Issue 112, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (August, 1996)

              feis na poblachta zpm satharn 7ii mean fomhair aras na ngael staid doiminic gaillimh teamaf • oideachas triu leibheal trf ghaeilge agus colaiste nua oiliuna • an tsf ochain bhreagach — stadas na tire faoi lathair • an braithreachas ceilteach british withdrawal the answer • british troops firing volleys of plastic bullets at nationalist protesters in the centre of derry on july 13 as this photograph illustrates 1,000 extra brits were drafted into the six counties from july 10 to contain the nationalist backlash against the british government's capitulation to orange mob rule the media tried to falsely portray their deployment as a response to attacks on nationalist areas the capitulation to loyalist mob rule by the british government over the july 1 2 period ranks with 1 969 and the 1974 loyalist strikes as one of the greatest crises in the six counties a statelet built and sustained at intervals by such intimidation and even pogroms directed against the nationalist community the british government bears ultimate responsibility for the situation in the six counties and has backed down on every occasion to mob rule in favour of british rule there the events of the garvaghy and lower ormeau roads and throughout the north have shown to the world nothing has changed there since 1969 • the myth of the powerful pan-nationalist axis ofdublin and washington has been exploded thedublinadministration abdicated all responsibility for the beleaguered six-county nationalists while they were assassinated driven from their homes and subjected to mass intimidation equally there was only silence from the white house • the current process and the stormont talks are going nowhere ts republican sinn icin predicted at the start after seven weeks oi talks there was no unanimous agreement on the rules of procedure and the unionists were insisting on the surrender of arms and the removal from the agenda of the constitutional position of the six counties • discussing the constitutional question at stormont is irrelevant anyhow as john major's triple lock mechanism of 75 majority party agreement a six-county referendum and a vote of the british parliament make it a complete pipe dream • the orangemen will just be.discarded by the british as their likes have been discarded all over the world when it suits it would be far better for them to take the long view and come to terms with the rest of the people of ireland • this can only happen in the context of a british withdrawal without the support of the british government the loyalists will have to deal with the rest of the people of ireland in a unit of decision-making of all 32 counties a nine-county ulster in a new federal ireland can provide a secure future and co-operation in horizontal power sharing between nationalists and unionists m 15th anniversary of the 198 1 hunger strike commemoration bundoran co donegal saturday augusta assemble 3pm speakers and bands from ireland and the usa national by british in the early hours of saturday july 13 the second night of rioting in derry a 35-year-old nationalist dermot mcshane was crushed to death by a massive armoured british saxon army personnel carrier weighing more than 10,000kg youths who attempted to rescue him were fired on with plastic bullets the vehicle hit a board being used by nationalists including dermot mcshane to shield them against plastic bullets and pinned him underneath it the british army apc then drove over the board killing dermot mcshane ten thousand people marched through deny late on saturday july 13 in protest at his killing he was the second nationalist victim of british official and unofficial forces within a week dermot mcshane