February, 2020

February 6th 2020 Sir, The sheer level of bile and venom hurled at Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald on account of her stand in opposing the Special Criminal Court is a bitter and incorrigible attack on democracy. There appears to be a steely determination by opponents of Sinn Féin, in the Dáil and in the media, to form a consensus to create a political atmosphere where Sinn Fein is rendered politically toxic and impotent.  On the issue of the Special Criminal Court, Mary Lou McDonald is not a lone voice.  The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Amnesty International and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights have all expressed their opposition to the continuation of these courts, especially when used against civilians. Indeed, there was a time when Fine Gael and Labour also opposed such draconian measures. Trial by jury is a bulwark of our constitution. In the Irish State we are lucky in that our constitution is highly valued and robustly defended by the Supreme Court.  Indeed, one respected member of the judiciary, the late Cearbhall Ó Dalaigh felt obliged to stand down as President of Ireland due to criticism for exercising his right to refer suspect legislation back to the Supreme Court for adjudication. In 1972 at the height of the Troubles when the Fianna Fáil government introduced the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill, the Fine Gael Justice spokesperson Patrick Cooney, later to become Justice Minister, denounced its provisions as “repugnant to the basic principles of justice and liberty”. The behaviour and attitudes of courts are a determining factor in the behaviour of the Garda. It was seen that if the courts were taking short cuts to get convictions then the Gardaí could do the same.  The roots of the garda ‘Heavy Gang’ could be traced back to the establishment of the Special Criminal Court. This ‘Heavy Gang’ were members of An Garda Síochana specialised in the extraction of confessions amid claims of ill-treatment while in Garda custody. Members of the then Government were made aware of these allegations yet decided to ignore them. Nicky Kelly, who was convicted in the Special Criminal Court of the 1976 Sallins Train Robbery was a victim of an appalling miscarriage of justice there.  Surely the primary function of our judicial system should be to dispense justicenot to dispense with justice. Yours sincerely ß

 For Sinn Féin supporters – and for supporters of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail – there is only one question this morning: will the use to which the Paul Quinn case has been put derail the Sinn Féin express train? Nobody can fault Sinn Féin’s opponents for not trying.  Until last Monday, 95% of people […]

Left to Right: Sinn Fein’s Eoin O Broin (left), Pearse Doherty and Mary Lou McDonald (right) at the launch of the party’s general election manifesto in Dublin. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday January 28, 2020. See PA story IRISH Election SinnFein . Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Who made the statements listed below? […]

I x IN FEBRUARY 1933 an editorial in the IRISH TIMES, which had never, ever, championed democracy in Ireland, warned of the catastrophe which threatened the country should it return Eamon de Valera and Fianna Fail to power. The party had held power for nearly a year, with the support of a few Labour TDs. […]

Here’s Micheál Martin in today’s Irish Times: “There are ‘fundamental moral issues to be addressed’ before Fianna Fáil will consider any coalition government with Sinn Féin, citing the party’s culture of “omerta” in the wake of the murder of Paul Quinn, party leader Micheál Martin has said. Here’s Bertie Ahern in the Irish Times, 15 […]

Person 1:  What’s all this about Paul Quinn? Who is he? Person 2:  He’s a young man from South Armagh who was brutally murdered by a gang of men in 2007. Person 1: Yuck. Sounds ghastly. Person 2: Apparently it was. I could give you details but I won’t. Person 1: Thanks for that.  But […]

 While the Little World of Charlie Flanagan was trying to foist a celebration of Royal Irish Constabulary on Irish citizens at those citizens’ expense, Jack Lane of the Aubane Historiclal Society and his colleagues have  been producing a full reprint of the official newspaper of Dail Eireann, giving news and war reports from 12 July […]

I believe Robert Peston, the British political journalist, has spoken with admiration of last night’s debate on RTÉ between Micheál Martin, Leo Varadkar and Mary Lou McDonald. He saw it as civilized, rational, courteous in comparison with shouting matches and insults flung on his side of the Irish Sea. It was courteous – Leo Varadkar […]

Distributed to Congress by Irish National Caucus “ This article from the Irish News is a sad reminder that despite the progress in Northern Ireland/The North, there remains a deep strain of bitter anti-Catholicism. Anyone who tries to deny this does not understand  Irish or British history.” —Fr. Sean McManus Loyalist pastor Barrie Halliday launches tirade […]

I checked Wikipedia for Charlie Flanagan’s antecedents, just to see if I might have been mistaken. But no, Wikepedia said that his father, Oliver Flanagan 1920-1988 was considered a cute hoor. Elected to the Dail in 1943, in his maiden speech he advocated that Jews in Ireland be got rid of, as Hitler had done […]