Issue 019, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (November, 1988)

              issn 0791 - 0002 uimh.19 samhain-november 1988 25p usa 50c per issue 18 per year thatcher admits state of war changing llllllllllllhhihnifilllllllhiiiiihiiiiihiifhiinihttlllllhnihiiiiiiiiiiitlluihiihilinill goalposts recent moves by mrs thatcher's govern ment bringing in section 31 style censorship on the media under her control and altering the rules on the right to silence during interrogation in the six counties are at once a further admiss ion of british failure to rule by the consent of the people in ireland and another resort to changing the goalposts by ministerial order when the game is no longer going your way the plans to bring in political test oaths for candidates in future local elections is the british res ponse to the successful contesting of these elec tions by republicans in recent years banning prisoner candidates in the late 1970s the cry from the british was where are your elected representatives put them forward and we will speak to them in 1981 when a republican prisoner of war was elected in fermanagh-south tyrone the british responded by banning future prisoner candidates the continuing successes in six-county elections in 1982 1983 and 1985 were met with a refusal to talk and the drawing up of legislation to further res trict participation in elec tions the rejection by sinn fein poblachtach of brit ish institutions in ireland is once more shown to be the only basis for opposing colonial rule here we need only recall the 1918 all-ireland election which saw the vast major ity of the people declare for an irish republic for the clearest evidence of the british ignoring the ballot box when the result is inconvenient their response then was black-and-tan terror and the government of ireland act 1920 bringing in partition to change the unit of decision-making this produced an instant majority in the north east for british rule support for british occupa tion could therefore be called democratic sham inquest on november 14 the shoot-to-kill inquest on ira volunteers gervaise mckerr eugene toman and sean burns shot by ruc e4a death squads in 1982 opens in craigavon after a six year delay the british have changed the goalposts on the rules of inquests in the six counties many years ago so that the jury cannot bring in an unlawful kill ing verdict or indeed any verdict only findings these findings only cover who the deceased was how when and where he came by his death there can be no vho or vhy in fact just another sham and cover-up three years on meanwhile the review of three years of the hillsbor ough deal sees dublin still dissatisfied that nationalist rejection of british rule is as strong as ever brian lenihan is now touting the same shopping list to the british as peter barry was then administration of justice fair employment legislation confidence in the ruc etc in 1985 sdlp-man ssamas mallon reached euphoric heights on rte radio's northview prog ramme claiming that the udr were to be dispatched to guard remote install ations on mountain-tops — pending their disband ment , of course three years later the sdlp on newry and mourne council supported extradition into the hands of the british occupation forces in ireland tom king stated october 16 that britain is not neutral on the position of the six counties thus demolishing the sdlp's defence of the british presence in ireland the benign neutrality scenario in one fell swoop brian lenihan novem ber 2 called for the end ing of the right to silence in the six counties to b balanced by the introduc tion of three-judge diplock courts a year ago three-judge courts were re fused by the british does mr lenihan think the irish people are complete fools the hillsborough deam is only a security pacij to copperfasten partitioi - all the talk sdlp and the administration to the contrary is vacuous non sense iihoihiiiifllhuiiili winchester three the trial verdict and sentence of finbarr cullen martina shanahan and john me cann shows where irish citizens con tinue to stand before the corrupt judicial system that also railroaded the birmingham six the guildford four the maguire family and judith ward the leopard has not changed his spots • margaret thatcher replying to questions on the media ban and the end of the right to silence stated in an interview with the times london october 26 that in order to beat off your enemy in a war you have to suspend some of your civil liberties for a time • dr eames church of ireland archbishop of armagh called october 1 8 for the six counties to be put on a war footing for the defeat of the national liberation struggle • fine gael's john kelly november 1 referred to the casualties of the war in ireland who are lucky finding themselves sitting in jail all evidence as if we needed it of the ruthless colonial war britain is waging in ireland from the dublin 84u ard-fheis 1988 igh 4-9