Sorry to so rudely interrupt the Basketball & spring Break; but I’ve been Dithering about posting re this for weeks and today I’ve found one article (as opposed to a combo of numerous overlapping ones) that does the story justice — the Politics, the Sociology, & the compelling Human Interest angle.

Extensively excerpted, emphases added, here ’tis. Boston Globe.

Band of sisters confronts IRA’s long rule of silence
Slaying launches justice campaign

By Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff | March 6, 2005

BELFAST — Paula McCartney pulled back the curtain in the living room of the family home last week and pointed down the narrow, graffiti-scarred alleys of the Short Strand, a Catholic enclave on the knife-edge of this city’s sectarian divide.

”He lives right over there. Everybody knows he’s a full-time IRA man. Everybody knows he’s the one who killed my brother,” said McCartney, 40, a righteous anger rising in her voice as her four sisters gathered around her, nodding in agreement. ”We’re going to get justice here, IRA or not. We’re not afraid.”

The McCartney sisters have stood together to break the long, unwritten code of silence in Belfast by publicly demanding justice in the brutal slaying of their brother, Robert McCartney, 33, by a known local leader of the Irish Republican Army and several of his associates.

McCartney, a father of two young boys who supported Irish nationalism but studiously avoided the sectarian violence that surrounded him all his life, was stabbed to death in a barroom brawl Jan. 30.

The local IRA leadership’s alleged responsibility for the murder, along with allegations of a coverup and a campaign of witness intimidation, has ignited fury and division in the republican community.

(more…)

The Queen won’t attend her son’s wedding to “Princess Consort” Camilla.

Though the gardai made the collars in the Poblacht na hÉireann, the Heist had Happened up north in Her Majesty’s occupied Statelet :). Hat tip: Breandainn Loy. :)

(BBC) A man arrested during an operation in the Irish Republic against alleged money laundering has been charged with membership of the Real IRA.

[RIRA is an IRA splinter group / ~the guestblogger]

Don Bullman of Wilton, Cork, was one of three men arrested after 94,000 euros were found in a car in Dublin. The two others have been freed without charge.

A police officer told a Dublin court he believed the notes were part of an IRA money laundering operation.

[Outlandish. Such a notion! / ~the guestblogger ]

The cash was in a box of washing powder [appropriately enough / ~the guestblogger] in a Northern Ireland registered car…

[Bullman] was one of a total of seven people arrested earlier this week, as £2m - £60,000 of it in Northern Bank notes - was seized during raids in the Irish Republic.

The money is being tested to see if it is linked to the £26m Northern Bank raid in December…

“We see a subversive element in the movement of this money,” [Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy] said.

“We are following quite a number of lines as to where the money may have come from, and naturally enough, one of those relates to the Northern Bank robbery.”

Not at all, at all. Sure’n th’ Lads just had a fierce lot o’ Clothes for to be washin’.

Bloody eedjiits. Not only do they set back the Peace Process by knocking over the Belfast bank just at the crucial moment when it was sure to queer the deal (figure o’ Speech, keep yer Shirts on fellers :) which THEY had been Offering — but don’t yer men then go and get themselves Lifted whilst sitting on their arse in Johnson’s motor car wi’ the feckin’ Money in th’ Soap!

“‘God save Ireland’, said the Heroes…”

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles will get married on April 8.

After a requiem poem and solemn ceremony, the truffle was due to buried under a tree believed to have been planted by Italy’s famous 15th century explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

We report…

:)

Even as the Northern Ireland situation futher Devolves, so to Speak, into a Theatre of the Absurd wherein Ian Paisley accuses the IRA of Plotting to fully Disarm soon without his Approval & They indignantly Deny it — Comes Now some unexpected New news from th’ Far Colom-bye-ay:

The decision of a Colombian appeal court to sentence three Irishmen to 17 years in jail is outrageous, Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams has said. Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan were acquitted in April of training Marxist rebels in the country but this has been overturned…

The Sinn Fein President said it was a “grievous miscarriage of justice”.

The three, who had been accused of being IRA members, were found guilty of travelling on false passports.

They were acquitted of the more serious offences by a lower court earlier this year, but the Colombian Attorney General has now successfully appealed against that decision… [such an Appeal from an Acquittal is not Covered in ND CrimLaw, I believe. However. - the guestblogger ]

Welcoming the sentence, DUP assembly member Ian Paisley Jr [that’s yer Man ’s kid - Sins of the Fathers, etc. / - the guestblogger ] said the “decision has far wider ramifications that what’s happening in the judicial system in Colombia”.

“Let’s face it, Sinn Fein are psychologically still a war machine - their activists are across the world engaging in war activities, and I think that says an awful lot for the political process here,” he said…

McCauley, 41, is from Lurgan in County Armagh, Monaghan, 58, is from County Donegal and Connolly, 38, is from Dublin…

Their arrest led to speculation that Irish republicans had formed links with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

[Ya THINK? / - the guestblogger ]

The main charge against them was that they had been teaching the rebels the techniques of urban terrorism.

[Ya THINK? / - the guestblogger ]

The Irishmen strenuously denied this, saying they were in the area to monitor the fledgling peace process as well as being eco-tourists.

