Brendans Blog.

Forthcoming debate on policing in the Six Counties.

2006-06-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

I think my attitude on this matter is well known by most Republicans who know me; I do not believe that the Brits should be in control of any aspect which affects the lives of people in the six counties. We have heard all this rubbish about supporting colonial police forces etc. so many times before, it is only a smoke screen used by people such as the RSF to hide their ineptitude and lack of support or indeed lack of any real cohesive strategy to bring about change in this country, the RSF position of keeping your eyes shut and fingers in the ears while pretending that the republic already exists is as pointless as it is laughable.

And the truth is, the re-branded RUC will never be an acceptable police force to me and I would hope it will never be accepted by any republican, the Gardai are not an acceptable police force either I should add, only a police force which represents a thirty two county Ireland will be acceptable. But we must recognise that significant change has taken place, and the removal of Whitehall will mean that even greater change can be affected.

Do I have concerns, of course I do. The primary one is something Sinn Féin argued for at the signing of the GFA, Ministerial privilege. If you all remember Martin McGuiness was able to abolish the 11+ because of this privilege. However, I have serious concerns that if such powers where in the hands of a DUP minister it would be open to such abuses and excesses that the days of direct rule and the Securocrats would be looked back on with fondness. In our briefings from the party leadership, I won’t discuss them here, we have been shown possible structures after powers are devolved, some options could work, and some are downright scary and should be opposed, I await to see the final plan before I make a decision on this part of the transfer.

I am also concerned about any enhanced role for M15 in the six counties; I am worried that any devolved police force will have its main powers devolved to another body rather than the assembly. Again, our leadership must oppose this and reject any deal where the role of special branch has simply been moved to another group outside the direct control of the Assembly.

Over the coming months the leadership has called for a serious debate to take place on this issue. I would hope that the reality that a police service is required and it is simply not acceptable for the largest nationalist party in the North to shirk its responsibilities in this matter would govern the discussions. I hope the pending debate will be conducted in a rational and comradely way free from emotion and instead grounded in the reality of what it is we are trying to achieve strategically.

The strategy of party has been for many years a recognition that change in the north will only happen incrementally, and can only happen if we build the political strength to make it happen, we are doing that, and not only in the 6 counties but through out the whole island. 35 years is a long time to struggle, and who knows there maybe 35 more to come, but in that time the Orange State has gone, majority rule and all its associated abuses will no longer be allowed to happen (no more a Protestant Parliament for a Protestant People), the military infrastructure of the Brit army has been dismantled, the wide spread inequalities in the 6 counties society are being addressed, republicans and nationalists have their heads high and are no longer prepared to be treated as second class citizens, a hell of a lot of this is down to Sinn Féin’s work in the peace process. Sin é.

2006-05-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

I am making my last response to the whole vicious inhuman atrocity they call H-Block. But, unlike their laughs and jibes, our laughter will be the joy of victory and the joy of the people, our revenge will be the liberation of all and the final defeat of the oppressors of our aged nation.
Bobby Sands Diary - Thursday, 12th March 1981

It does'nt seem quite so long ago, the last time that I saw you
But ain't it funny how the memories grow, seems they always fold around you
They tried to break you in a living hell, but they could'nt find a way
So they killed you in an H-Block cell & hoped that all would turn away
They thought your spirit could'nt rise again, but you dared to prove them wrong
And in death you tore away the chains, let the world hear freedom's song

But the heartache & pain linger on,
They're still here though it's so long since you've gone
But we're stronger now, you showed us how
Freedom's fight can be won...

I wish there was an easy road to choose, to bring this heartache to an end
But easy roads are always sure to lose, I've seen it time & time again
If you could stand by me like yesterday, I'd find the strength to carry on
So let your spirit shine along the way & our

day will surely come

Oglaigh Na hÉireann Guard of Honour escorts Oglach Bobby Sands to his final place of rest in Belfast's Milltown Cemetery, May 1981.

PD tax cut proposals.

2006-04-24T01:29:00.000-07:00

In my opinion the PD’s are finished. They have mismanaged Health. And have done an absolutely terrible job when it comes to justice. This is a last desperate act by a shambles of a party to buy a few votes.

However, it is a great tool I think to beat Fianna Fail with in the lower to middle class areas come the election, because what does a tax cut mean? Does it mean more spending in Health, Education? Does it mean more affordable housing? Does it mean greater funding for public services? Of course the answers to these questions is no. and while the very wealthy, or the farmer classes, might be happy with an extra fifty Euro in their pocket I firmly believe that the majority of the electorate are worried about the state of our public services and will see through this very quickly.

