Brian Mór Ó Baoighill

As it exhales its last few breaths the curtain cannot be allowed to lower on the year 2012 without acknowledgment of a great radical artist who died back in February at the age of 70. His friends knew him as Bernie Boyle but to our readers he was simply Brian Mór.

Cock-Up Cups Awarded

A joke with a jag. That's how former Blanket columnist Dr John Coulter uses his regular Irish Daily Star column to pen a satirical piece on how many of the North's parties and politicians have performed in the past year. It appeared in the Irish Daily Star on 24 December 2012.


Yee-ha! Many of the North’s political parties have swept the boards in this year’s Coulter’s Coveted Cock-Up Cups.

Tom Toner

He was a frequent enough visitor to the filth strewn cells of the H-Blocks. He met every blanket protester and knew each of the men who died on hunger strike. He never had the popularity of Denis Faul nor did he court it. Perhaps because of that he escaped the bile spat at the Dungannon priest once the hunger strike had ended and a scapegoat was badly needed.

Standing Outside The Peace Process

Introduction

The Ard Comhairle of Republican Network for Unity wishes to thank you for taking the time to read this, our position paper on what is commonly referred to as the ‘Irish Peace Process’.

This piece is intended as a precursor to a much more substantial and substantive set of policy documents that will be collectively entitled ‘Revolutionary Republicanism’, due to be released in early 2013.

Aunt Bridie

Christmas Day amongst everything else is an occasion when some of us take a bit of time out from the festivities to reflect on those who didn’t make it this far. In the final months of the year I made the journey to Belfast by train for the funeral of a much cherished aunt. Bridie Stinson was the last of the Shannons from the Grosvenor, having been predeceased by all her siblings and parents. And she was a treasure. The Shannons were my mother’s side of the family lineage.

This & That: Take 18

From Depraved Unionist Party to Traditional Unionist Vice.

Dirty Davy Tweed made the switch from DUP to TUV in more ways than one. The belligerent bully who was wont to lead the mob hurling abuse at Catholics - and fellow unionists who were not as raging as himself - seemed more Davy Weed than Davy Tweed in court when found guilty of abusing young girls. Gone were the bluster and the bellowing as the Beast of Ballymena stared at his first Christmas behind bars.

Breaking the Spell

John Murphy reviews Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell. It first featured on his own blog on 19 October 2012.

A Force Outside a Force

Guest Writer Sean Matthews with his thoughts on the nature of policing in the wake of the De Silva report.

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. Sun Tzu

Relentless in Pursuit of a Character

Book Review: Al Pacino: The Authorized Biography. by Lawrence Grobel, 2006. ISBN 1416912118. Simon & Schuster: London. 

Anyone who watched his brilliant performances in The Godfather, Heat, Sea of Love, Scarface, The Devil’s Advocate will be all too aware of the immense talent Al Pacino brings to his trade and with which he has wooed movie aficionados for decades. 

Marian Price Ballot Aid

Ex-Republican prisoners who are aligned to the Belfast Committee of the Free Marian Price Campaign are running a ballot to aid them to aid the campaign.

 The figure of a woman prisoner was made by Jim McIlmurray and ballots are for sale.

 Contact details .... Nuala 07753425489.

Cameron owes me an apology: I was right about collusion

A piece from regular contributor Dr John Coulter on collusion which first appeared in the Irish Daily Star on 18 December 18, 2012 


I want an apology from Brit PM Dandy Dave Cameron because I was right about collusion!

Britain’s Secret Terror Squad – Where is it?

The former BBC Northern Ireland political analyst Brian Walker has raised questions about the BBC’s decision to pull a Panorama broadcast, Britain’s Secret Terror Squad, which was billed to highlight the homocidal role of British Army undercover units in the North. Walker referred to his copy of the Radio Times in which it was reported that:

Your Muslim Friend

Maryam Namazie with a piece from her own blog which first featured on 6 November 2012

After every talk, there is always that one person that will challenge what I have said about Sharia courts by – wait for it – saying: “I have a Muslim friend who says Sharia is not at all as you say.” I heard this for the umpteenth time at the two-day symposium on theism in public policy at Rice University in Texas just this past weekend.