See? Just collecting Flowers for their Hair, & Butterflies.

Bah.

Here’s a good BBC Background Q&A, a capsule history of this sordid IRA/FARC Connection business.

Cut the Crap, Gerry. Give it Up. Uncle Joe Stalin is dead. Mother Ireland still lives. Serve HER, yez foo*in’ Idjit. Forget the Fidelista Cartels: just Fork over the Remainders o’ th’ foo*in’ Semtex, give foo*in’ Paisley a coupla fuzzy Polaroids o’ th’ Ould Fenian Guns & be DUNN with it, Paddy. :>

“Together, at last, at Twilight Time”: Hardline Unionist leader Rev. Ian “No Pope Here” Paisley & the Irish Republican Army have evidently joined forces, to put the prospective Northern Ireland Governmental Reactivation Deal on ice. (Hat tip: sister-in-law Patty Ash of Southington CT.)

Sean has Taught us (and in English yet! hola Sean! :) that it Always goes back to Ireland but I think that This stupid business all comes down to Pride. Paisley apparently wants Publication of Pictures of each & every IRA grenade-launcher, AK-47, mortar round, ould Thompson gun & wee bit o’ the Semtex handed over. The Fenians (on “ceasefire” for several years now) for their part do not Care much for the metaphorical Stripsearch via Photograph.

Better they should both Get Over it. (Actually better they should both Emigrate from Erin’s green & chilly shores to warmer climes — MUCH MUCH Warmer regions — but nevermind about that now, it’s in Someone else’s Hands anyway. :)

The Provies need to Fork over all their remaining Ordnance (they’ve already given up some, reportedly Plenty, but only they & General de Chastellain the Decommissioning Czar know How Much) WITH such pictures, neutral witnesses & documentations as are sufficient to Verify. Then they can repair to the Boys of the Old Brigade Social Club for fond Reminiscences over a nice cup o’ Tay. :) Also they can fully Merge with their political-party partner, Sinn Fein, and learn to practice the politics of Politics. Absent the Plastique.

The Paisleyite Orangmen need to grasp that whatever their feelings (and those of their illegal armed Paramilitaries) on the matter, the “hard men” of Oglaigh na hEireann (AND many nonmembers too) really do perceive their “army” as the descendant of an unbroken line of freedom-fighting “physical-force republicanism” supposedly first proclaimed by the Protestant Theobold Wolfe Tone in the 18th Century. This view may be Mystical & Mythical but there it is. Now, apparently, the IRA is prepared to fully Disarm (with the now Not-done Deal, this was reportedly to have been accomplished by Christmas! per the BBC article), and perhaps potentially to Disband down the road - a Very big deal to them, Breaking that Unbroken Line & accepting that the Glory days of Physical Force are over & Done.

In so doing, they do not wish to be additionally Humiliated — i.e. needlessly portrayed, pictorially & otherwise, beyond the requisites of Verification — as a Vanquished army (which in fact, they are Not). Paisley could cut them a little Slack, here. Of course he hates them — and not without ample reason — but a return to domestic self-governance for HIS people, as well as for Theirs, is at stake. More: the future of Northern Ireland is at stake.

It’s called Compromise, boyos Orange & Green. Look into it. Doing it Now would be good Practice for your duties in Civil Government.

Soldiering on, PM Blair & Taoiseach Ahern have now published their proposals (the ones that weren’t Agreed to), thus presumably putting the Screws to the presently NonNegotiating Partners. Tony & Bertie & others are Spinning this as but another Bump along the Road. Hope abideth. “Where the Past has been lost and the Future has still to be won / And the cares of Tomorrow must wait until this day is Done.”

Again, the article.

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Pre-dated UPDATE :) - a good BBC Analysis from Dec. 4. The only thing that’s changed is, now we know the unhappy Outcome. (For the present, at least.)

From the Leanna Loomer email series “This Day In History”:

Subj: This Day In History
Date: 12/6/04 10:57:21 AM Eastern Standard Time

December 6 1921
- Ireland’s 26 southern counties become independent from Britain, forming the Irish Free State.

“It all comes back to Ireland, doesn’t it?”
- Sean Vivier

Hi Sean. :) Thanks, L. :) 26 down, 6 to go. :)

Of course it wasn’t really Independence at first; but, it Got There eventually. / Re the Incompleteness of the thing, Wags of the time were inspired to Quip, Three-quarters of a Nation once Again. (Melody here.)

Some of the Wags were also inspired to fight a civil war in a hopeless effort to win the Whole Thing. They lost; but that’s OK, their defeated commander, Eamonn “The Fox” De Valera, went on to assume the leadership of the compromise Free State whose Negotiation he had initiated prior to resisting its inevitably-unrepublican result in bloody & terrible combat with his fellow Irishmen. (Taking his seat in the Free State Parliament, yer man Dev with celtic ingenuity solved the problem of the requisite oath of allegiance to the Crown by declaring, “This is not an Oath”, just prior to Swearing it. :)

Happy Anniversary, Ireland —

…the land where legend remains,
Where stories of old fill the heart and may yet come again,
Where the past has been lost, and the future has still to be won;
And the cares of tomorrow must wait till this day is done.