The message should be clear on the doorsteps I would suggest from all the opposition parties, the tail is wagging the dog and so a vote for the current government is a vote for an even further deterioration of our public services under PD taxation.

I would love to think all opposition parties would take this tack, but the problem is FG probably agrees with this proposal, and so by extension a party which calls its self “Labour” probably agrees also, what would Larkin or Connolly make of that I wonder?

I hope Sinn Féin stand by their proposals on public spending, and that means properly funding areas like Health, Education etc. through a truly progressive taxation system.

I will have no problem going on the doorstep and explaining why we wish to see first class public services, explaining to people that yes you might get a few quid extra in your pocket but it will be consumed by private health insurance because you dare not turn up at a public A&E, or that you must send your kids to a private school because the local school is totally under-funded and unable to teach your kids. Or maybe you are living in a new area which has been built without any educational facilities and you can spend your day in traffic driving your kids five miles to school and using your tax cut to pay for the petrol.

I think the vote that the PD’s have in this country is a fair indication of the level of support these types of policies have. If Fianna Fail allow is self to be blackened by this type of economics then it could do them serious damage in lower middle class areas where the average wage is a round fifty grand.

2006-04-17T01:39:00.000-07:00

I was pleased that yesterday’s parade took place in Dublin. While of course it was a cynical act by Fianna Fail and has more to do with keeping people like Pat Carey in the Dáil, it may have caused people to examine why those brave men and women took the actions they did in 1916, and may also lead people to question why the Republic envisaged in the proclamation remains to still be achieved ninety years later. We in the republican movement know that the only real way to commemorate the rising is to see that vision become a reality.
I see an unbroken connection between those who took part in the rising and those who died in the struggle from 1969. In 1916 Pearse, Connolly etc. went out to challenge the legitimacy of British rule in Ireland, many died on that sad week, and people have died since continuing on the fight, brave Volunteers like Bobby Sands, Mairead Farrell or Martin (Doco) Doherty died doing exactly the same as those in 1916, resisting British rule in Ireland.
Tiocfaidh ar Lá.

Selling our history.

2006-04-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

Fair play to the lads yesterday in Orga Shinn Féin for their protest over the sale of this countries history, this sale was a disgrace, however it was heartening to see this wonderful protest by young people who treasure the memory of the rising and all it meant. Orga Shinn Féin have become a truly resurgent organisation over the last couple of years, they could teach many in the party a thing or two about being an activist.
I was delighted that they took this direct action to highlight how inappropriate this sale was. The items which went on sale yesterday should be in the National Museum so as they can be viewed by future generations, the public should take inspiration from them. Instead they will no doubt lie in the safes of wealthy speculators who will wait till their value increases and then sell them on for a quick buck. Oh how Connolly would despair at the thoughts of this and how the memories of that glorious day could become a commodity for the rich to invest in and make money. For what died the sons of Roisin, was it greed?

2006-04-10T01:05:00.000-07:00

Easter is of course a very important time for republicans, a time when we commemorate the great and heroic contribution the men and women of 1916 made in order to achieve Irish Independence. I am quite happy that 1916 is being acknowledged by the Dublin government this year after such a long period when it was ignored. I am very pleased at this decision, even if it is party political reasons that have led to a restoration of the commemoration and not a true recognition of the sacrifice made by these brave men and women on that faithful day.
If the government was truly committed to commemorating the memory of 1916 they would also be actively seeking the Ireland which the proclamation envisages, unfortunatley they are not doing this. Sin è.

Two Governments Statement

2006-04-07T00:45:00.000-07:00

I think the statement was a decent enough one and now we need to see the outworking of it. I think a lot of people had come to believe that the statement and subsequent moves by the IRA last July had not been taken on board by the two governments and it was a wasted initiative. At the time many thought the idea of “Decommissioning to call the bluff of the DUP” was a step too far. I must say that I had mixed feelings over this myself and continue to do so. But it would appear that belatedly it is beginning to bear fruit, for years the IRA where blamed for stalling the process, the two governments have effectively yesterday pulled this comfort blanket away from the DUP and said that is no longer the case.

I personally think two very positive things could come out of this, firstly the DUP and the UUP will be intensely divided, and as such Unionism is weakened as a political force, which is positive for us on the republican side. And secondly if the assembly does go down the pan we get much of what we wanted, cross border bodies and greater all-Ireland involvement i.e. most of the positives found in the agreement, without having to take the hard decisions that we would have had to face in the coming months. We will not have to worry about the tag dissidents put on us with regard to administering Brit rule in Ireland, and we can effectively shelve the policing debate for another day. Now personally I want to see the assembly up and running because I want the power to make decisions for Irish people taken by Irish people, but folks I can take it or leave it quite frankly.

