Issue 203, Saoirse : Irish Freedom (March, 2004)

              saoiRse
s&?*  iiiism t ticisiijun
THE VOICE OF THE REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT
UIMH203   MARTA
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LOIRSE
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• Bobby Tohill, the Belfastman
abducted and seriously assaulted
by men he believed to be Provos
on February 20 last.
THE culmination of an
ongoing crisis in the failed
Stormont Agreement was
surely indicated by the
call on March 7 by the
British supremo in the Six
Counties, Paul Murphy,
for people "to bombard
heaven with prayer" for
the revival of the current
"process".
He said he had seen many
crises in the Six Counties but that
this was "a real one". The current
crisis has seen the abduction and
serious assault of Belfastman
Bobby Tohill on February 20 last
by a group of men who told him
they were from the Provos and
were going to kill him.
Significantly, the Provos stated
publicly that the abduction was
"not sanctioned by HQ" but did
not deny they were involved.
Equally significantly in the
context of the current "process"
is that the charges of membership
brought against four men arrested at the scene were withdrawn
when they appeared in a British
court.
The political outcry by the
Establishment in London and
Dublin over the Tohill abduction
was hypocritical in the extreme
when you consider the lack of
protest from the same quarters in
relation to the cases of Joe
O'Connor, shot dead by the
Provos in Ballymurphy in
October 2000 and the "disappearing" of Armaghman Gareth
O'Connor in May 2003.
All these cases are part of
what the Provisionals' Gerry
Kelly has called their "responsibilities" (see page 16) as part of
this surrender process. The
Provisionals' role is to suppress
genuine Republicans who continue to oppose British rule in
Ireland. They are doing what
Conor Cruise O'Brien has called
on them to do — to "take out
these people".
Also, the current heave
against the UUP's David Trimble
is the most serious one to date.
Lining up against him are three
heavyweights in the party organisation — David Burnside, Lord
Kilclooney (John Taylor) and
Lord Molyneaux — who have all
endorsed Reg Empey to succeed
Trimble as leader.
It is estimated that between
10 and 12 out of 24 UUP
Assembly members at Stormont
would vote against Trimble as he
IN A statement on February 26 Republican Sinn Fein
Vice-President Des Dalton said that Republican Sinn
Fein "rejected totally the assertion by 26-County
Premier Bertie Ahern that the visit of US President
George Bush to the 26 Counties in June was 'an honour
for the Irish people'.
"In fact such a visit is an insult to
the Irish people, the vast majority of
whom opposed the illegal Anglo/US
invasion of Iraq last year. This latest
statement from Bertie Ahern, along
with his call for no protests to the
visit, simply highlights the slavish
and immoral attitude which has
been adopted by the 26 County government. Not only have they given
US warplanes the use of Irish airspace but have also provided landing
and refuelling facilities.
"Those that have protested at
this flagrant breach of neutrality
such as Mary Kelly, currently awaiting a second trial, the jury having
failed to reach a verdict in her first
trial, on charges of disabling a US
warplane in Shannon, have had draconian bail conditions imposed on
them, restricting dieir freedom of
movement, banning them in this
instance from entering Co Clare,
which violates their rights as Irish
citizens.
anti-war protesters
Eoin Rice, refused to accept such
conditions and as a result was
imprisoned in Limerick where he
has been on hunger strike for the
past 14 days, he has also taken a case
before the Dublin High Court.
" Republican Sinn Fein deny any
attempt by the 26-County government to associate the Irish people
with the continued Anglo/US occupation of Iraq, an occupation which
is opposed by the vast majority of
the Iraqi people and breaks international law. George Bush is not welcome here and we will be calling on
all of our members and supporters to
protest at his presence here on June
25/26."
faces into his annual Ulster
Unionist Council meeting on
March 27 next.
The DUP's demands on
February 6 for the abject and
total surrender ofthe Provisional
Movement as the price for the
"privilege" of administering
British rule in Ireland shows the
real agenda of the current
process. It is not about achieving
a just and lasting settlement to
the conflict in Ireland but rather
the surrender of all active resistance to British rule.
Meanwhile, as already
reported in the January edition of
SAOIRSE, pressure is being put
on Republicans prisoners and
their families who oppose the
current "process". The British
government's new law, which
will come into force this year,
allows them to exile Republican
prisoners in the Six Counties to
jails in England, Wales and
Scotland.
Fr Raymond Murray, longtime campaigner for human
rights and former chaplain to
Armagh Women's prison, has
described the new power as
another "draconian" law to hold
over prisoners' heads as a threat.
"A person can be entirely
innocent and awaiting trial, yet
the [British] secretary of state
will have the right to transfer
him to Britain against his will,"
he said on March 4.
Honour Ireland's
Dead
. 'ear ait
Easter
Lily
Easter Lilies now available, €35.00 per 1,000
from Peig King,
29 All Saint's Park
Raheny, Dublin 5
APPLICATION FOR SPEAKERS
at County Easter Commemorations should be sent
An Runai, Coiste Cuimhneachain Naisiunta
223, Sraid Pharnell, BAC 1