Infanticide in the Classroom

What a terrible fate to befall the children of Sandy Hook School in Connecticut. Where society’s youngest are being made ready for the life that awaits them the act of depriving them of life itself is mercilessly inflicted. While what happened at Columbine High in 1999 should never be depreciated, Sandy Hook seems so much worse. The victims tended to be younger and more helpless. Here in Europe it has parallels with the Dunblane Primary School massacre in Scotland in 1996.

Why they won’t keep the union flag flying here

Former Blanket columnist, Dr John Coulter maintains that with the Republic taking over the EU Presidency next month, the island will witness even closer relations between the UK and the South of Ireland as the only way to save the Southern economy. It first featured in the Tribune on 14 December 2012

The Irish Republic must use its forthcoming six-month term of the European Union Presidency in January 2013 to save its economy by establishing closer political ties with the so-called ‘Auld Enemy’, the United Kingdom.

Practice Safe Tax: Use Labour as a Condom

Since the first leaks emerged on Budget 2013 I have had deep misgivings on aspects of the Budget in relation to the changes to PRSI, to child benefit, to respite grants and to the overall regressive nature of the budget in terms of income. ... I could not for reasons of conscience, or on the basis of the mandate that I received from my constituents in Galway East, vote for the measures in this Bill. I simply cannot vote in favour of measures that will have such a negative effect on working families, particularly given the regressive nature of the hits proposed.... It is unfortunate that we found ourselves sharing Government with a Party whose values see an equivalence in seeking to cut welfare to the most vulnerable in our society with a measure to increase the tax paid by those on high incomes. The progressive section of Fine Gael, prevalent to an extent in the FitzGerald era, is now almost entirely absent and that party now seeks to become an Irish Tory Party - Colm Keaveney

The Labour Party is a condom for Fine Gael which it uses when it wants to screw the most vulnerable in Irish society. It is the protective sheath which protects Fine Gael from the infectious wrath of those it has shafted. Labour talk left but walk right.

Nobody But A Tyrant

The following statement was issued by the Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective (GARC) on 11 December 2012.

Today the Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective (GARC) condemns the incarceration of Dee Fennel for his participation in a peaceful sit-down protest on the Crumlin Road July 12th 2010, this is just another example of the hypocrisy, bias, political policing and injustice that still exists for members of the nationalist community.

FREE MARIAN PRICE

FREE MARIAN PRICE

Her 'Internment' by Government constitutes corruption of Law, Denial of Justice, avoidance of trust, and absence of compassion for a very ill woman.

Mgr. Raymond Murray, former chaplain Armagh Prison. 

Marian's health has continued to deteriorate as a consequence of many months of solitary confinement and neglect. She is being treated for several chronic illnesses and despite six months of medical intervention Marian remains gravely ill under guard in an isolated hospital unit.

Medical experts have stressed that her condition will not improve in an environment that is not conducive to recovery.

BLIND SHOTS AT A HIDDEN TARGET 

Marian McGlinchey's health deteriorates whilst held in isolation even though not convicted of any offence.


British officials rely upon an alleged breach of licence conditions. Those conditions were removed by a Royal Pardon. She is unable to challenge the legitimacy of her detention as government officials assert that in 2010 they destroyed the only known copy of the Pardon. Marian was adamant that the RPM covered all offences BEFORE it was discovered that the document was missing from Buckingham Palace and Government archives.

As long ago as April 1980 she was released from prison as she was suffering from anorexia and mental health issues and freedom was granted to save her life.

The police rely upon secret information to justify her detention. The Defence will never have this evidence and she cannot make effective representations in respect of it.

Government officials revoked her licence after the Courts had deemed her fit for release.
This cannot continue.

Marian's Solicitor Peter Corrigan 

'True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice' 

- Martin Luther King Jr. 

Sponsored on behalf of Republican Ex-Prisoners, the wider Republican Family and friends. 

This & That: Take 17

Taoiseach in Grave Dispute with the Minister for the Disappeared.

Yesterday in the Dail there was a lot of accusations, heated exchanges, angry finger wagging and gesticulating as the Minister for the Disappeared continues to insist on leading with his chin.

The Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective (GARC) condemns the actions of the PSNI.

GARC released the following statement on 10 December 2012

Today PSNI officers have been calling to doors of Ardoyne residents, officially cautioning them for "illegally protesting" against a sectarian Apprentice Boys parade through Ardoyne last Saturday.