Finally I felt about a month ago that the governments where ready to jump on board with the DUP idea of shadow assembly’s and oversight powers and the such, I believe they where at that point up to a short-time ago, so I think our negotiating team needs a good pat on the back for the work they have done to turn this situation around. I think they deserve credit for finally getting the two governments to stand up for the GFA.

2006-03-27T23:38:00.000-08:00

I have a very strong interest in suicide prevention having been very much effected by the problem; I think that it is one of the most important issues facing young people at the moment; the government must put in place a real strategy to try and deal with it, they have as of yet failed to do so. I was very shocked to see the stories in today’s paper that a fifteen year old girl had taken her life while in school, this comes in the wake of a thirteen year old girl killing herself just a week ago, it is tragic, but the sad thing is that in many cases if the support is available and staff are trained to spot the signs it can be avoidable.

2006-03-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

The organisation I used to work for published a report today called “who goes to college” and it makes for very disturbing reading. The figures show that well over 80% of students attending schools in Foxrock are going on to attend 3rd level, while in Ballyfermot the figure stands at a disgraceful 11%. Despite all the promises from the Fianna Fail government and in particular Noel Dempsey it appears that the levels of disadvantage are remaining stagnent.
But there is no point criticising the government with out saying what should happen. There needs to be a large increase in the funding for the national education welfare board. While they did get an increase in the budget, and I welcome that, it does not even come close to the amount the director of the board has said is required. This group needs the tools to do there job. I also feel the access group in the HEA is not working and root and branch examination of its work needs to take place immediately.
The government needs to increase the number of VTOS places for adults and those who missed out on education and also fully implement the McIvor recommendations on post leaving cert education. They must also reverse all the cuts they made a few years back in the BTEA and also crèche payments for mature students.
The government must stop paying the wages of teachers in fee paying schools and instead this money should be invested in early intervention programmes.
The government needs to take a long-term approach to education and the budget. Investment in education has the greatest return of all government spending, but there is also terrible waste. If a child leaves without any official qualifications they are likely to end up on the dole, sometimes in prison and generally costing the state even more funds. Early intervention and the provision of holistic services have been proven to be cost effective. If we invest in education and stop people falling through the net we will reap the benefits for the economy and society in general.
People in Blackrock are not 8 times smarter than youths in Ballyfermot, the fact is the youth in Ballyfermot is not given the same opportunity. We need to change whole culture of education in this country and it needs to now, if not we will end up with more people falling through the net. Sin è.

2006-03-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

Well it turns out we where all wrong to have a go at young Mr. Shoukri and the other fifteen loyalists arrested in Tigersbay the other night. Turns out they where getting dressed up in their finest combats in order to announce to the good loyalist people of the area that they where about to bring an end to their “Criminality.” Now call me a skeptic if you will, but as much as I try, and I swear I am trying, I am finding it hard to believe that this is the reason behind Ihab and his mates dressing up like action men the other night. Surely given the fact that a group using a cover name for the UDA tried to kill a catholic the other night would be enough to put the kibosh on this story, but juryless courts in the north are renowned for their gullibility when it comes to dealing with loyalists so you cant blame him for trying. Personally I prefer the Mister Burns, “I was on my way to the orphanage to hand out presents to the children”, defense, a lot more believable Ihab IMHO. What is more, and this is the incredible part, I hear his solicitor managed to deliver these lines in court with a straight face, bravo.
It would have been the most far fetched story on the news so far this week where it not for the Brit police asking the PSNI to help investigate the bank robbery in England because, and I quote, “their successful investigation into the northern bank robbery.” What funny times we live in eh? Sin è.

2006-03-06T00:56:00.000-08:00

I could not believe the news emerging yesterday that a catholic taxi man in North Belfast only escaped death over the weekend because the gun carried by a Loyalist Death Squad member jammed. I had hoped the days of random sectarian attacks by Unionist Paramilitaries had come to an end; obviously this is not the case. Because the fact is over the last number of months the amount of sectarian attacks; attacks in places such as North Antrim and North Belfast, are on the increase and of course with absolutely no justification. If the gun had not jammed the other night another person would have died purely because of his religion like so many others have at the hands of these Unionists. Loyalists paramilitaries and their fellow travellers may have wanted to commemorate victims in Dublin last week, however it seems like these very same people are still at war and intent on creating more sectarian victims in the six counties. This attack also comes in the wake of the raid in East Belfast where very senior members of the UFF and UDA where preparing to strut their stuff and hold a so called “Show of strength.” It is time that loyalist paramilitaries where dealt with by the Brit government, but the silence in the wake of this attack is very telling and it is indicative of the approach taken by the Brits to Unionist paramilitaries over the course of the troubles and indeed the Irish Government have kept very quiet, sure didn’t they (the brits) use Unionist Paramilitaries in a similar way to South American dictators to wipe out their enemies through collusion and so we would hardly expect anything different from them.

