The British-instigated death squad, the Orange Volunteers claimed responsibility for a pipe bomb attack on a country pub on April 25. The bomb exploded in the car park of the Ramble Inn on the main Antrim-Ballymena Road rocking the premises.
No one was injured in the blast which caused damage to several of the patrons’ cars. The Ramble Inn, which is frequented by both sections of the community was targeted in the past. In July 1976 six men were killed in a gun attack on the pub.
The Orange Volunteers also claimed the attack on another Co Antrim pub on April 10 in which one of the patrons was injured.
Shortly after 10pm an explosion occurred at the Barleycorn pub on the Seven Mile Straight in Muckamore, near Antrim town.
One man walked into the blast and sustained leg and chest wounds. The bomb had been placed at the base of a wall facing the front entrance of the pub. The injured man was leaving the premises when it exploded.
He was removed by ambulance to the Antrim Area Hospital. Miraculously his injuries were not life threatening. A hospital spokesperson later described his condition as “satisfactory.”
The LVF, which called a ceasefire last year was very active in that area. However British instigated death squads have a knack of re-incarnating themselves.
The Orange Volunteers continue to carry on Britain’s dirty work in wiping out nationalists.
In recent weeks they have carried out a string of attacks in the Co Antrim area.
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Speaking at after-mass meetings at Carna, Letterfrack and Tully Cross on the weekend of May 1 and 2, Tomás Ó Curraoin, Republican Sinn Féin candidate in the Conamara electoral area, said that there was one law for Irish fishermen and another law for foreign fishermen.
He was referring to the fines imposed recently on three Conamara fishermen for dredging shellfish at Beirtreach Buí, while foreign-owned flagships regularly flout the quota regulations.
“A Spanish-owned vessel, crewed by Spaniards, and registered in France, landed 90 tonnes of monkfish tails in Killybegs on the 15th of March last,” said Tomás Ó Curraoin, “despite the fact that the Department of Marine placed a restriction order of 10 tonnes on all monkfish landings for Irish-owned boats on March 1st.
“No fines, or court action resulted, unlike the case of the three Conamara fishermen fined for dredging shellfish recently, an activity that has been carried on for generations,” Tomás Ó Curraoin continued.
“Republican Sinn Féin is standing in this election in the Conamara electoral area to safeguard and defend the rights of the ordinary people of Conamara, including fishermen, farmers and workers”, said Tomás Ó Curraoin. “All of the other parties in this election have taken part in the sell-out of our fisheries, which Republican Sinn Féin warned of in repeated referenda, on entry to the EEC, with the Single European Act, with Maastricht and with the Amsterdam Treaty.”
This sell-out of basic rights is now widening to taking the sheep off the hills and banning cutting of turf in the bogs, Tomás Ó Curraoin said, and soon Conamara would be part of one big National Park, stretching the length of the West Coast. The way to stop this happening was to vote for Republican Sinn Féin, who would stand up for the people’s rights, regardless of the special interests involved.
Tomás Ó Curraoin and his supporters are continuing their canvas on a daily basis, and the first weekend of May was due to visit Inishbofin and other areas of west Conamara.
Tomás has already spoken at after-Mass meetings in Ballinafad, Cashel and Recess in west Conamara and was well-received by local people. He has also had successful meetings in Ballynahinch, Bun na gCnoc, Maam Valley and Clonbur.
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Three young members of Republican Sinn Féin and one 16-year-old youth were subjected to an unprovoked and savage assault by more than 20 26-County Special Branch political police and uniformed police several hours after they took part in the very successful Dublin Easter Sunday Commemoration at the GPO in O’Connell Street on April 4.
As the four left a hotel on Abbey Street at 7.30pm they were jumped on and handcuffed before being kicked and batoned on the street. This continued after they were thrown into a Garda van, with the police shouting “we will make sure you’ll never march again”.
They were beaten on the way to Store Street barracks and again in the reception area and in cells until clothes were covered in blood. They stopped beating the 16-year-old when they discovered his age.
The four were finally released at about 1.30am and went straight to the Mater Hospital for treatment.
They are currently contesting assault charges under the notorious Public Order Act to combat the Gestapo tactics of the 26-County police who were obviously enraged at the big turnout at the Easter commemoration.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties are monitoring the case.
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British Crown Forces were aware of the impending murder of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane “only hours” before he was shot by a British-instigated death squad ten years ago, a colleague has claimed.
The Pat Finucane Centre in Derry — founded in memory of the murdered lawyer — has long claimed Crown Forces collusion in his killing. Now for the first time, Paul O’Connor, who works at the centre, has revealed to the Irish News details of a private conversation with a member of the Six Counties police authority.
According to O’Connor, two years ago a former member of that authority told him that the British army, the colonial police (RUC) in general, and the then RUC Special Branch head Brian Fitzsimons in particular had “prior knowledge of the plot to murder Pat Finucane.”
