&p order now from 223 parnell street dublin 1 telephone 872 9747 e-mail saoirse@iol.ie holy cross pipe bomb anyone could have walked up to the gate and been blown to pieces to me it was meant for the parents and children i just wish someone would come out and tell us why the above sentiment by par ent liz murphy echoes the horror felt by parents on learning that pro-british ele ments had placed a bomb in the grounds of holy cross primary school in the ardoyne area of belfast shortly after 8am on january 6 as the school reopened after the christmas holidays a device was dis covered strapped to the gates of the school the device a pipe bomb was removed from the school gates by british crown forces engi neers and later defused the alert forced parents to take an alternative route in scenes reminiscent of the ku klux klan's terror campaign directed at black children in the american south • british crown forces defuse the pipe bomb after it was removed from the school gates the red hand defenders — a cover name for british instigated death squad the uda — claimed responsibil ity for the attempted carnage and demanded the school be closed holy cross girls school is situated in the loyalist glenbyrn estate where last year parents and children — many as young as five had to undergo a three-month . sus tained campaign of harass ment from loyalists as they made their way to class television viewers will recall the horrific scenes of frightened children being hur dled into school by their par ents while being met by a bar rage or missiles which includ ed urine and excrement as screaming loyalists aptly demonstrated the disease that is the colonial mind parent liz murphy was about to enter the school with her nine-year old daughter niamh when she learned of the alert and promptly took her home i won't put her life at risk it is very frightening we thought we had put all this behind us she said