2006-02-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

Sinn Fèin members got serious abuse yesterday when we tried to stop people breaking windows in O'Connell Street. I tried too stop two young lads doing it at the top of the street and was told to fuck off you shinner bollox what would you know about what is happening (there was as much disdain for us as the Gardaí and any attempt to calm people down was impossible, and I and others tried, definitely not republicans involved in most of what was happening). There was no leadership or organisation involved in the protests, they where mindless vandals. And groups must bear a responsibility if they bring people onto the streets. I was quite happy to see people protest and resist the parade going up O'Connell Street, but then the looting, burning of cars; deliberate mindless violence was a disgrace.

Two things automatically struck me yesterday, the fact that O'Connell street was a riot paradise and also that the Gardai's tactics where useless. So quite happy that the parade did not pass, upset what happened afterwards. Sin è.

2006-02-23T00:34:00.000-08:00

I have a terrible sense of foreboding over what might come out of these current talks that the two governments are holding. I hope I am wrong, but my fear is that they (the two governments) are prepared to cave in and go and accept this plan put forward by the DUP for a phased return to power sharing. My fear also is that the Irish government will simply stand on the sideline and allow this to happen. When have they ever stood up for the agreement in the past? The answer is that they have never done so, so why should we expect that they will do anything different on this occasion given their track record?

Our leadership must resist this plan at all costs, they must refuse to accept anything other than the full-implementation of the agreement, because we know there will be nothing phased about this plan, we will be stuck with a powerless, useless assembly for years to come. I would rather see the whole thing scraped than go with what the DUP suggest, because if we concede on this we might as well forget about the all-Ireland dimension, we might as well forget about cross-border bodies and the north-south ministerial council. We know the stoops would jump into such an agreement even though they say they won’t, they are kidding nobody; if you go to Westminster you would go anywhere. And while the DUP have been allowed to veto progress for years we all know if Sinn Féin says they won’t agree to this the two governments will go ahead with the plan in anyway such is their respect for the agreement and the intuitions. I hope I am wrong but I think the GFA and our leadership are about to face one of the biggest challenges since the agreement was singed in the coming weeks, they must stay firm in this regard. Sin é.

2006-02-22T02:38:00.000-08:00

I was asked a pretty good question last Sunday week, which parade do you think will do more to stir up feelings of nationalism (not Republicanism) in the people of Dublin, the military parade set to take place in Easter or the bunch of bigots set to march down O’Connell street later this week? And to be honest judging from what I have been hearing, hearing from people that I never even thought had the slightest interest in the North, that it is the latter which is really stirring the blood. People who would not vote Sinn Féin if you employed page three rickshaw drivers to bring them to the polls intend to go in and protest the march. I really don’t know if a protest is the wise thing to do, we have been hearing that this all he wants, but I cant decide is that justification enough not to protest this bunch of sectarian bigots and loyalist paramilitaries? Personally I am finding it hard to decide what I should do, let’s just say I have made no plans for Saturday, maybe I will just go out on Friday and get so paralytic and take the whole thing out of my own hands.
BTW I see the "Loveulster.com" is closed down, no doubt the Shankill Mirror will put it down to Rome led republicans.

2006-02-21T00:23:00.000-08:00

I guess in the next few weeks all of the attention of republicans will turn to thoughts of the hunger strikes and the brave commitment of the 10 volunteers who where prepared to give their lives rather than be treated as criminals 25 years ago.

I have been doing a fair bit of reading on the subject in the last few days, surfing the net instead of doing any work, and yesterday I came across a website where people had posted their thoughts and memories of that time, it was interesting to see how Bobby and the other lads had impacted the lives of so many people right across the world and it got me thinking about what impact it had on me.