No Bottle at Yellow Ford

I don’t recall what expletive escaped my lips upon being told of the utterances of David Ford the Northern Justice Minister about an incident at Maghaberry Prison in November where prison staff assaulted Tony Taylor, a republican prisoner. Taylor was beaten badly enough to leave him with a broken wrist as well as a range of less serious injuries.

Alain de Botton's "Religion for Atheists"

Regular reviewer John Murphy with a review of Religion For Atheists which TPQ reproduces from his own blog.

 As with his previous books for the "educated reader" looking for a light but worthwhile introduction to philosophical and moral issues, Alain de Botton relies upon a mix of photos and illustrations with witty or profound captions to lighten the heavier lessons of his text.

Kampala Klansmen Running Stormont

The North might not be a ‘third world’ tin pot dictatorship but some of the dinosaurs and theocrats it is home to exhibit behaviour and perspectives that suggest they are uncomfortable with the mores of what they deem the ‘first world.’

No Sufficiency of Inquiry

Sunday Sequence host William Crawley (WC) interviews Queen's University Belfast School of Law professor Phil Scraton (PS) about the delay of the coroner's inquests into the Ballymurphy killings. It featured on BBC Radio Foyle on 18 November 2012. It was transcribed by TPQ's regular team colleague. 


WC:  Is justice delayed justice denied?

A Savile Savage

From boarding schools to the Catholic church and now the BBC, there are signs of the same story playing out – the powerful closing ranks, and the powerless keeping quiet or speaking out without being heard – Guardian.

It has been in the news for months now. The recipient of a double knighthood, British and papal, Jimmy Savile has rarely been out of the public eye since it emerged – seemingly not for the first time – that he had a long history as a sexual abuser. We are still hearing about his deeds while witnessing the fall out from his unmasking, Max Clifford, the czar of PR, the latest from the world of celebrity to be arrested.

The sometimes lonely road of a visionary

An address by regular contributor Sean Doyle at the graveside of Seamus Costello. Sean, a former comrade and confidant of Seamus Costello, was invited to speak by the IRSP at a commemoration for the party’s late leader on Sunday, 7 October 2012. Photos are from the commemoration. This completes the trilogy of tributes to a great visionary and republican socialist in the mould of the Connolly, Mellows, Tone and Lalor.

Comrades pay tribute

Comrades it is always a great honour and privilege to speak about Seamus Costello; however I must concede to my inadequacy to encapsulate his life, and his comprehensive vision of a 32 county socialist republic.

Marie Fleming and the Right to Die

She takes 22 tablets a day, is in constant pain, cannot walk or use limbs, has no bladder control, has seven different carers, and her speech and swallow are both significantly affected. She frequently chokes, the court heard.-  Kildare Nationalist

Marie Fleming went to the High Court in Dublin today. She is a prisoner but not in the conventional sense. She lives her incarceration courtesy of an ailing body from which she wishes to escape at a time of her choosing. Diagnosed in 1986 as suffering from multiple sclerosis she is now in the terminal stages of the illness but does not have the power to end her own life. Guilty of no crime, Irish law has condemned her for what has been inflicted on her rather than what she has inflicted on another.

Doing the Taliban proud

Maryam Namazie with a piece that originally featured on her own blog on 20 November 2012 

The bad news is that a Pakistani court has sentenced 25 year old Hazrat Ali Shah to death for blaspheming against Mohammed and the Koran during a quarrel in his village in northern Pakistan in March 2011. Mother of five Asia Bibi also remains in prison whilst appealing her death sentence for ‘derogatory’ comments about Mohammad.

Gerry McGeough's Medical Condition

Helen McClafferty has provided the following detail about the helath status of imprisoned republican Gerry McGeough. 

Two months ago Dr Galloway prepared a detailed report of Gerry's condition on the basis of questions about his symptoms, current medication, medical history and family history put to him via a campaigner. When he received the report, Gerry was amazed by its accuracy.

Campaign Meeting at QUB

Dear All

below is a link to the video of the recent campaign meeting held in Queens University Belfast. Speakers included Marian's husband Jerry McGlinchey and solicitor Peter Corrigan.

Boston College IRA project was not a hoax or a set up

The following piece appeared on Irish Central on 26 November 2012


In an October Periscope column Niall O’Dowd, can be found making the same foundational error that unfortunately has long beset his commentary on the North of Ireland. His initial mistake, relying on the most dubious of sources for his information, leads to an unthinking right-down-the-line replication of the falsehoods the revisionists feed him.