“I disagreed and to my amazement was then told that the RUC did have prior knowledge ‘but only hours before hand’ when they were told by the army who were trying to cover their own backs.”
O’Connor said he made an immediate note of the conversation and lodged it with Finucane’s former legal partner, Peter Madden. The police authority member then attempted to fob off O’Connor with a lame excuse as to why the RUC did not intervene to prevent the death of Pat Finucane.
“There followed a bizarre explanation of the difficulties the RUC had in providing security on Sunday’s in Belfast. There is in fact considerable reason to believe that the RUC were aware of the plot well in advance but if we take the explanation offered by a former member of the Police Authority at face value, it still begs the question, was a simple phonecall to warn Pat Finucane of the potential danger out of the question.”
Pat Finucane was gunned down by the UDA/UFF British instigated death squad on February 12, 1989, as he sat down for a Sunday evening meal with his wife and family.
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The harassment of Republicans by the 26-County political police is continuing in County Limerick.
Twenty-five armed 26-County Special Branch arrived in Cappamore on April 16 last at 7.30am. They threatened to break down the door of the home of Susan Carmody if she did not open it.
They arrested her partner Christy Smith and took him to Limerick’s Henry Street barracks. They held Susan, her seven -year-old daughter and two-year-old daughter under house arrest for 10 hours while they turned the house and adjoining land upside down.
Susan, who suffers from epilepsy was terrified. The Branch raiders immobilised her car which she had to get repaired.
In other incidents the same day the home of Ultan Larkin was raided causing damage, and the home of Martin Foran. All three were taken to Henry Street station where they were threatened and verbally abused.
In addition, a doctor had to be called for Ultan Larkin to treat injuries caused by being beaten in Henry Street barracks. The Branch threatened that they and the Provos would “get rid of them”.
All three were released on the night of April 16 at 10pm.
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Two west Belfast men underwent a terrifying ordeal when they were abducted by a loyalist murder gang on April 25.
Cousins John Brady and John (Jackie) Dickson from the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast were making their way home from a Turf Lodge social club at around 2am when they were accosted by the gang and bundled into a car outside Whiterock Health Centre.
According to John Brady, as the two men were walking along Whiterock Grove at the approach to Whiterock Road they heard the sound of a car starting up behind them.
“The next thing I knew they had stuck something into Jackie’s back and told us to get into the car. I took it for granted it was a gun and if I had ran they would have shot me,” he said.
Brady recalled how they were driven to a bonfire site at Roden Street in the village area where they were “beaten to a pulp” with wood taken from a bonfire.
“They had me on the ground and I heard one of them say: ‘knock him out and then kill him because he can identify me,’ said Brady. After viciously beating the cousins the gang left them for dead.
Once their assailants had gone, the two men managed to reach the barrier at the bottom of Roden Street at the approach to the Westlink, when a second gang arrived and laid into Jackie Dickson. Brady ran on to the Westlink where he stopped a truck and asked the driver to help “because my mate was getting killed.”
The driver phoned the colonial police on his mobile phone and about 15 minutes later they arrived. Both men were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital. Dickson was kept in but discharged himself that afternoon despite suffering from severe head wounds and several broken bones.
“Once I got out of the car I thought I was going to get shot dead,” Dickson said and added: “If they had just got one man into the car then I think he would definitely have been killed.”
According to Brady, while the kidnap car was in transit, he asked his abductors who they were. They replied: “we’re the UFF.”
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The opening days of May saw a rise in pro-British attacks designed to frighten and subdue the nationalist population of occupied Ireland. Apart from the escalation of bombings comes a spate of attacks an individual members of the community.
On May 2, a male nurse was the victim of a vicious knife attack by an Orange gang as he and two female colleagues were making their way home from a pop concert in Belfast.
The assault on the nationalist man in his mid-thirties took place just off the Donegall Road in the loyalist village area at approximately 2am.
A gang of up to eight men ambushed the party laying into the victim - cutting him with a knife or a blade. Traumatised by the experience he later received medical attention for multiple stab wounds.
On May 2, a 16-year-old north Belfast youth suffered a horrific attack from a 20-strong group of loyalists sporting Glasgow Rangers football shirts.
The youth was walking home with his girlfriend when he was set upon at the junction of Landsdowne Road and Antrim Road.
His girlfriend said: “A group of them jumped Mark. One had a metal bar and they threw him to the ground and started to kick his head.” Although she to was attacked, she was not seriously injured. Her boyfriend was beaten unconscious. He was later treated in hospital for a broken arm.
Early on May 3 a 24-year-old nationalist man was set upon by an Orange bandsman as he was walking home from a disco in Lurgan, Co Armagh.
