The Thorn in Sinn Fein's Side

Cartoon by John KennedyTen years ago this month the Provisional IRA gunned down a member of the Real IRA, Joe O’Connor, in the West Belfast constituency of Gerry Adams, MP. It was a public execution designed to put manners on those deemed pretenders to the throne of Sinn Fein’s sponsored army. The organisation had just emerged on the losing side of a long war against the British state and had now accepted, through the Good Friday Agreement, the victor’s alternative to republicanism. It did not want...

Oh Paddy, dear, and did ye hear

Cartoon by Brian MórClick to enla...

Waste Disposal

Doubtless there are many punters unhappy about Pearse Doherty’s by-election win in Donegal South West. But they can hardly say it was a shock. It wasn’t even worthwhile betting on. People were queuing up to rub the noses of the dirty dogs who crapped on the country in their own mess. When the moment came they struck with a vengeance. Doherty had won the grudging respect of a swathe of people at odds with his party when he forced the by-election which had previously been delayed by the Fianna Fail-Green Party Coalition. The government’s action...

Halloween Card

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Public Debate and Radio Interview Available for Download

Two downloads to listen to, public debate and radio show. Last night in Belfast, public debate hosted by Comhdháil Poblachtach Ollscoil Banríona, Irish republican socialist student society:Is the cure for Ireland's ills a 32 County Socialist Republic? 25th November, BelfastSpeakers (in this order)Daithí Mac An Mhaistír - ÉirígíEoin O’Broin - Sinn Féin and author of , ‘Sinn Féin and the Politics of Left Republicanism’Brian Hanley - Author of ‘Lost Revolution- The story of the Official IRA and Workers...

South of the Border

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I am a Dissident

I am a dissident and long have been. As such, I felt Gerry McGeough displayed too much sensitivity when he took umbrage at being described in that manner by Mairtin O Muilleoir. In a widely quoted blog piece the Andersonstown Newsgroup mogul hit out at the prosecution of McGeough.the vindictive efforts to railroad dissident republican Gerry McGeough into jail for an IRA attack carried out a lifetime ago smacks of the worst actions of securocrats. How strange that anyone who raises the slaughter of civilians by the British Army is dismissed as...

Old Time Religion

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Sheehan Selection

Pat Sheehan the former IRA prisoner and H-Block hunger striker has won the Sinn Fein nomination as the party’s replacement for Gerry Adams. Which really means he won the leadership’s approval. The vacuum he steps into was created by Adams’ announcement of his intention to ply his trade to Louth. Sheehan, who has accompanied Adams in public on some occasions including Roselawn for the cremation of the remains of the late Brendan Hughes, was always a serious contender for a MLA position. The only surprise is that he did not make it sooner, being...

Continuation of the McGeough/McAnespie Trial

Tonight the Pensive Quill carries an update by guest writer Helen McClafferty on the ongoing trial of Gerry McGeough. She concentrates on the Swedish angle.November 4th The Swedish Government Needs To Be Held Accountable For Their Disgraceful Collusion With The British Government. First time observers at Gerry's trial today said they were left stunned at the proceedings. One shocked on-looker even described it as a "pure political show-trial".The main focus of attention today was Swedish Immigration official Helen Hedebris, who proved herself...

The Master Cometh

Out this morning on my way to meet an Austrian researcher whose project it was to write an essay on the Good Friday Agreement, I noticed a lot of activity at front doors of houses close to where I live. This part of County Louth is pretty quiet on a Sunday morning, especially before 9. There are few shops open and the small splattering of people out and about on their feet seemed to be mass goers. So the hustle bustle of activity puzzled me. Having passed three or four doors I paused and approached a neighbour, who looked as if he too had caught...

Allelujah

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Me and You and a Dog Named Boo

It is instinctive to say that the debate generated by Richard O’Rawe’s hunger strike narrative still continues. But it doesn’t. What has taken the place of the debate is a heavily one sided if deeply reasoned discourse that meets little in the way of serious opposition. The argument of force deployed against O’Rawe has been swept aside by the force of argument from him. A quick read of his book Afterlives – and that is what it is, a quick pulsating read – shows how well he has marshalled his defences, impenetrable echelon upon echelon. For long...

Halloween Greetings

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Parliamentary Silence

Tonight The Pensive Quill carries a piece by guest writer Helen McClafferty detailing the concerns of supporters of Gerry McGeough about the reticence of Michelle Gildernew to add her voice to calls for a halt to his political show trial. The Pressure Group "Justice for the McGeough Family" have issued a statement congratulating Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew on the recent High Court ruling confirming her position as the Member of Parliament for Fermanagh/South Tyrone. Ms. Gildernew secured the constituency by one vote, which prompted the Unionist...

The Public and the Private

Richard O’Rawe has just published a new book. Its title is Afterlives and was launched in Belfast on Thursday evening. Due to last minute ‘ambushes’ I was dragged elsewhere and had to cancel my planned journey north. Much to my regret, because O’Rawe is a battler who has done much to protect free inquiry from book burners and censors. Each time I have tried to phone him since his line has been engaged. I somehow doubt if it was with callers telling him how upset they were at his new work. They would rather paint on walls.I have still to get a...

Brownie in the Big Apple

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Walk Off

The speculators who took a club, on the verge of its second champions league title in three years, that was once again clad in the finery of Europe’s aristocracy, and dressed it up in paupers’ rags – Rory Smith, Irish Independent. The change of hands at ownership level at Liverpool FC seems to have brought some success on the field, but it is early days. The opposition thus far overcome, Blackburn and Bolton, are not the most formidable adversaries a team must do battle with in the course of a season. Chelsea at the weekend will be a different...

Sick To The Teeth Of The English Presence

Tonight The Pensive Quill carries a short piece from guest writer, the republican activist and author, Gerry McGeough, who is currently being pursued through the Diplock courts by the British Police Service of Northern Ireland. A Chairde, Just want to say a big THANK-YOU to everyone who has sent messages of support and offered their prayers ahead of the re-starting of this so-called "trial".By now, you will all be aware of the fact that this charade has nothing whatsoever to do with Justice and everything to do with continuing the war against the...