For me it was really the first time I got any sense of what it meant to be a republican, I was only eight years old at the time but the memories are as vivid as if it was yesterday. I remember going with my dad to the priory in Tallaght on consecutive Saturday afternoons in order to take part in protests against what was happening, I remember the stall at the end of the Dominick’s bridge where signatures where gathered for the men, I remember rather amusingly the fact that kids would try and collect the post cards that where distributed at this stall (I will swap your Kieran Doc’ for a Ray McCreesh, it was all a bit surreal). I remember the bleak posters that would go up around the village as each volunteer went on strike and died, the black mast heads on an phoblacht. I remember my dad coming down the stairs shouting to my mother that Bobby had died. I member going through town on a Tuesday morning with my mother and seeing the flag flying at half mast over the Dublin Parliament after the death of Kieran Doherty, those hypocrites. Since this time I have always believed in the goals of republicanism, the Brits tried to break the movement through the prison, they failed and the effect of that failure can now be seen in the new generation of Irish republicans prepared to take on the challenge to end British rule in Ireland, a generation whose inspiration is the men and women who took on the Brits in the prisons and won.

For me the hunger strikers, and all of our prisoners who went through the evil regime of both the H-Blocks, Armagh, Portlaoise and England should be remembered. But ultimately there is only one fitting memorial which can ever do justice to their bravery, and that comrades is the creation of a 32 county all Ireland Socialist Republic that these brave volunteers of Óglaigh na h-Eireann fought and died for. Tiocfaidh ar Lá. Sin é.

So What did you think of the Ard Fheis?

2006-02-21T00:16:00.000-08:00

I think this Ard Fheis was a pretty good one with a lot of fine, open debate (Still given the clár I expected better). While I voted against both joining the PSNI and indeed coalition I think it is pretty clear where I stand on those issues, that is to say I think keeping your options open is the best policy. Now what does that mean, does it mean I feel that we should go in with Fianna Fail after the next GE? Well quite honestly no I don’t, we can only contemplate going into government when we can negotiate a programme which fits with our distinct republican socialist agenda.

The Ard Fheis made the repeal of the offences against the state act a precondition to entering into government; I am delighted that this motion was passed. I personally wrote a motion which did not get out of my cumman and it called for a lot more “pre-conditions.” I believe all members of the Army must be released before it can be contemplated. I believe a minister must be appointed to drive forward Irish re-unification and a commitment to publish a green paper on unity must be given before it can be contemplated. I feel that a programme for government must have at its heart a commitment to equality and must put public services and ending disadvantage first, and the introduction of a truly progressive taxation system to pay for this must be in the programme. One of the phrases I heard most over the weekend was “Don’t tie the hands of the leadership”, well comrades we are republicans and this is not tying anybodies hands, this is simply adherence to the basic principles of that republicanism. Some one told me that the motion I wrote was ruling out coalition by just another means, by putting in conditions that could never be met, it was not, it was simply stating core principles that should not be negotiable.

I believe in the process and have articulated this many times, but I have a deep frustration, a frustration borne out of how slow things are moving. It seems for many that it is the sole responsibility for republicans to move while others do nothing to progress things. I have said many times that I think the GFA is a real vehicle for change and achieving our goals, but not the only one. I think republicanism has come to a point where quite simply no more can be given, no further initiatives are possible, and we are now in a dodgy position of waiting for Paisley. I agree with the comments made by McGuiness on the assembly but would go a wee bit further, yes we want the agreement to work, but now its up to the two governments, Sinn Fèin should stop doing the chasing, stop trying to beat big Ian into government and almost begging the DUP to share power.

Finally, while I have not been to that many Ard Feishina I have to say that yesterday I witnessed one of the most appalling speeches ever when a “comrade” rose to speak on immigration. The speech was sexist, racist, and indeed did no justice to the actual motion which I know was not intended to be that way. It was one of the few occasions where one witnessed somebody being booed from the floor. It was in stark contrast to the fantastic speech by Cllr. Dessie Ellis on Saturday in which he articulated the position of Sinn Fèin so well on the subject. While Dessie spoke about true republican principles this was in stark contrast to the populist claptrap by the speaker yesterday. While Dessie talked about a true inclusive Ireland the guy yesterday talked about the need to answer this question on the doorstep and talked about a flood. Well two years ago when I was standing for election I was in the square with Mary Lou and we where approached by a women who asked, “Are you against that referendum which would allow us to send those blacks home?” and Mary Lou said “Yes we are”, the women said “Well you wont be getting my vote” to which Mary Lou replied “That is comforting to know”. We should never go down the populist route and follow Pat Rabbitte in the cheap pursuit of votes.
Sin è.

Welcome to my blog.

2006-02-20T23:55:00.000-08:00

I would like to intrdouce myself, my name is Brendan and I am a member of Sinn Fein from Dublin.
Over the comming months I intend to post my thoughts on republicanisim and what is happening in the peace process.
I have decided to do this post the Ard Fheis as I think it is a good exercise for myself, and who knows it might even mean that I become consistent in my position. lol