Issue 0003, Republican Bulletin : Iris Na Poblachta, Issue 003 (Jan./Feb., 1987)

              republican bulletin iris na poblachta uimh 3 eanair/feabhra-jan./feb 1987 20p shame of extradition is there another country in the world which would hand over its nationals to an outside power on demand asked ruairi 6 bradaigh urlabhrai at a meeting of republican sinn fein in athlone on december 17 last he said that the new extradition act was tantamount to the old backing of warrants system which operated between the british police and the inspector-general of the ric when all ireland was under direct british rule ruairi 6 bradaigh was speaking at the agm of the sean costello-martin hurson cumann he continued in addition the erosion of neutrality signalled by the passage of the single european act and the banning of the ira veterans 1916-21 club from free state army barracks — not that sinn fein believes they should ever have been in such places — bring home to ordinary people just how anti-irish and slavishly anglicised the 26-county state has become it would now countenance the handing over of irish people to the british presence in ireland which the republican sinn fein picket on the british embassy in dublin on january 1 1987 see page 6 for text of letter handed in for the british ambassador long kesh support a chairde we write to your paper to wish everyone involved in republican sinn fein a productive and creative 1987 while some of us would not identify totally with your politics we do identify with your sincerity and acknowledge your collective right to stand by the principles of what we believe to be republicanism of the fenian variety as we see it while that variety of republicanism exists there can be no revolution in ireland without its support and input and no amount of fancy media orientated gimmickry changes that reality we look forward to working with republican sinn fein personnel during 87 and in the future pat mullin tyrone martin heaney s derry kevin donegan s armagh pows — h-blocks long kesh contradicts its own 1 937 constitution furthermore this so-called extradition is to be retroactive this means that people living and settled in the 26 counties for many years can be torn from their families and placed in unjust detention across the border at the mere whim of the british authorities the naming of june 1 next and later december 1 as the date of operation shows clearly that such handing over on demand of irish nationals is not desired in itself by the 26-county politicians it is rather a political bargaining counter in a cynical manoeuvre with the british under the hillborough agreement like the treaty of surrender of 1921 the boundary agreement of 1925 and sunningdale in 1973 this latest deal will prove that the british will win out and that the 26-county esta blishment will be left with yet another betrayal of their own people another damned good bargain which copper fastens british rule in ireland section 31 ban arising out of cardinal (!) fiaich's call on rte radio one for the removal of section 31 of the broadcasting act ruairi 0 bradaigh asked at what level was the section 31 ban being applied to republican sinn fein on november 3 last the day after the sinn fein ard-fheis a request was made from rte to me as spokes person for republican sinn fein to stand by and be available for interview on the pat kenny show that evening nothing more was heard from rte and no interview took place it is in order to ask publicly who is applying the ban to republican sinn fein is it a minister of the 26-county state or the chairman of the rte authority or the director-general or is self-censorship being applied by the journalists themselves the public are entitled to know who exactly is denying them the right to know in this case and why