Issue 020, Saoirse : Irish Freedom (December, 1988)

              issn 0791 0002 25d usa 1.50 per issue 18 per year uimh 20 nollajg-december 1988 the defeat of political extradition is the most vital issue facing the irish people in the coming days and weeks the case of fr paddy ryan illustrates clearly that the promise given by the fitzgerald administration at hillsborough three years ago to allow slot-machine extradition to britain is now being demanded without hesitation or qualification british contempt for this country is glaringly revealed in mrs thatcher's demand that fr ryan be handed over for questioning and the inevitable conviction before juries already prejudiced and programmed by the vicious slanders of the gutter-press the contrast with thatcher's silence while belgium deliberated for five months since fr ryan's arrest is all too remarkable as it turned out the belgians refused to extradite him to britain just as the french government refused to hand over harry flynn earlier this year for this they should be complimented brian lenihan blandly refers when pressed to the 26 counties international obligations by implication he therefore considers south armagh and north louth to belong to separate nations ! he ignores the fact that all european countries including britain and belgium have real and significant restrictions to extradition not the least of which is the political exception twelve european countries have rejected the dropping of this centuries-old provision which mr lenihan's administration was so quick to agree to last year most easily extraditable irish citizens are now the most easily extraditable in europe the sdlp has joined in this betrayal of the irish people by approving of this extradition policy at their recent annual convention john hume's party had spent six years dodging the issue displaying a remarkable degree of political coward ice in the process their collaboration means that they openly accept that the six counties is part of great britain and mr hume's posturing in front of the cameras cannot hide this fact he should be told that contrary to what he repeatedly alleges the single most self-evident fact in ireland today is the british colonial presence here without the consent of the irish people continual breaches of human rights and more repress ive legislation such as the pta is the only way for the british to maintain rule here mr haughey's final humil iation will be his integration into the british war machine until he becomes indistinguishable from them the only way to fight collaboration is to organise in defence of its victims fr paddy ryan defence comm ittees should be set up immediately in every parish village and town throughout the 32 counties to force the dublin administration to back away from extraditing him his fight is on behalf of us all sean sabhat ommemoratio §«« limerick 1 sunday jan 1st i lassemble bedford row | 2.30pm || what price now the hillsborough deal ? this photo shows the wrecked kitchen of mrs janet donnelly of norglen parade in west belfast after a british crown forces raid lasting 29 hours in her home pneumatic drills and pick axes were used to dig a hole in the kitchen floor while all the fittings were dumped in the back garden local community groups have described the widespread raids of which mrs donnelly's case is one as a punitive assault on the entire community designed to intimidate on a wide scale