Walk On To Nowhere

Not much to say about it. Liverpool have flopped badly this season and played well beneath their station of old. The team knows it, the fans know it, as do the Liverpudlian dogs on the street. Last night’s display against Athletico Madrid in the Europa League, hardly the Spanish capital’s most illustrious side, just about summed up their season’s performance. Athletico, despite a pedestrian display over two legs, still managed to stroll fast enough to avoid being caught by the Scousers.That’s the Pool’s season well and truly over. They might still...

Skullduggery

Today the Pensive Quill carries an article by guest writer Helen McClafferty detailing state skullduggery in the case of Irish republican Gerry McGeoughApril 20, 2010Following a number of hearings at the High Court in Belfast, Gerry's trial has now been adjourned until after May 14th.The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has been given until that date to produce material it has prior denied existed.The delay is significant in that it means that there will be no media coverage of Gerry's case until after the May 6th British General Election.Given the...

Battle of the Memoirs

Just got my copy of the book about Gerry Bradley’s life in the IRA returned to me. A friend who had borrowed it dropped it back in when he had finished. His view: worth the reading. For those who don’t know Bradley, a former IRA prisoner, is the subject of a biography by Brian Feeney. How reliable the book is I cannot say, not yet having read it. Never a wise move to judge a book by its cover or the clowns it provokes. Feeney is no fool and would be unlikely to produce work that failed to stand up. Having written a lengthy history of Sinn Fein,...

Face To Face

Today the Pensive Quill carries a piece from guest writer Helen McClafferty describing yesterday's face to face confrontation between the republican Gerry McGeough and the Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams.Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams got an unexpected introduction to local political issues in South Tyrone after 10am Mass at Eglish church this morning (25 April).Adams was canvassing with with Michelle Gildernew who is currently struggling to hold on to the Fermanagh/South Tyrone Westminster seat. The pair, along with about ten members of the extended...

New Hit from the Shinners' Waterworks

Cartoon by Brian MórClick to enlarge...

Cahal Daly

When Cahal Daly died in the closing days of last year I felt a formless sense of something. It was not emptiness, just something indefinable. While unable to put my finger on the nebulous sensation, it was related to the fact that one of the fellow passengers who had travelled with us on the not so good ship conflict, had finally disembarked. For long enough it seemed that wherever we went Cahal Daly went too, although for entirely different reasons; ours for armed activity, his for admonishment of such actions.While having no time for Catholicism,...

Obsession For Revenge

Today the Pensive Quill carries an update by guest writer Helen McClaffertywritten at various ponts this month drawing attention to high level politicalintervention against Gerry McGeough and the lack of interest in the casefrom Sinn FeinApril 2, 2010On the twelfth anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the Belfast Telegraph newspaper has confirmed Gerry McGeough's claim that Royal Pardons were issued to select "On-the-run" republican activists.In a front page report, today's Belfast Telegraph has provided incontovertible evidence...

Home Defence

Nobody is talking about killing people, although you would certainly feel like doing it under certain circumstances, but simply having the right to protect yourself, your family, your property, your goods, without having to worry about the so-called ‘rights’ of the criminal … Should we be allowed ‘defend’ ourselves in our own home? Shouldn’t a burglar be responsible for what happens to him when he illegally enters somebody’s property? Would it go some way to making them think twice before they carried out a robbery if they knew they might end up...

Undermining The Momentum

Today the Pensive Quill carries a short piece from March written by guest writer Helen McClafferty. It should help keep people informed of the serious and substantive political overtones in the show trial of Irish republican Gerry McGeough.There has been yet another incredible twist in the saga of Gerry's trial. Amid deepening intrigue, the presiding judge in the Belfast Diplock Court today halted the proceedings until April 19th.The move comes in order to allow the NIO time to present documentation that has been requested of it by a seperate court...

Echos Of Prison Struggle

Today, the Pensive Quill carries an article by guest writer, Gerard HodginsThe echo of prison struggles down through our history came to the fore again on Easter Sunday while we stood and remembered those who died, and were reminded that prisoners in Maghaberry Prison were under siege.Republican prisoners took control of a canteen area in protest at a continuing campaign of harassment from the screws and continuing erosion of their living conditions and rights.In the British prison system, rights are privileges, to be earned. That may sound innocent...

Nothing But A Date

It cannot be easy being a republican political prisoner in the North these days. So few in number those unfortunate enough to find themselves on the inside are up against it. The prison system is desperate not to cede any ground and will draw on the accumulated experience of vindictiveness to keep the political prisoners in check. Prison management is also aware that it is unlikely to be held to account. Sinn Fein, who benefited most from the anti-criminalisation campaign of the 1970s and 80s, has crossed the line to stand beside the British and...

The Fourth Red Stained Green Field

Fortnight MagazineThe closing lines of this book are arguably the most contentious: ‘the roots of the Provisional movement are to be found primarily in the abject failure of the 1956-1962 border campaign.’ It is an interesting thesis because there is nothing in the preceding two hundred pages that would lend itself to such a conclusion. What emerges from Barry Flynn’s readable study of Operation Harvest is the deep rooted and almost instinctual ideological opposition of republicans to the British presence in Ireland. In terms of removing that presence...

The Real Prison Break

Prisoner 1082 - Escape From Crumlin Road, Europe’s AlcatrazDónal Donnelly… An impenetrable prison …… A desperate man …… A daring escape …The Real Prison BreakIt sounds like the plot for a Hollywood movie or TV show. But this is a true story. With the 50th anniversary of his escape from the prison known as ‘Europe’s Alcatraz’ fast approaching, Dónal Donnelly – Prisoner 1082 – tells his story.On 26 December 1960, using hack-saw blades, torn sheets and electric flex, Dónal broke out of Crumlin Road Prison, running the gauntlet of searchlights, alarms...

No Laughter From Our Children

In a piece penned before Patrick's Day Guest writer Helen McClafferty commenting on the turmoil in the life of a chld whose father, Irish Republican Gerry McGeough, is currently facing a political show trial. Gerry has shared a small family experience which people are describing as "heartbreaking". Apparently, his 7-year-old son got up at 6.30 one morning during the week just as his father was getting ready to leave for the court in Belfast, some fifty miles away.In a serious and studied manner the child explained that he had come up with an idea....