A close reading of the Irish Breakfast Tea-leaves suggests that the Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley, DUP-North Antrim, may be contemplating the possibility of permitting his ancient arse to be Dragged (blowing smoke all the way :) 11 years forward into the 18th Century — having remained, for lo these past 78, Stuck in 1690 when his glorious King Billy beat the papists by the dark waters of the Boyne. :)

The aging enfant terrible of the Orange Order – and putative First Minister of the devolved Government of Northern Ireland, if only he could see his way clear to Sharing Power with the gentle Gerry Adams :) as required by the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) — has been very busy lately. Meetings, meetings, meetings. (Give ‘im a breather, bhoys, can’t yer see th’ poor man’s exhausted. :)

December 3 (God bless the fine reportage of the BBC, by the way :) —

Mr Paisley…said that if the IRA gave up its weapons and abandoned its criminal activity he would have to “swallow hard” to do business with republicans.

“Once they quit their terrorist path, I will have to do a good deal of swallowing,” he said.

“I’ll have to do a good deal of biting my lip in future days.”

You can do it, Reverend. After all, you’ve Sucked and Bitten for eight decades now. :) Just close your eyes & Think of England. :)

December 4 -

The Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams appealed to republicans not to be provoked by the “unacceptable language” used by Mr Paisley.

Mr Adams said that comments by Mr Paisley, in which he said he would have to “swallow hard” to do business with republicans, were an acknowledgement of the prospect of Sinn Fein in government.

He said: “It is also the first begrudging, mixed-up, convoluted, angry acknowledgment by Ian Paisley of the Sinn Fein mandate. We shouldn’t dismiss that.

“He also said in terms of getting a deal, it was ‘now or never’. As far as we are concerned, it is now.

“He needs to come up to the plate and he needs to say ‘yes’.”

In all fairness, “the Sinn Fein mandate” consists of their 3rd-place finish in last year’s NI Assembly elections. SF won 24 seats, to 30 for DUP (Paisley) and 27 for David Trimble’s more-moderate-loyalist Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Because Adams’ SF whooped the moderate-republican Social Democratic & Labour Party (SDLP - 18 seats) it became the leading “nationalist community” party, just as the Paisleymen surpassed the Trimbleistas as the Big Dog on the “unionist community” block. “Others” won 9 seats.

Under the GFA, power is to be shared chiefly between the 2 leading Parties from each Community — an awkward & not strictly democratic :) arrangement, but necessary in Norn Iron’s ultra-sectarian circumstances. / The Assembly has not met since the election, because Paisley has refused to share the same room, let alone power, with Adams.

However, for all my Dissing of him, the Reverend Doctor does have a very good Point. About the Guns, ye know. Hand all the rest of ‘em over, boyos. Time to permanently Stand Down. Let ‘em take their Photos of yer beloved Arsenal of Freedom to their hearts’ content. Demand copies. Yez can Look at the Album whilst ye still sing the ould Songs. Memory Lane, t’ be Sure. :>

And remember: we can still outPopulate ‘em. Get the Birthrates back on track, lads & lassies. (See? There’s so much peaceful Work still to be done! :)

How Much is that Poodle in the Ranchhouse, or: just Who is Whose Irish Setter Now? :)
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Owing Tony Blair as he does, Big time, President Bush has been Working a case even tougher (albeit a tad less dangerous :) than Iran: Northern Ireland.

I hasten to add: I’ve no reason to doubt that the President, like the PM (and, lest we forget, like Eire’s an Taioseach Bertie Ahern), also believes in the Norn Iron :) Peace Process & its centerpiece Good Friday Agreement (GFA). From whatever micks / check that, MIX :) of Motives, Mr. Bush’s personal involvement is Very Commendable.

It develops that what W’s been Up to is: some nice little Phonechat, not only with Sinn Fein (SF)’s Gerry Adams (the Usual Suspect :) but ALSO with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader, that aging Lion of the County Antrim and distinguished Moderator [sic] of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster since 1951, [big Lambeg Drumroll…] — the Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley. :)

(more…)

So: will CBS’s Dan Rather be the next Howell Raines?

**************************************************************

And, much more importantly :), does Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams face the fate of Michael Collins at Beal na mBlath?

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Let us Pray: No. In both instances.

Holy Buckingham Palace, Batman!

(Hat tip: Andrew.)

Bad news: Iraq lost the bronze-medal game to Italy, 1-0. Still, a valiant run by the soccer Dream Team. Who ever would have expected the world’s most recently liberated nation to finish fourth in the entire world? Wow! Way to go! Viva Iraq libre!!

Good news: Ireland wins the gold in equestrian! Up the Republic!

No, really, it does:

Atlantis, the legendary island-nation whose existence has been debated for thousands of years, was actually Ireland, according to a new theory by a Swedish scientist.

(more…)

Below, my dad offers us three 12th of July audio posts (1, 2, 3). Here’s one more for y’all:

12thofjuly.wav (0:27, 424 KB)

Up the Republic! :)