The man was making his way towards the nationalist Taghnevan estate at 1.30am when the bandsman dressed in a red uniform and wielding a bottle knocked him to the ground kicking him in the head as he shouted: “Fenian Bastard.”
The victim who said he feared for his life sustained severe bruising to his face and head and was later treated in Craigavon Hospital but was released that afternoon.
The man who said he was lucky to be alive said he was minding his own business when the bandsman ran at him from accross the road.
“He jumped in front of me shouting in an aggressive manner ‘where are you from’? before I could tell him it was none of his business he hit me on the face with a bottle - luckily it didn’t smash”, he said.
Also on May 3, a 27-year-old man was seriously injured when a gang of up to 15 loyalists jumped him as he was walking along Market Street in Lurgan. He sustained a broken leg, cuts and bruises.
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“I told them that I was proud of my father, who escaped from jail five times, and was not going to sully his name by turning traitor.”
The son of Tan War hero, Tomás Ó Maoileoin, was re-calling the answer he gave to British intelligence agents who offered to recruit him as an informer.
Tomás Ó Maoileoin served with distinction as a leader of the Irish Republican Army in Munster during the Tan War and the war in defence of the All-Ireland Republic (Civil War).
His son, also called Tom, claims he was offered money by a British agent during one-and-a-half hours of questioning at London’s Stansted airport in December 1997.
At the beginning of April this year Tom was holidaying at Villacharo on the Algarve in Portugal which he has visited annually for many years. He was astonished to find the same man awaiting him at the popular resort. “As I left the villa one morning, this man with a beard approached me and shook hands. He had a beard but then I realised he was the man, ‘John’ who had questioned me in Stansted in December 1997", Tom Malone said.
The agent assured Tom that he “always kept his word” and promised he would see him again. “He tried to follow me back into the villa and I told him to get away from me or I would hit him.”
Tom immediately contacted the 26-County Embassy in Lisbon where Ambassador John Campbell advised him to contact the Portuguese police.
The police, the Guardia National Republicana, were very helpful and warned Tom “it would only take two hours” for the British to abduct and bring him to Gibraltar.
He said that while he was speaking to the 26-County Ambassador on the hotel phone he recognised the man who had pulled him from the queue at Stansted in 1997.
Although he was not approached again on his holiday, he said he was “angry and frightened” and “when I left the villa after that I carried an iron bar with me.”
“The guy called John told me in London that they would inform the Provisionals that I was working for British intelligence if I did not co-operate”, he said.
During the Stansted airport incident in 1997, the British agent was particularly interested in Republican Sinn Féin and the Continuity IRA.
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On the 50th anniversary of its inception (April 24) NATO has dropped over 1,000 tons of explosives, launched over 450 Cruise missiles, obliterated over 13 major hospitals, railways, bridges, schools, churches and bombed medical factories, none of which have a military connection.
NATO is guilty of causing a major humanitarian disaster. Hundreds of people have been killed “by mistake” and hundreds of thousands of families are homeless. NATO has waged war without the agreement of the UN Security Council, and destroyed the peacekeeping work done by NGOs who have been working for years on this situation.
NATO is “selective” about which crimes it seeks to redress. What about Rwanda and Kurdistan? Why is Turkey, a country on the Amnesty International torture list, one of NATO’s members? NATO — the world’s police force — is not accountable. It is an outrage that NATO is using weapons banned by international conventions. It is criminal that the peace negotiators were not given 100% support. As with the situation in Iraq NATO bypassed the opinion of the UN and couldn’t pass up the chance to try out the latest killing technology. Saddam and Milosevic won’t be killed. It is the innocent people who are suffering and the environment.
There is a massive increase in the levels of toxic substances in the atmosphere in Greece and reports say the surrounding countries face a potential threat to human health as a result of NATO’s bombing of Serbia with radioactive depleted uranium (from Truth in the Media, April 10, 1999).
Sixty-four Albanian people were killed when a US pilot mistakenly thought their tractors were military vehicles. “I understand that tractors were filmed. Nevertheless, what I want to say is, when the pilot attacked the vehicles, they were military vehicles. If they then turned out to be tractors that is a different issue,” said NATO military spokesperson, General Guiseppe Marani.
Clinton’s comment on the above tragedy: “This is not a business of perfection”!.
In Ireland as usual, people are responding tremendously sending aid, money, medicines and even driving truckloads of food and blankets to the refugees. However the lack of response in the 26-County Administration is truly shocking, with leaders scared to split their parties by voicing personal views.
We were informed that the 26-County army was recently granted millions of pounds to upgrade their weaponry. Moves to join Partnership for Peace (PFP) are being accelerated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DOFA) saying Ireland will be in PFP before the year is out. It would take a well-qualified lawyer to understand all the small print of PFP. Once we are in PFP we will have to obey NATO, just as Albania (PFP member) is having to comply to NATO.
What you can do: